Bike ride

Bike ride on top of Xi'an city wall

This was awesome! It was like a whole different world on top of the city walls surrounding the inner city. We rode our rental bikes all the way around, I think 9 miles total.

Purchases so far

I hope the dresses will fit my girls. If not, I at least had fun bargaining.

More school visit pictures

Elementary Robotics School Visit

Students introduced themselves, sang a song, practiced a Chinese tongue twister, and conversed in Chinese, learning a few technical terms while observing the grade school kids program their robots. Overall it was a fun and energetic cultural exchange and a nice change of pace from all the sight seeing we've been doing.

Elementary Robotics School Visit

Site of the Terra Cotta Warriors, Xi'an

Emperor Qin Shihuang was the first emperor to solidify power throughout all of China. His belief that his enemies would attack in his afterlife may have prompted the creation of this clay army. The details are amazing, and now there's evidence that these warriors (soldiers, archers, officers of various ranks, generals, horses, etc.) were painted.

Here's a broad view.

Terra-cotta Warriors Close Up

Xi'an airport, Shaanxi History Museum

Domestic flight to Xian

Zaijian Shanghai, ni hao Xian!

Suzhou Shops, Temple, etc.

We would have had more time to shop, but we walked a mile out of our way to visit this pagoda only to find out that it was closed for the day; we took a group photo to remember our non-entry to enlightenment.

Classical gardens of Suzhou

Painters choose the ponds, rockeries, and trees as their subjects in these historic gardens.