Soldier Boy

Today we visited the Terra Cotta Warriors. The city is so congested as it is National week and so many Chinese are vacationing and touring. The holiday is actually on Oct. 1st and goes on for the entire week. About 10 times as many people as usual are visiting Xian and the roads are congested as well as the streets and restaurants. We leave early and stop at a terra cotta factory with a “shopportunity” to buy terra cotta warriors and other stuff. We resisted buying anything and were soon back on the bus to the site of the archaeological excavations.

This is an amazing day to actually see the warriors in person. The site was found in 1974 by farmers digging a well and so far about 7000 warriors and horses have been unearthed. This was the tomb and chambers of Qin Shi Huang, a Ching emperor, and his actual tomb is still untouched. This army of warriors guard the tomb and each figure is unique. There is a complete army each with a different face, hair and hands. Amazing. Over 700,000 workers were drafted to create this project about 219 B.C. Kudos to the archaeologists who have been working here reassembling the broken pottery that was found and once more putting the army together.

Lunch at a restaurant on the grounds and then back on the bus to drive 1½ hours back to the city and a short visit to the Provincial Museum. We viewed artifacts from the Ching and Tang dynasties and they were very advanced while Europe was in the dark ages. Dinner at the hotel was so good! Had the buffet and really enjoyed eating Western food with a fork. Back to the room to pack our bags for an early departure with a 5 am wake up call.