day 110: 渭南 (weinan) – 兵马俑 (Terra Cotta Warriors) = 31,4km

Another night of the elevator-symphony had gone by, and so there I was, not suffering anymore, and on the road again.

I guess it’s too easy to forget about real misery unless it’s in your face:

Where do they come from, all the unwanted and lost? – Every place in the world seems to have them.

Chinese folks get really surprised when I tell them that we have homeless people in Germany as well.

I guess it doesn’t make much sense to them.

Well, miserable or not, the sun still shines down upon all of us:

I rolled up my sleeves, hoping for an early tan.

People were outside playing Chinese chess:

…or 麻将 (Mahjong):

At one junction, this plastic palm tree actually really made me feel like…

…summer!

Ha, and I laughed my head off at these poor girls:

They were sitting there drinking tea in a truck that has “安全第一” (“safety first”) written all over it, and their driver had taken off with the front wheels.

Now that’s safe driving at its best!

Later I stumbled across this:

“绝” (jue) means to cut, or terminate. And below, in fading red English letters: “Simple” – no interpretation needed.

Whatever.

I still wanted to get to the Terra Cotta Warriors, so I did the simplest thing – I kept walking:

Some kids had just gotten off school in the afternoon:

Upon watching this footage of myself bouncing down the highway saying “hallo!” to everyone in sight, I realized this might look idiotic.

But anyways, I think I’m happy this way.

There was a place called 鸿门宴 (hongmenyan) up on a hill:

This was about two guys more than 2200 years ago, plotting to overthrow the dynasty of the legendary first emperor 秦始皇帝 (qinshihuangdi – the one with the Terra Cotta).

One of the two guys would perish.

The other one, a certain 刘邦 (liu bang), would later go on to establish the immensely powerful Han-dynasty (汉 206B.C.-220A.D.), and thus define the shape of China for centuries to come.

This particular memorial site was pretty dull though:

Nothing older than a couple of decades here, and not a single other person around.

You feel like you’ve seen this guy before though:

He knows, I’m getting closer and closer to the real Terra Cotta Warriors.

Well as you can see on the map, the road wasn’t that easy later on in the day.

I had missed a turn before and now needed to follow a footpath that led winding through the villages and the valleys:

Funny kids and funny foreigners everywhere, huh?

When I got to the hotel I was aiming at, the night guard told me it had shut down over the Spring Festival season and not re-opened yet.

He was so kind as to crawl out of his pad and show me the way to another place though, a place hidden in a dark alley, a place very interesting:

What do you know – I would be staying at a guesthouse run by the PLA Air Force.

Cool!

Nothing different from a regular hotel though:

Except for the bed sheets.

Soundtrack: Lady Laistee – “J’hallucine”

—total: 1495,2km