We took a weekend off and flew from Shanghai to Xian, the primary purpose of which was to see the Terracotta Warriors. On arrival, we joined a tour that would take us to the site of the museum, which is approximately two hours from the city centre. Driving out to the site, we noticed still, a lot of coal burning, which unfortunately adds to the low air quality, which is especially bad in certain parts of China.
The site of the terracotta warriors consists of three buildings, two of which contain the ruins of the terracotta warriors and the third consists of a movie theatre and souvenir shop, where for a small price (a few thousand dollars), you can own a statue of your own, with your own face gracing the top. Since we didn’t want the mirror to crack, we decided to pass on ordering this life-sized souvenir.
As we walked through the first building where the terracotta soldiers were kept, it was amazing. Hundreds, if not a thousand soldiers had been unearthed and pieced together to its original state. Each of the clay statues had a unique facial expression and each represented a certain soldier that fought during the Tang dynasty. The detail was unbelievable and the craftsmanship unparalleled. In addition, the statues of the horses were amazingly lifelike, and with our mouths agape, we marveled at it all.
The process of unearthing these soldiers is a feat in and of itself. In the second of the three buildings, they were in the process of unearthing more of these soldiers. In looking at the remains that had already been surfaced, there were a lot of small broken pieces that would eventually be put back into a standing soldier. How they would be able to fit the puzzle back together is truly amazing.
Through their excavations, they were actually able to unearth one of the soldiers completely in tact. After all these years, it’s truly remarkable. There were a couple others that were also close to being completely in tact. We were able to see those at close range — and it was very special….
As we were leaving the terracotta museum, we challenged one of our friends that we met on tour, to pose as a terracotta warrior. The picture was awesome!! He fit the character perfectly. We left there satisfied, having fulfilled our desires…..
The next stop, however, was interesting as well. We went to the Le Mountains, where Chiang Kai Shek was in hiding and where he was eventually captured in his pajamas, after fleeing the communist party. It was a very beautiful area, with various bath houses and a temple high above.
Our final stop before having lunch was to a jade store. Of course, we were told that Xian’s jade was the best in China. Their jade was supposedly used in the Olympic medals. The jury is still out on whether the story is true or not. We were told that the jade was the best in every city in China, by different people — Shanghai, Beijing and Xian..and I’m sure a host of other cities as well… You be the judge….
Lunch consisted of a lot of different types of dumplings, all of them small and all with a different colored wrapping. These dumplings were unlike anything that I’ve tasted. They were much harder in texture and much drier. I’m not sure that I like these, having been exposed to the juicy jao tse and shalom bao.
The next day, we walked along the city wall. Though much of it is in its original state, many parts of the wall had been reconstructed. It was, nevertheless, impressive!
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