Shadow of the Silk Road

In preparing for my trip to China, I have read several books about the country and people of China. (as seen in earlier posts) I have now ventured out to not just China, but to the region of Eastern Asia. With the book Marco Polo, I read more of the history of China during the Middle Ages, as well as the Silk Road during that time. I am now reading Shadow of the Silk Road which deals with the places/nations found along the old Silk Road(s) today. The British author Colin Thubron travels from X'ian, China to Anitoch (Antakya) in Syria.
X'ian is of special interest to me because I will be visiting there on my trip. It is the home to the "Original Emperor" The Yellow Emperor Qin (prnounced Ch'n), China is named after him. X'ian is also the location of the Terracotta Army that was discovered there around 1972. This is one of the places along with the Great Wall, that I am highly anticipating visiting this summer.