My Xi'An video

Here is my video highlighting my Xi'An trip. I just learned that I can post the videos directly into my blog, however I am not sure if it works... so someone please let me know if the video appears. The reason I can't see the video is I am in China and they like to censor things, and my blog (or rather blogger) has been blocked. I can post, but I don't know what the finished product looks like so I don't know if the video is actually there. I figured I would try it. If there is only me writing about the video that is not present I am sorry. Below are links to the videos if this doesn't work. OK, enough talking...

Too much time + some Terracotta Warrior figurines = fun!

Biking on the Xi'An wall

The "Poop your pants trail"

Before we went to Xi'An Janai and I saw pictures of a crazy hiking trail in China. Basically the pictures showed people on a cliff that is thousands of feet high shimmying across on a what looks like a sketch piece of wood with only a chain to hold you into place (solamente in China). Anyways, we had no idea where this mountain or trail was, but it looked super scary, which also made it look super fun. So... when Janai and I found out that this trail was at Hua Shan (where we would be going) we both wanted to do it. I do not know what the actual trail is called, or even if it has a name, but we started calling it the "poop you pants trail" because it looked so scary that we were sure we would do just that after completing it. Alas, after 6 hours of climbing the steps of Hua Shan we finally found... and here is the proof that we did it.

Oh, there are pictures of the normal trail to show you how ridiculously steep it was. The steps were crazy small and parts we almost straight up. It took us 11 hours to get up and back. Of course we stopped for lunch and to take in the views, but my calves, quads, and just about every part of me was hurting the next day. The poop your pants trail was something you had to pay to do and was not part of the normal trail, although some of the normal trail was pretty sketchy. And, in case you are wondering, we did have a harness.

Ahhh, the Winston

So from the picture you may think that this boy's name is Winston, but chances are pretty slim. A "Winston" is a code name that Janai and I gave to kids who wear what are know as "splitty pants". Splitty pants are very very very common in China. In fact, they are more common than seeing a kids in "regular" pants and diapers. From the first day we came to China we have kind of gotten a kick out of seeing kids in splitty pants. As you can see, it makes it a lot easier for when the kid has to go to the bathroom, but it is one of the very unsanitary things that occurs in China, seeing that parents and grandparents let the kids go to the bathroom just about anywhere. While in Xi'An Janai was able to capture a shot of a "Winston".

Some super fun Xi'An videos

Here is a link to my Xi'An video... I hope you like it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ja0KtMNqLs

This is just a fun video we made when we had a little down time in our hostel and some terracotta warrior figurines laying around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHy_JjS85M4

The Terracotta Warriors

This is only one of the sites (and it is the biggest one). There are three different chambers. This one has about 6000 warriors in it.

In the words of my twin bro when he was about 2 when someone told him that they bury bodies in cemeteries, "you mean they got no heads?"

Look! I'm a terracotta warrior too!

The main attraction in Xi'An are the terracotta warriors. Basically an Emperor along time ago wanted to take his army with him when he died so he has 20,000 people create about 10,000 replica soldiers, chariots, and horses. The discovery of the tomb was only in the 70's and was discovered by a framer who was digging a well for water. Anyways, after fighting (and I pretty much mean that in a literal way) our way onto two different buses (it was craziness) we made it to the warriors! Success!