As a former imperial capital there is much to discover in Xi’an. We visited the old town where we found an elegant house which once belonged to a high official of the court, Gao Yuesong. The house compound, complete with ducks, gave us a marvellous insight into upper class life in dynastic China.

Our evening concluded with a spectacular show where dancing, pageant and acrobatics were mixed in a sensational potpourri.

Next day we returned to the classroom where we had a try at chinese pictograms. Needless to say some pupils tried harder than others but the teacher was truly excellent and got order back to a potentially unruly set of students!

The little wild goose pagoda was one of the oldest buildings we visited in China and dates back to the golden age of the Tang dynasty of the eighth century AD. 141 feet high the pagoda has exquisite brickwork and is so-called perhaps because of the wandering monk Xuanzang who travelled along the silk road collecting buddhist texts before returning to Xi’an – just like a migrating goose, in fact. The gardens and the orchestra contributed to the truly delightful ambience of this lovely temple.

We could have spent so much more time in Xi’an but it was now the hour for our next and final stage of our adventures: a journey on the high-speed train to Beijing….