Xi'an

After our short visit to Chengdu, we flew east to Xi'an, home of the famed terracotta soldiers and capital of 13 dynasties.

Some highlights from our two-day visit:

• Visiting the huge Drum and Bell Towers located opposite each other in the city center
• Seeing the well-preserved City Wall surrounding the old imperial city
• Walking around the Muslim quarter and trying local Muslim cuisine: plum juice, kebabs, and mutton soup with noodles and crushed bread
• Visiting the terracotta army, which was constructed to protect the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, after his death. He believed his reign would continue in the afterlife.
• Climbing Big Goose Pagoda and Small Goose Pagoda

After a full two days in Xi'an, we departed for Beijing, the last leg of our trip! We were greeted in the new Terminal 3 of the Beijing Airport (the largest in the world) by Ruling Zhang and Hongyu Wang, our wonderful friends and hosts. We also saw some Olympic athletes, their friends, and family arrive in the same terminal! Olympic spirit is in the air, and everyone seems excited! New buildings, recently paved roads, beautiful flowers, helpful volunteers, colorful light displays, and visitors from around the world can be seen everywhere!

We will spend one week here and catch the first few days of the Olympics!