Townsville bids farewell to China

The final few days for the Townsville Group in China...

Day 15

The group is currently in Xian. We're having a smashing time, we witnessed the excological quandary that are the the terracotta warriors. We learnt about the fascinating history behind the excavation of the deeply mysterious first emperor of China and his stony companions.

Yesterday we arrived in Xian off the overnight train from Beijiing which was interesting however for those of us over 6 feet tall not entirely comfortable. We bid farewell to our wise, humorous and deeply insightful guide and mentor Alan. He taught us about the mindset of the Chinese and explained the motivation of their culture and historic characters.

We had an ardous yet exhilirating two final days of trekking the great wall in one of the most picturesque sections of the wall. We haggeled with some of the local traders in both the stalls surrounding our accomodation on the wall and in Xians' Muslim Quarter.

Tonight we will visit the Big Goose Pagoda and the fountain show at 7pm with a complimentary meal. Tomorrow we will face our final day in the incomphrehensibly big dangerous and occasionally funny smelling city of Xian.

We now have to say goodbye because we are running out of interweb time. We will be home in a bit so zai jyen for now, lots of love the Antipodeans Team alpha squadron Drew Steve Michael and Jess.