Xian- Guilin June 28, 2010

We got up early this morning and went to a museum of art where students offer their paintings for sale. It also had artwork from the early times in China that were beautiful. I have enclosed a photo. The other picture is of Alex and our driver in front of the hotel. We also had a lesson in Chinese calligraphy that was fun; unfortunately, as I handed off my camera to Alex to take a picture, it dropped on the floor and now is out of focus, so we will rely on Peter for the rest of the trip.
The terracotta warriors were amazing and Peter has some great pictures. It truly is the 8th wonder of the world to see the excavation site and dream about the ancient times. The emperor who built his tomb with the soldiers also built the Great Wall in China. It was crowded but really fun.
We flew out of Xian at 5:40pm and landed in Guilin about 7:30. Unfortunately, the travel agency had us on a later flight, so we had to wait 35 minutes for the guide to meet us. Her name is Wie and she and her driver dropped us off at the Sheraton Hotel which is very beautiful. Meg and Peter went for a walk in the neighborhood and said it was eclectic and interesting. We are drinking beer, eating french fries (which are pretty good!) and watching the Netherlands vs. Slovakia in world cup soccer. We leave at 8AM tomorrow for the Li River trip and a busy day.