Day 31 19/10/2014

We had planned to head out to Hua Shan today, one of Taoism's five sacred mountains and previously home to hermits and sages.  The weather forecast was for rain and fog and given the mountain is apparently full of vertical climbs and knife blade ridges we decided that a visit to the Army of Terracotta Warriors was probably a better option.  We joined a group from the hostel and headed east to the site.  We had thought about going independently by local bus but hadn't seen any at the railway station where they apparently set off from.  Ironically we saw numerous on the way there so they must have picked up from somewhere in Xi'an.  It was good to meet other travellers including Paul from South London currently on a long term career break.  He was spending 3 months in the Far East and had already been to North Korea (just before they closed their boarder again).  It was fascinating to hear about his experiences there but guess it will be a while before it's open to visitors.  Seeing the army of warriors was fascinating.  We visited the smaller pits (3 & 2) first saving the largest and most impressive pit (1) to the end.  It was extremely busy with serious pushing and shoving but really was a fascinating and awe inspiring view of the warriors and their history.  It's one of the most famous archaeological finds in the world and contains over 6000 warriors, each one unique standing guard over the Emperor for more than two million years.  The Emperor apparently surrounded himself in a moat of mercury and his tomb is yet to be excavated.  One of the local peasants who apparently first found the site when drilling for water is actually brought out on show and available for book signing in the tourist shop!  After lunch we headed back passed very fertile farm lands.  The main crop looked to be pomegranates which were being sold at stalls along the roadside.   The fruit was individually wrapped on the trees to protect it from insects and the elements.  This can't be a quick job and we assumed an indication of how much each fruit is worth to the local farmer.  In the evening we walked to the South Gate and Xi'an reprieved itself a little bit with the wall and towers looking very attractive lit up against the night sky (very different to the grey sprawling mass you see from street level in the daytime).