On our final long weekend of the semester, I headed to Xi’an to see a few things. Xi’an is most well-known for the Terra Cotta warriors that guard Emperor Qin’s tomb. I’d never seen anything like it, the excavation was as grander than I could ever imagine. But before we went to see the 兵马俑, we actually spent our first day climbing up Mt. Huashan. Well, technically, it’s Mount Hua because shān by itself already means mountain. But most people recognize the landmark by the name, Mount Huashan 华山. We spent about four hours on the hike, it was by far one of the most steepest hikes I’ve ever had to do. But when we got to the top, it was all worth the ache in the following days. On our last day in Xi’an, we rented some bikes from our hostel and spent the entire day exploring the city! The heat was tremendous but I had an absolute wonderful time.
We took a cable car to the lowest point of the mountain, North Peak and from there hiked up to the highest point of the mountain, South Peak.
The hike was so steep, but the view was so beautiful!
I’m not a huge fan of bridges, but this one section of the hike included a narrow bridge that was meant for either going up or down, but not both at the same time…yet people were still doing so.
At the very top of the South Peak lay a very dangerous portion of the hike. It’s optional don’t worry. You walk along a very narrow plank while attached to the wall with a harness. I tried very hard to not look down at the definite deathly fall below me.
I TRIED not to look down, but I just couldn’t help it…
On our second day, we visited the Terra Cotta Warriors. What a grand sight it was! You’ll never see anything like it!
We were lucky to have such great weather that day! Seeing the Terra Cotta warriors was a great experience.
On our final day, we spent the day roaming around the city and ended up in the Muslim Quarter with street food galore!
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Natalie Lau
<p><span style="color: rgb(29, 29, 29); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(237, 237, 237);">Aloha! Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Natalie Lau currently attends Villanova University in Pennsylvania. She is a sophomore pursuing a double major in Finance and International Business and a minor in Chinese Studies. Natalie loves playing the cello, tap dancing, singing, photography, swimming, and (of course) hanging out at the beach. Studying abroad in Shanghai, China has been Natalie's long time goal and she is so excited for this wonderful opportunity to fully immerse herself in to Chinese culture. Her goals during this semester abroad is to attain a high level of fluency in Mandarin and grasp a better understanding of the Chinese business culture. She is extremely excited to experience a new learning environment and create new relationships!</span></p>
