While in Beijing Robert spent time working with a Chinese travel agency putting together a nice tour of China. We discovered making plans to tour China as an independent traveler is challenging. The Chinese government has nationalized all tour agencies and guides and likes to direct travelers to see their country through proper channels. I will say that our Chinese travel agent Floria has been more than amazing.
Our first tour guide, Frankie, was waiting for us as our train arrived. Frankie is a 28 year old business entrepreneur and tour guide. We hit it off right away. His knowledge of Chinese history was impressive. Come to find out he scored second, on his National Tour Guide Test, as a Junior amongst Seniors, out of all the other students in the entire province.
He guided us to see the Terracotta Warriors one day and on a climb up Mt. Hua another day. Although both those outings lived up to the "not to be missed in China" billing, I really enjoyed getting to know Frankie. He shared with us about his family, his youth in China, his time at university and the business he is starting. Robert was intrigued to say the least and Frankie even captured my attention.
On our way up Mt. Hua
Part way up
Still climbing
We didn't see much of Xi'an itself since both of the attractions are outside the city. That was OK because with construction everywhere there was not much to see. Buildings, subway system, roads and houses are being built in a frenetic pace. Even Frankie said Xi'an has changed in drastically the two years he was living in Singapore. So for us Xi'an was merely a jumping off point to see the warriors and China's mystical mountain.
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