Xi'an - once were warriors

One line of warriors in the main pit - the unfixed warriors are in the background
see all photos »

We arrived in Xian at 7 in the morning, after 12 hours on a sleeper train from Beijing.  Our tickets were for the "hard sleeper" class, which are bunk beds three high, arranged in groups of six, open to the train corridor.  Lights out at 10 - snorers on!  Most of us didn't get much sleep - maybe 4 or 5 hours if lucky.  After a shower and quick nap at the hotel in Xian we were ready to hit the city.

Our initial impressions of Xian were that it is much nicer having more atmosphere than Beijing, it feels like more of city where people enjoy living.  We took a walking city tour through the bustling streets, markets and interesting cultural artifacts within walking distance of each other, all within an ancient city wall.  We spent the rest of the day wandering through the Muslim quarter, looking at 'antiques' and enjoying not being pestered for once in a market!  I bought a compass, so hopefully no more being lost for me.

....doing the chicken dance....

This bronze chariot with horses was found in the terracotta warrior tomb
see all photos »

On Monday we went to see the Terracotta Warriors.  After some initial confusion in our group ("Oh! so they aren't real warriors then?" "No, they are made of Terracotta") we went to see a movie giving some background to the warriors, in surround picture IMAX style. For those of you who also haven't heard about these - they are an army of lifesize, individual warriors made of clay buried as part of a very egotistical emperors tomb in 231BC, to protect him in the after life.  They were discovered about 30 years ago by a farmer digging an irrigation well, and since then archaeologists have been working to painstakingly piece them together for us tourists to gawk at.  They think that there are about 6000 warriors and related equipment all together, including horses and chariots.

Drum tower in central Xi'an - used in ancient times to signal the end of the day
see all photos »

The warriors themselves are contained in three pits, all enclosed in aircraft type hangers.  The warriors were damaged over the years from fire (immediately after the emperor died, he wasn't so popular) and earthquakes.  It takes 1 archaeologist 3 months to piece together one of them, like a huge jigsaw puzzle.  You can see uncovered warriors that have still to be put together, and areas of the pits that haven't even been opened yet due to the authorities waiting for technology to advance to a level where they can be sure of protecting the colours each warrior is painted in, which oxidises and disappears within minutes of the warriors being uncovered.  It is all very impressive.

This boy grabbed my hand and dragged me to his drums, to teach me how to play. I rocked.
see all photos »

After the warriors some of us had lunch at Xian Huiling - a charity that Intrepid support that looks after people who are mentally disabled.  They gave us a lovely lunch of dumplings and some traditional festival food, and then gave us a performance.  This included piano playing (very good), impromptu dancing, singing and drumming to Chinese music (very enthusiastic), and doing the chicken dance (us visitors included).  It was all very entertaining, and their happiness and enthusiasm was catching.

No beating around the bush here
see all photos »

Then it was time to catch another overnight train (17 hours this time) to Shanghai.  We would have all liked to stay longer in Xian, it is a great place to just wander around in.