Xian

I saw the The terrocotta warriers and thought they were amazing but I don't think that the man in the shop who was supposed to be the farmer who discovered the warriers was the real guy.

Terocotta Warriers

City Wall

The city wall was a big wall and had decorations on it.  The view was beautiful of the city from up high on the wall.  My dad had a hot dog covered in fries.  We saw man made shark, jellyfish, coral and a mermaid.

Big Goose Pagoda

We went to The Big Goose Pagoda.  We climbed up but I only made it to the fifth floor as I got tired.  The rest of my family made it to the top.  There were some attractive stautes outside and there were these things called the big pencils.  There were some amazing views.

When we went to the muslim quarter there were lots of people and all the girsl were wearing scarves over their heads.  We went to the Mosque where they go to pray many times a day.  My brother bought a crazy hat like the boy on the movie UP.  

When we were leaving Xian we took the sleeper train to Beijing.  We took it on Chinese New Year which was cool as we got to see lots of fireworks.  One lady came to our cabin and asked to take our photos.  It was a really cool trip as when we woke up we were in Beijing.

Chengdu

Chengdu is busy and smoggy but has a more authentic Chinese feel than either Shanghai or Suzhou. The people are busy, the roads are chaotic and the restaurants are full of interesting sights, smells and tastes. 

Only a three hour flight from Shanghai and it feels like a totally different country. Not having anyone around that speaks English apart from ourselves also adds to the adventure. 

There were two main attractions we visited, The Giant Buddha and The Panda sanctuary. Both were equally as impressive but both Samuel and Mackenzie definitely preferred the pandas. 

The set up at the Panda sanctuary was very impressive, clean and even the enclosures for the pandas were spacious and looked pretty comfortable for the pandas. 

Chengdu is definitely worth the effort to see, seeing real China never gets old. 

Dinner on the beach

Did you know that fanta is royal in the Philippines ? I love having dinner on the beach every night. 😎