We are in our second city, Xian. Much older yet much more like a modern city. We saw the Terra Cotta Warriors yesterday, wow. If you have not heard of them yet, you will. Tourism here has exploded since the discovery of the warriors in the mid '70s and there is new construction everywhere... Food has really been delicious and interesting. Tom and Leah are loving it. As for me, i'm sooo ready for a chicken caesar salad! Traffic here in Xian is not as heavy as Beijing but it is just as chaotic and scary. It is amazing that between the bikes, electric scooters, buses, cars and tons of people that haphazardly make their way through every intersection that there seem to be no accidents! Also surprising that everyone is driving newish Hondas buicks nissans and even jags. Here are a few more shots of our adventures. Tonight we head to Cheng Du to meet the pandas, this is what Leah has been looking forward to most.

Our favorite Chinese food so far!

We spent another jam filled not stop wonderful day in and around Beijing. Made it to the Great Wall today, check us out. It is quite the journey to get there and quite the climb!!! Just as crowded on the wall as it is in the city streets, wow. Driving through Beijing makes NYC driving look like a Sunday drive through the country! Got in some good shopping between tours today too. Tomorrow it is the summer palace and then off to the airport to travel to Xian...

here is a pic of leah and the two girls in our group, Annalise ans Leann. 

July 3, 2012

Hey everyone.  Happy fourth of July!  We have seen lots of historic sites, lots and lots of people and lots and lots and lots of traffic in Beijing for the past two days and are off to the great wall to celebrate the fourth.  No freedom to blog here, all are blocked so emails to Howard that he will post are the best we can do for now.  No pictures for now either.

Weather is just like home, brutally hot.  I'm told we are lucky that it has been sunny and clear as it is usually very smoggy.

Our travel group is great and our guide is amazing.  She has the connections that make us feel like VIPs wherever we go.  And boy do we go.  Days are very full but evenings relaxing and early.

We'll catch you up again once we get to Xian.  Maybe blogs will work there!

Special thanks to Howard our Number 1 cousin, Tom's best friend and a wonderful person for helping us stay connected.