It's raining cats and dogs today in Xi'an. Today we are going to see the Terra cotta warriors.
We start with a workshop where they now make replicas and where we see a demonstration of how the statues were made over 2000 years ago. The clay soil here in this region is what has preserved these statues for all this time.
The Terracotta warriors museum is huge and divided into 3 pits.
We are standing in the line waiting for a shuttle to take us to the 1st pit, all huddled under umbrellas when I realized that Karl, Bethan's husband was wearing shorts and a t shirt. The past few days when it has been in excess of 30 degrees he has been in long pants and long sleeved top. These English men have it all a bit mixed up I think!
The Terracotta Army or the "Terracotta Warriors and Horses" is a collection of terra cotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang,the first Emperor of China It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.
The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE,were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in the Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.
The detail of these sculptures has to be seen to be believed and the work is on going as during a rebellion in China's ancient history rebels broke into the tomb, stole the weapons and valuables and smashed the statues. They are slowly being restored and there is still so much to uncover.
The mausoleum of the emperor may never be opened as it has been discovered that there is a large amount of mercury within the site, but 25 metres below the surface there is believed to be an underground palace.
After the site we go to have lunch at a nearby tea house where we have soup, sandwiches and fruit. We are then treated to a tea tasting which is very interesting with the way the different types of tea is treated before being served. The whole idea is to sell the tea and products at the end but we know we can't bring it back into the country so no sale for us.
It's Sunday but the traffic is still crazy. We go to visit the Shangxi Provincial Museum which was not all that exciting as we had seen similar displays in Shanghai.
We have about 45 minutes to get ready for dinner which is a dumplings party followed by a traditional Tang Dynasty performance. Xi'an is well known for its dumplings and tonight we are served 16 different dumplings. It's crazy as they just keep coming. Some were really yummy and some were so so. The duck dumplings were shaped like a duck. The seafood ones were shaped like a fish and there were cabbage ones that were green. Very interesting.
The show is colorful and entertaining and it went for around an hour. On the way back to the hotel we drive past the city wall and the gates and moat to see it at night. The lights used in this city are quite amazing.
Tomorrow we have a few places to visit in the morning and ten we fly to Beijing in the early evening.