Xi'an - Terra Cotta Warriors

Today we received quite a history lesson. On our way to see the terra cotta warriors we learned about the rise of the first Chinese unified empire. In 246 BC Qin Shihuang become the first emperor of China. He was only 13 years old at the time. His mother rules until he took the throne when he was 22. He began construction of his mausoleum shortly after. When he died in 210 BC the mausoleum was still not quite complete. The site consists of an underground city with another city on top of that and then a mound of earth 115 m high covering that. The burial site has not been uncovered because of high levels of mercury in the earth. It was rumored that the underground city had a river of mercury running through it. The tomb is the largest tomb in the world. To give you an idea it is 3 football fields long by 2 football fields wide.

About a mile away from the burial site is where the terra cotta warriors were discovered in 1974. Three local farmers were digging a well and brought up pieces of broken pottery. They alerted the government and the terra cotta warriors were found. One of the farmers was at the gift shop and we bought a book, which he signed, and let us take his picture (for 10 Yuan). There are 3 pits, which are in large buildings containing various formations of warriors. The first pit is the most famous and the one you see pictures of all the time. This is the original find. They have excavated most of it and you can see the various stages from what it looks like before to reconstructed figures. This first pit has foot warriors. It is amazing that none of the warriors (approximately 6000) are the same. They have different bodies and completely different faces. In the second pit we saw the cavalry warriors. Much of this pit has not been uncovered yet. You can see samples from different areas of the pit that have been uncovered. The third pit has the infantry warriors. Here you can see the archers and chariots being uncovered.

We also went to a museum in the complex that had two bronze chariots that were discovered just outside the actual mausoleum. They also had examples of some of the bronze weapons found with the warriors. The chariots were unbelievable.

Next stop was the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The pagoda is the oldest building in all of China. The pagoda is slightly leaning to the left due to the decrease in the water table. Our guide teased that anyone going up in the Pagoda should walk up on the right hand site to prevent it from tipping over. There are monks throughout the area praying. Many books and artifacts are housed there.

We then traveled to the Xi’an city wall. This is the oldest intact wall in China. It encircles what used to be the ancient city. It is 9 miles long and quite beautiful. There is a moat, watchtowers and huge gates. The gates open into a courtyard where there is another gate to the watchtowers. The Chinese would let the enemy into the first gate, close it behind them and trap them in the courtyard and kill them.

We then went to the Tang Dynasty show. It was quite colorful and the music was very interesting. We were quite taken with the costumes and the majesty.

Everyone returned to the hotel exhausted and ready to get a good night’s sleep. Most folks haven’t been able to sleep past 5:00 am each day– including us!