Ni Hao -
Yesterday we started the day a bit later because we had gotten to the hotel so late the night before. Despite a few tired eyes in the morning, though, we all perked up when we got to the site of the terra cotta warriors just outside of Xian. 

The Warriors protect the tomb of the Emperor  Qin (pronounced "chin") of the Qin dynasty.  They are truly amazing both in the detail of each one and in the sheer volume of them. There are over 6000 warriors at the site. The area is also still an active archeological site as well, which means that historians and students still actively excavate new items. 

While at the warrior site, we also had lunch and we were treated to a special show. We got to see local cooks make two different types of noodles right in front of us. Shaved noodles are, just that, shaved off of a large block of dough into a pot of water. They are covered with a sauce and served. 

The stretched noodles were even more of a show, being stretched by hand until very thin and then cooked only for a few seconds before being doused in broth and served. Delicious. 

After the warriors, a few of us were
Able to visit Mr Tu's house here in Xian. Mr Tu is our travel agent here in China and he arranges all of our visits. He was kind enough to show us his home so that we could have a clearer sense of how local Chinese people live here in Xian. 

Dinner was an extravagant affair. We took the opportunity to celebrate Margaret Wong's time at Breck and the amazing number of trips she's led. We also celebrated a couple of birthdays: James Lee (Tarin's dad) and Taylor Hendrickson. 

It was a nice day and it was nice to end with a celebration. 

Today we head to some more local sites in and around Xian and have an opportunity to get more of a sense of this area in particular. 

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