Day 119: Huà Shān, Shaanxi Province

So, we got into Xi'an relatively early in the afternoon. We have set aside four days to do some trekking in the Huà Mountain in Huà Shān. Before we took the bus to Huà Shān, we made a trip to the Terracotta Warriors. We are now way in the west of China and getting to the Terracotta Warriors can be out of the way if you are not already in this part of China. I was not that impressed with Xi'an. Outside of the train station there is concrete everywhere, which made it much hotter than it really is. Xi'an is the oldest city in China and is regarded as the birthplace of China. At the train station, we checked our big bags into a locker and grabbed a few essentials to hold us over for the next couple days. It will be so nice not to have my 50L pack!

Once we got to the Terracotta Warriors site, it was just more concrete, for miles and miles. It was like a cliché Communist area.. The concrete pathways were the same color as the buildings and the roofs, it was a little bit ridiculous. Regardless, seeing the warriors was cool. The Warriors were constructed over 2000 years ago to guard the ruler Qin Shi Huang when he passed away. The site was discovered in 1974 and around 6000 warriors and horses were unearthed; keep in mind, no two soldiers' faces look alike! Huang began his 36 year reign at the age of just 13! He was also a well accomplished ruler: he created a centralized government; he standardized measurements, currency and, writing; built over 6400km of new roads and canals; saving the best for last, he conquered six major kingdoms before turning 40! While seeing something that old is cool, it wasn't breath taking. They are life sized soldiers, some broken some still intact. You can't go down into the pits, so you have to view them from afar. I am glad I got to see them, but they are definitely not worth going way out of your way to see, unless if you are obsessed with Chinese history.

Afterwards, we made our way back to Xi'an and caught the next bus to Huà Shān. Joseph booked us a good hostel in what he thought was Huà Shān; he actually booked it in the wrong place, so we were stranded in the city with nowhere booked and its about 10pm. We stumbled upon this lady who showed us to a big hotel. Since the hotel was virtually empty, she gave us a huge discount. Flash packing at its finest.