I just saw two close friends leave on May 19th.  Cole and Wendy made their second visit to China after they enjoyed their first visit so much.  They came in on May 2nd and stayed for 17 days of action and fun.  We visited Beijing again as before but this time we focused on the city and sleeping. The jet-lag hit them a little harder than it did last time.  We did get to see the new Olympic stadium for the 2008 games as well as a beautiful part of the Great Wall called Si Ma Tai.  It was my first time to either of those and they were both pretty cool. 

 

After stopping back through my home town to teach a few classes and meet students and teammates we spent the next weekend in Weinan (pronounced "Wayne on".  We stayed with friends there and had a wonderful time even though someone tried on the sly to get a tofu into the lasagna :)   You may ask, "Why Weinan?"  It is located just near the Terra Cotta Warriors.  Xi'An actually claims the warriors but the city is about 30-40 minutes from the actual site.  It is kind of like living in Kansas and then saying you are from Kansas City.  (Kansas City is actually in Missouri folks.) 

 

So we visited the soldiers.  They are pretty impressive.  The fact is though that they were all found in pieces.  They were put back together by special people to make them like new again.  Which of course brought up the question of whether they should be considered new or ancient since they were made in the late 70's again just using the old pieces.  I would assume that your argument would be as good as mine either way so we will just be content to have our own opinions.  But if you want a really new one then you need only go down the street about 2 minutes where they make brand new ones for around $75 a piece.  And they look exactly like the old new ones.  It was all very interesting though, especially watching Cole and Wendy walk through the gauntlet of vendors as you leave.  I think they bought five miniature sets of warriors, 5-10 bracelets, an egg that you play like a recorder, and we took pictures behind hollow terra cotta warriors for a memento.  I had to stand behind the kid warrior because there are only two adult ones in the front and neither Aaron or Cole are as pettite as I am.  I will post a picture. 

 

Needless to say they both got a chance to really see what China is like.  I don't mean to offend but if you have only seen Shanghai and Beijing then you haven't experienced China.  You need to find a place with no subways, traffic laws, and popular attractions to do that.  And guess, the city I live in is a perfect example.  (Ok, there are traffic laws, but newcomers tend to think there aren't.)  Of course my city claims the famous Shaolin Temple as one of it's attractions.  And in traditional Chinese fashion it can be seen after a bus or train ride outside of the city by about an hour.  Looking forward to your visit.