Millie’s first words this morning were “wow, that was AMAZING!” Apparently she had had a vivid dream where we all got swallowed by a whale and then could breathe underwater.

We had our hotel breakfast and then got ready for the day. We called a taxi and took a 1 hour ride to the site of the terracotta warriors. Last night we spent time researching how to get there via bus and public transit, and then remembered that taxis here are cheap and plentiful.

We arrived and dodged about 15 eager tour guides wanting to take us around. For better or worse, Millie has gotten really good at avoiding pushy salespeople. We bought our tickets and headed in. Nick is so good at reading ahead and learning all the history that we didn’t need an official tour guide.

Everywhere we walked, people STARED at Millie. All smiled back when I caught them and initiated a smile, but it is still a bizarre feeling. She told us today “I want to dye my hair black so no one will look at me”.

Yes she is wearing the exact same thing as yesterday.

We walked around the various sites as our tour guide / husband / dad explained everything. I was surprised by how much was still an active excavation.

There were plenty of areas that were packed to the brim with large tour groups. I am generally not a very claustrophobic person but I have had moments in China where the combination of noise, pushiness, and smells overwhelm me. Luckily it is always easy to spot Nick who is usually the tallest. And especially when he has Millie on his shoulders.

She did great. She listened, looked at everything intently, and asked lots of questions. Her behavior in general has been so good for the last week. The whining is at a bare minimum and she seems to be enjoying herself.

For Ice Cream Friday she got a frozen warrior popsicle.

After we had seen everything we went to the bathroom. We found the perfect bathroom for our family – a receptacle for everyone! The ultimate simultaneous urination opportunity. AI could never write that statement.

As we were walking to the taxi area we saw a man selling tiny kites. My instinct is to ignore every salesperson, but Millie really wanted one so we agreed. The little $1 kite brought her so much joy for the rest of the day.

We took another taxi to a site that Nick had read about: Emperor Jingdi’s tomb. Compared to everywhere else we have been in China, it was empty. We saw maybe 4 other small groups of tourists (all Chinese) there the whole time. Only Nick Hiller can find a destination so obscure that in a country of 1.4 Billion, we find ourselves nearly alone. I’m not sure why this was the case though, because it was a great place, especially when paired with the terracotta soldiers.

Unlike that tomb, which was massive and created to “protect” a different emperor, this one had smaller sculptures depicting real people – not just warriors. Tour guide Nick explained this was because emperor jingdi was a man of the people, and as a Taoist had a much more peaceful approach of non-interference. Instead of warriors, he had chefs and farm animals. Much more my vibe.

The museum was dug into the above tomb and underground. It was really well done and allowed us to walk beside and above all of the ceramic offerings. Since it was quiet, I preferred it to the massive terracotta warriors.

For every moment we were above ground, Millie ran around with her kite.

We hit rush hour traffic in our taxi back into central Xi’an, and what should have taken less than an hour took almost two. We were in stoppy starty traffic when Millie said “I feel like I’m gonna throwed up” and we hopped out real quick. We walked the rest of the way through alleyways and busy market streets of the Muslim quarter.

We tried to visit the great mosque but it was closed. Xi’an is the official end of the Silk Road and it would have been a nice bookend to the last few months of our trip, which have inadvertently taken us along much of the route.

We ended back at our hotel and sat outside at the busy restaurant across the street for dinner. No spice or grease for me tonight, just simple noodles as an offering to my colon.

And now, one more photo of an interesting car we saw today.