The museum entrance hall with a stone lion on guard
Some of the terra cotta warriors close up. There were life-sized horses, infantry, and archers in the tomb - just as there would have been in an actual battle deployment back then.
Inside a glass case were the bronze model chariots and horses from the Qin tomb.
For our stay in Xi'an, ABC Tours provided a local guide in addition to Mr. Chen. This gentlemen was a college professor in the local university and in addition to speaking excellent English, was extremely knowledgeable about the area's history and culture.
Aside from the historical aspects, modern Xi'an was a sprawling industrial city, actually more a region. We were told that it is a "small" city - only 7 million inhabitants. The original city walls still surround the core downtown area where our hotel was located. Our hotel was a Hyatt Regency and again was excellent.
A coal-fired power plant in Xi'an
The Hyatt Regency in Xi'an
After we settled in at the hotel, we had some free time. Unlike our hotel in Beijing, this place was located on the city's main shopping street. So we decided to take a walk around and look things over. This street, Dong Da Jie, was similar to the main drag in any US or European city. There were large, rather pricey stores selling electronics, fashions, Nike sneakers, etc. The only difference was that the signs were in Chinese with a smattering of English. Actually, it reminded me of a cross between Canal Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City (Canal is in the more modern part of New York's Chinatown). There were, as there had been in Beijing, a KFC and McDonalds in prominent spots on the street. Mr. Chen told us that KFC is very popular in China because unlike Chinese-style chicken which is cut up into small pieces, the KFC offers the novelty of eating whole legs, wings etc.
The street was very crowded - it was a Saturday Night and Chinese workers usually get the weekend off - both with autos and pedestrians. A word of caution to travelers: Chinese drivers do not stop for pedestrians; unless there is a traffic light you cross at your own risk. Another minor fact: while Chinese people are on the whole very polite and courteous, if someone brushes up against you or bumps you in a public place don't expect the Chinese equivalent of "excuse me". It's not discourtesy, but simply the assumption that in a country with 1.3 billion people, people are constantly bumping into one another so live with it.
That night we were treated to a rather forgettable dinner at a local restaurant courtesy of our tour company. Afterward, we took another stroll on the main drag and then turned in for the night.
The following day we were bussed a couple of hours away to the famous Qin tomb. It was pretty amazing. The tomb is basically a national park now and consists of three separate "digs", each with its own huge, hangar-like building. The oldest of the digs stems from an incident in 1974 when a farmer was digging a new well and got hit by a piece of terra cotta warrior. He contacted the government who sent in archaeologists.
A video Michelle made of the original excavation. It gives you some idea of the scope of the excavation. There are two others just as large.
We were told that emperor Qin began the construction of the tomb some time before his death. The construction technique was to dig parallel cuts separated by wide earthen walls as you see in the video. The cuts were covered by wooden logs and woven matting which in turn was covered with earth.
Qin died before the work was finished and was interred in the tomb. The work continued, but then a peasant's revolt took place and the rebels overran the area. During the ensuing chaos, the unfinished tomb apparently caught fire. It's not certain whether the fire was accidental or deliberately set by the revolting peasants. In any case, the wooden beams burned, the tomb caved in, and two thousand years of natural erosion filled the whole thing in until it was forgotten. In the cave-in most of the terra cotta figures were crushed. So, when the tombs were excavated, the figures you see were put back together like giant jigsaw puzzles.
The entrance to the Qin tomb complex
A closer view of the terra cotta warriors. The faces on all the warriors are different and may have been modeled from actual people.
This is the condition the statues were in when they were first unearthed.
The whole Qin tomb excavation site with its clay army was pretty incredible and is considered by some to be the "Eighth Wonder of the World"
After touring the three tomb sites, we had lunch at the park's restaurant. As one would expect from a national park where the government wants to make a good impression on visitors, the food was pretty decent. There was a chef making hand-pulled noodles, a Chinese speciality, which were served in a hearty beef soup.
Then it was back on the bus and back to Xi'an.
That afternoon, we had some free time, so the six of us decided to catch cabs to an area that Abe read about in his guide book. It was a place near the city wall called "Culture Street" and was what our guide liked to call "Chinatown". By this he meant an old fashioned Chinese shopping district where one bargained for items in small family-run shops as opposed to the trendy stores near our hotel. Think Mott and Pell streets as opposed to Canal Street.
"Culture Street" Xi'an
On this street and the various alleys off of it, we got our first taste of bargaining Chinese-style. Almost no one spoke English, but everyone had a cheap battery calculator with a large readout. You pointed to what you wanted and the shopkeeper (usually female) entered a number and showed you. She then handed you the calculator to enter your counter offer. Of course, you entered some ridiculously low price, and she would give an Academy Award performance in Chinese the gist of which seemed to be that if she sold you that particular Tchotchke for that insultingly low price she would be obliged to sell her children for medical experiments or something to avoid starvation.
Of course, this was all a game, and in the end, a price would be agreed upon somewhere in the middle of the two positions. We would feel like we got a bargain and the shopkeeper would get to keep her children. Abe and Roz even bought some nice Chinese wall hangings for their new home from a shop down a side street that seemed to specialize in art shops.
We took a cab back to the hotel and a little while later boarded our tour bus again; this time to attend a performance of traditional Tang Dynasty music and dance and then have a Dim Sum dinner.
The Tang Dynasty ruled China from Xi'an during what were roughly Western Europe's Dark Ages. In China, however, this was a time of high culture and enlightenment which went along with increased trade both overland and maritime. This included a revival of the Silk Road and contacts with still civilized Western nations such as the Byzantine Empire as well as Persia and India.
Anyway, the performance we saw was based on traditional music and musical instruments from the Tang period along with dance from the Tang Court.
A snapshot of the Tang Dynasty dancers and musicians. Contrary to popular belief, this dynasty did not invent powdered orange drink.
Our jolly group of would-be Marco Polos at the show. Left to Right: Abe, Alex, Monica, a lamp, Roz, Michelle, and me.
The show was enjoyable and afterward we were ushered down some stairs to a restaurant for a Dim Sum dinner. Dim Sum are Chinese dumplings filled with various things: meat, seafood, vegetables. The meal was quite good, with a good variety of dumplings and other dishes.
Then it was back to the Hyatt to pack for the next day's flight to Shanghai.
Next time: we get Shanghaied
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