Shanghai2, xi'an and pingyao

Reminder: the format is: most recent entry is at the top and the first entry is at the bottom.
FOOTBALL RESULTS. Conor you are the man for that.
for all you food maniacs out there, I have not had bugs. I have had hot pot where you order ingredients and then cook it your self, rice, noodles, shrimp, dumplings, chicken and beer fish (the name dosn't mean anything). more details later.
Now back to my trip in China and India and Australia.
Next morning we went to Starbucks, because we had a sleep in, so we had to have breakfast somewhere else. We sat and watched the world pass by. After breakfast (namely a sip of hot chocolate and an eighth of a bun) we went to the old town which was much more like I (and probably you) imagined China would be like. We went into yu gardens (not Kew gardens) which were traditional Chinese gardens with interresting old buildings(pic1). There were lots and lots of carp in the ponds and you should see them when you feed them. They jump all over each other and the ones on the top cant even breathe sometimes. After looking at some Ming dynasty buildings (here's your history lesson).the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) was the longest and most stable period in Chinese history. It consisted of 17 emperors. In this period of time Beijing became the official capital of China(end lesson). Next to one of the ponds some 16 year old girls asked to have a photo with us (me and my brother Bruno)(pic2), just because we look kind of the same and cute(maybe). And ever since we have been asked to have photos taken with all different types of Chinese people. We are thinking of charging 5rmb per photo (joke). After the embarrassment of one photo, Bruno had to suffer another (with me safely on the side lines, Ha). We saw some women in old Chinese costumes and curiosity got the better of mum and Bruno. So they went in the shop and asked the amount. Bruno almost chickened out so I had to convince him to do it. Thankfully I did, so they put on the clothes of empress(pic3) and mini emperor (it just went over there normal clothes) and went outside to face the camera. Immediately loads of Chinese people crowded round to take photos(pic4) of these strange Europeans (including those Chinese girls again). After we had no more mishaps in the park (it might be the fact that that was the last we did, but hey) we went to have lunch. We went to the best dumpling maker in the world (apparently)-which is very good if it was the first time you've ever had any, which it was for me-and we had to wait 45 minuets before we actually got any, but (and this is a very important but) I liked them which made it all worth it, yay.

Next morning we left Shanghai and flew to Xi'an(why the '?). after the boring plane journey (lasting two hours) we would have had to endure a boring car journey lasting 2 hours if we didn't have a short break (a.k.a 1 hour) to see the mini terricota warriors(pic5). They were great. There were woman horse riders and musicians as well as animals, such as a dog and a couple of roosters even. There were pigs and goats and figures just walking, and they were all mini. After looking at them we went to the hotel that we were staying in for just one night (mad huh). We had a hot pot dinner in the hotel and it only cost 82rmb (at this point I can make a play
miss grey: so how much is that?
Kenki: £7.50 aprox
Miss grey: well it says here it is £5.45 aprox
Kenki: but that's wrong.
Stop play scene. You see it is right but Kenki has the wrong stats. It somehow changed from being 14rmb=£1 to 15rmb=£1. don't ask me how it just is). Then we went for a walk on the Muslim market where we bought a 40 mtr long kite for five rmb (work that one out with the new stats) and I got a pack of Iraqs most wanted cards which I might sell on e bay (Archie?).

Next morning it was off to the Terracotta warriors(pic6). They are enormous clay warrior(e.g. life size) (in practically every stance, archer, spear holder ect)and horses, thousands of them, to guard the 1 emperor of the qin dynasty (pronounced chin) found by luck when a farmer was digging a well. There's only one who has a bit of colour on it(look carefully at pic6, second nearest, there is a bit of yellow on his collar) and only one who was found completely intact (pic7).
On to the airport, we were flying to taiyuan, but we went staying there. It's just the town we went to hasn't got a airport (not promising, and it's the coal capital of china, producing nearly 50% of it's coal) so another tough two hour cardrive over bad roads. Its name is Pingyao. There was poverty everywhere. Looked like we were seeing another China now. And there was no fancy shops anymore. Apparently, it has the best Ming dynasty wall in china. We stayed in one of the many inns in the centre of town and the rooms were great. there were no cars in the town apart from electric ones so people used bikes and animals
Long blog today but I have to add one more thing.
You all take your toilet for granted, but think before coming to china, do you really want to lose your bowl, your toilet paper and clean smell. If not do not come to china for the toilets stink, hardly ever have toilet paper and are (really) a hole in the ground!!!!!!!!!!