This was the shortest trip of my life, but amazing.

My son and I flew from Beijing to Xi’an, the largest town and capital of Shaanxi province in central China. You can travel to Xi’an for 72 hours without a visa.

We arrive at the end of the day, to be able to visit The Terra Cotta soldiers the next day.

Xi’an is one of China’s most popular tourist destinations, it is most famous for its Terracotta Warriors, which have become an international symbol of China’s history. You can not simply miss the museum and the whole site that surrounds it.

Be patient, the lineup is very long under the hot sun, and to my surprise, you have to take a little train up to the main entrance on top of that. It’s worth waiting for, though.

Inside with all the soldiers, very impressive.

We cannot find two identical faces among the excavated terracotta warriors.

The story is, a farmer finds some of the graves while digging in his garden. The Chinese government stole his land and took everything he had.

I was lucky to meet the farmer, he was kind enough to autograph my book.

We did not have time to visit all around town.

Maybe we can go back one day and stay longer.