Xi'an does not look special. But it holds one treasure that makes it different from all the other Chinese cities with 3 million inhabitants: the army of Xi'an.

The Qin Army Vault Museum is where you find this the army of 2 200-year-old terra-cotta soldiers unearthed 24 mi/40 km east of town. More than 8 000 life-size ceramic soldiers chariots and horses have been uncovered (this is only a fraction of the total buried there to protect the tomb of the first Qin emperor). Each soldier is based on an actual person of the time and all segments of Chinese society are represented.

Xian's population is for a large part Muslim. You will see that some of the buildings have an Arabic or Persian touch.influence. The bearded men worshiping there wear skull caps.

Another nice sights is the underground amusement center in the park near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda: A tunnel decked in Christmas-type lights leads to a series of rooms. It's a bizarre place.

Xi'an is the first stop on the Silk Road, from here you can travel on to Turpan and Urumqi with final destination Kashgar. Xi'an is 885 km southwest of Beijing.

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