The guys woke up around noon, giving me plenty of time to update the blog etc. It rained all day. We head out to the bus station and caught a bus to see the museum of the terracotta warriors just outside the city of Xian. Early in the trip we suffered a setback when Andy forgot his oreos on the bus. Inspired by the Terracotta Warriors and their participation in the 2008 Beijing Olympics the group managed to put it behind us and continue. We started with the museum and worked our way up from Pit 2, to Pit 3 and finally the massive Pit 1. Each one made us more excited to see the next. It is a fairly mad creation, but the scale of it is quite amazing. I liked the horses with their riders and chariots most. The museum itself is really nice, though the hawkers try a bit too hard. On the way out you pass a ton of stalls selling all kinds of souvenirs and just when you think you have passed through them, there is a huge barrage of hawkers standing with handfuls of trinkets that you have to navigate to get to the buses. Afterward we head back to Xian.
Mike and Omar decided to stay in, while Andy and I head to the South Gate of the walled city where we were told there were some music performances. The rain probably prevented any street music that night, so we met up with a bead maker whom Omar and Andy had met the night before. We walked down a lane of empty western looking bars before we came upon a more traditional looking establishment. We went upstairs to a room with a stage and enjoyed various traditional music performances, along with some food. I had some mushrooms with peppers and rice. The bead maker had engraved two flutes with Andy and Omar's names as a gift for them.
We spent some time trying to play them. He showed us how, though Andy had better luck. I managed a sketch of a man who was like a one man band with a leg playing percussion, and a long string instrument with snake skin on it as well as other small instruments on each limb. He seemed to tell an interesting and humorous story, but your guess is as good as mine. We jumped in a cab and head back after the show ended, thanking our host graciously. I spent a few hours that night updating emails and photos. The hostel owner; Bob was interested in some of my animation work so I shared that and he shared some beautiful photography of his own from trips to Southern China. 
