Day 5 we were off again, this time to Xi’an to see the Terracotta Army. We got to catch the magnet train to the airport.
431km/hr! Pretty impressive huh? The way it cornered was impressive, banking up like you would on a velodrome.
We had some trouble at the airport as Christina was somehow not in the system to catch the plane, but it was all sorted out and on landing we were greeted by Sharon (we proceeded to call her “Shazza” for the rest of the trip) who ushered us straight to dinner which was a dumpling feast with 18 different dumplings on offer!
Packed bus.
Power plant right in the middle of the city…
The view from our hotel. Note the city wall which went on as far as you could see (which wasn’t very far as the city was so polluted!).
Pemium Condom and Nail-Chippers!
Day 6 we got up early to avoid the heat and checked out a part of the city wall. Pretty impressive stuff.
I had a stomach bug at this point so I wasn’t feeling great but seeing this painting made me feel a little better.
This particular shop had a massive load of paintings done by local farmers. Christina and I picked up this beauty and we’re looking forward to getting it frames ASAP.
We then visited a bit of a tourist trap where they were making reproductions of the Terracotta Warriors. Here’s the kiln (ie: hole in the wall) that they were using.
Jess, ever so cool.
Some warriors in the making.
They had heaps of warriors for sale, in all different sizes. I liked these small ones the best so we bought a few for family and for the house too.
Perhaps the best meal of the trip. A very local style lunch.
Museum.
Restored chariot (one of 2).
Finally we got to see the real thing (I think the tour did it the wrong way around). On walking in to the hanger I was gobsmacked.
Later that night we were treated to a lame dinner which set the tone for a pretty lame show (ie: tourist trap).
Day 7 we saw visited this pagoda.
Unfortunately we were forced to visit this Jade Factory which had a massive showroom, definitely low and it wasn’t at all listed on the itinerary. Sneaky bastards!
The heat was super hard to deal with (still) and my stomach gave in so I missed a few bits of the tour today. I rested up and the next day we flew to Hong Kong.
I miss the old Hong Kong airport which forced the planes to fly super close to the city buildings. We still got a great view of the city from above though.
I spotted so many amazingly hot JDM cars on the way into the city. The cars are modified harder and better every time I visit. This time around there were a LOT of hot VIP styled cars and lots of huge people movers too (Toyota Alphards were popular). Here’s an M3 with Advan rims on it.
Lock Road!
We stayed at the Marco Polo on the schmick side of Hong Kong (I’ve never stayed on that side before and have always stayed at Causeway Bay). The elevator literally opened up into the shopping arcade. Insane stuff! Coming from a very conservative China, Hong Kong was like a smack in the face. Money, sex and advertising. So many huge billboards with lingerie advertisements, porn at news stands… certainly a juxtaposition from the days before in China.
One night we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant which let you choose your own hot sake cup (very nice idea).
It had a pretty amazing view of Hong Kong’s mega city too.
Mr Lock was after a new camera and it was between this Lumix or the similar Olympus, both new compact DSLR style cameras. We tested both and found the Lumix lens amazing (we took it off and had it on the olympus and it made the olympus amazing) so he bought one, in white and I bought one too, in black! They chucked in a free tripod, extra battery, 8gb card, carry pouch, carry bag, screen protector and even a stylish Adidas David Beckham hat (?!).
On the 3rd night we were dragged along to Mr Lock’s Uni re-union party. I was freaking out about it initially but by the end of it I was tanked up on wine, great Italian food (who would have thought?!) and great conversations with a few English speaking guests.
VW display at Ocean Terminal was a hit with the locals.
We spent the rest of the days eating and shopping (as you do in HK). Suga went nuts, 8 pairs of shoes I think… maybe even 9. I feel sorry for Mr Lock who really wanted all of us to have the best time but it was a testing trip as so many little things just went wrong not to mention the intense weather which was so against us.