Xi’an

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Let’s say you’ve just entered China from Kazakhstan and decide to open the fat Lonely Planet to check out what to do and see in the country. You read the introduction and the ‘when to go’, find a warning about the public holidays from the 1st until the 7th of October and think to yourself: how bad can it be? Well… bad! Massive crowds at the trainstation, tickets that open up for sale 10 days ahead are sold out in a couple of hours, etc. This meant that I had to spend some more days in Urumqi until I could get a ticket to do two night trains back to back and cross the 2500km to Xi’an; an ancient capital of China at the end of the Silk Road.

At the center of Xi'an: the Bell Tower. Nowadays surrounded by modern shopping malls (and 3 Starbucks within 200m); welcome to the new China.
North-East of the Drum Tower is the muslim quarter, with people butchering animals right there on the street during the day and big crowds at night for the night market.
Xi'an is home to one of the main historical sites of China: the Army of Terracotta Warriors and Horses.
There are three excavation pits on the complex, the smallest being this one; Pit No. 3.
Even though the warriors where discovered more than 30 years ago the excavation and restauration works are still in progress. This is Pit No. 2, which is still largely work-in-progress.
Going in reverse order from Pit No. 3 to Pit No. 1 saves the big one for last, and it's quite the sight. Rows and rows of restored warriors and with almost one third of the area still to be excavated.

In the back of the hall the excavation and restoration works are still going on.
Once the pieces are dug up and put back together, the gaps are filled up with new material to make the warriors as good as new.
It's not English, it's Chinglish!