Xian

The new tour guide met us at the station, and had hired a chap to carry our bags for us. It was raining in Xian, and the trip to see the warriors was in the morning, so we had a day to ourselves. The tour guide organised a trip to a theatre/dumpling restaurant for the early evening from 5pm, so we just had lunch to sort out. With the weather being so miserable, and the evening meal being dumplings (which I was fairly sure William wouldn't eat) we found a local KFC for lunch and filled him up with chicken and fries. In the afternoon we spent some time in the hotel's pool and played some chess until it was time for the show.

The show turned out to be a disaster - William obviously hadn't slept that well on the train, and was showing signs of being tired during the meal (which as predicted he ate little more than the rice). For my part, the dumplings were great - really tasty and interesting as they form them into the shapes of the main ingredient, such as little pigs or fish. After the meal, we were ushered up to the show, but rather than the usual theatre style seating, the seats were arranged around tables, and we didn't have a very good view - William could hardly see anything. He got into a bit of a strop, and refused any of my suggestions to get a better view. In the end, he fell asleep 15 minutes into the show!

In the morning, we were picked up by the guide to visit the Terracotta Warriors, and thankfully the weather had cleared right up, and we had a nice dry day for the visit. First we stopped by a Jade factory where we could see them carve and polish the Jade and they could then try to sell us their wares...

After a spot of lunch, we were taken up to the warriors.

The Terracotta Warriors were created by the first Emperor of a united China. Prior to this Emperor, China had been feudal, and there were 7 warring states. This emperor united the 7 factions, and built the Great Wall. Before he died, the Emperor had his army of terracotta soldiers built to protect him in the afterlife. He believed that they would protect him, and also protect the united China from his enemies.

The Warriors were not quite finished when he died, but his son brought them all together following his fathers wishes, and the craftsmen who worked on them were killed to protect the secret. The pits that the soldiers were lined up in were covered with wood and earth to hide them. Unfortunately, the secret leaked out, and one of the Generals of one of the kingdoms the Emperor had united came to destroy the Warriors and hence destroy any chance of China remaining united. He failed in his task, as a single kneeling archer was left unbroken, and China remains today united. The archer has become a symbol of luck in at least this region of China.

The Warriors were only actually uncovered in 1974 by a local farmer who still signs autographs on site today. In fact the warriors were known about by local people long before this, as they used the area as a burial ground. While excavating tombs in the area, locals would often come across body parts or faces, and assume them to be demons of the underworld!

It took something like 2 years to piece together enough of the army to open the site to the public. By the 1980's two more pits had been discovered, with the generals and archers in. While we were visiting, archaeologists were excavating some further pits in the main area, and piecing together more lines of warriors.

The overall impression you get from the place is pretty awesome. The scale of what this Emperor had done in order to protect himself and China in the afterlife was pretty astounding, particularly given that this was more than 2000 years ago, and each warrior was hand-crafted, each having a different face - these were not mass produced from a mould!

Finally, the tour guide took us down to the Muslim Old Quarter where the street markets are and there is a large Muslim population. The Bell and Drum towers of the city also reside there. We went back down to this area for our tea - but went to the Pizza Hut in a shopping centre near the Bell tower to fill William up after the previous night's disaster.