Merry XianMas

That really doesn't work, does it?
Anyway, Xi'an is great and I'll post pictures when I can. The Terracotta Army does exactly what it says on the tin (and I bought no replicas for the fear of buying one piece and arriving home with several less attractive ones). The Tomb of the Emperor Qin was interesting for what it will be rather than what it is (not yet excavated for fear of damaging the contents which, according to period documentation, will be astonishing).
And the hot pools, while belittled by Lonely Planet, were very interesting. Especially the headquarters of Chiang Kai Shek, where the Xi'an incident occurred.

The city is what I imagined China to be: busy, colourful, loud and smelly. It is very good to be here. And by all accounts, it is slow, tasteful, quiet and fragrant compared to my next destinations. Train tonight is only 12 hours. Hardly worth the effort after my recent escapades!

I cannot access the comments at the mo, so if you have pithy/witty/otherwise observations please send them straight to me if you actually want me to read them! Sorry.

And my Mandarn stinks, but it's fun. I still get laughed at by everyone.