Terracotta Army
After a buffet breakfast, we drove a couple hours outside Xi'an to see the Terracotta Army. Built in 210 BC, the army was lost until local farmers discovered it while drilling a water well in 1974.
Prior to entering the exhibits, we peeked inside the Cinema Building to see if the original discoverer was present. He was! I bought a commemorative book and had him autograph it for me while Jason covertly took a photo a few steps away. There was a 'No Photos' sign, but with the discoverer's poor eyesight, that sign may really apply to flash photography.
There's three pits of varying sizes and functions. The first pit is by far the largest and contained infantry men. It's the most excavated and often photographed one. The other two pits were much smaller and not as well lit. One pit was made up of support forces (e.g. archers, horsemen) while the other held generals and other high ranking warriors. The higher the rank, the more ornate and voluminous the uniforms.
In the pic below, a huge terracotta warrior 'puppet' holding a girl's hand was funded by Johnson & Johnson for the 2008 Olympic Games.
It was pretty creepy.
It'll be interesting to see how this place looks 20-30 years from now. The archeologists will have unearthed more warrior pieces and assembled more bodies. Turns out much, if not all, of the warrior pieces actually have color but much of the color fades after excavation and air exposure. The museum continues to experiment with forthcoming technology to retain the original color. I bought a miniature terracotta warrior figure as a keepsake.
An archer...
Super cool chest armor.
After the drive back to Xi'an, we did a food stop at the Muslim Quarter for 45 minutes before needing to head to the train station. I made a bee line to the fried lamb pancakes. Yummy like yesterday. It had been raining nearly the entire time we've been in the Xi'an region so I wasn't nearly able to explore the city like I would have wanted to. Next time, I'll have to tour the Bell Tower and bike on the city walls.
We went to the train station to catch our overnight sleeper train to Beijing. Trains is by far how most Chinese travel, so this place was packed! People everywhere! We bought some cold Tsingtaos for the night and got on board. Our car was nice and quite comfy with each room fitting four. Joanne, Doug, and I shared the space with a similar aged Chinese guy. It was pretty clear that the other riders in our car were more educated and wealthier than the norm. A lot of the Chinese onboard spoke good english and sometimes little to no accent. It was a good relaxing night. I caught up on some blogging, threw back a couple Tsingtaos, and chilled with the group in the other room before calling it a night. When I wake up, I'll be in Beijing.
