The final leg of our trip was to Xi'an. It started out a little stressful because we spoke with an airline rep for China Eastern regarding our connecting flight from Xi'an to Shanghai and Shanghai to LAX. It only had a 1 hour layover and they actually weren't connecting flights, but two separate tickets so we would have had to check out and then back in again. When the airline employee told us we would most likely miss the flight back to LAX because of the foggy weather they have been having in Xi'an, we got really worried. Our tour guide, Jay, ended up taking us to the China Eastern office, where we ended up buying new tickets to Shanghai, leaving one night earlier. After that, we were all good!
Here we are in the car heading into the city walls of Xi'an. Throughout China there were always employees out washing the streets. It was a really foggy morning, which they said is typical in Xi'an during the winter.
Dad and Betty standing right in front of the entrance outside of the Xi'an City Wall.
A view of Xi'an from on top of the city wall. It was amazing to just look out and see how huge Xi'an is. That day the wall was particularly crowded because there was some kind of run/walk that was going on (kind of like 5K).
Here is our family shot atop the City Wall.
We went to a Terra
Cotta Warrior Museum (aka factory where they try and sell you figurines. We were in and out of there in 5 minutes because we were past the point of feigning interest- by this time in Xi'an we had already been to a fan shop and a silk screening factory).
Of course the main reason why we wanted to go to Xi'an was to visit the Mausoleum of the First
Qin Emperor where all the Terra
Cotta Warriors were found by a farmer in 1974. When we arrived at the site, they had just completed remodeling and expanding the front entrance surrounding the museum. It was full of empty shops and storefronts, waiting for the influx of tourists that will likely come with the 2008 Olympics.
After making it past all of the shops and merchants, we had to walk across this huge expansive park where we were stopped by many more street merchants trying to get us to buy
terra cotta warrior figurines for $1.
And finally, the excavation site of all the warriors. It was amazing to hear how they were made, and know that each
life size warrior has a different face- no two are alike. The warriors were divided by what kind of weapon they carried, and there were also chariots, horses, etc. There are still many parts that haven't been excavated because the
archaeologists are hoping that the technology will improve so that they can eventually excavate without having all the paint disintegrate (each of the warriors are actually painted, but the exposure to the air has caused the paint to come off). There are also a lot that have been damaged over time and many of the soldiers that are on display have been slowly pieced back together. There is only one so far that was almost entirely intact- that is located on display in the museum.
Here we are in the car heading into the city walls of Xi'an. Throughout China there were always employees out washing the streets. It was a really foggy morning, which they said is typical in Xi'an during the winter.
Dad and Betty standing right in front of the entrance outside of the Xi'an City Wall.
A view of Xi'an from on top of the city wall. It was amazing to just look out and see how huge Xi'an is. That day the wall was particularly crowded because there was some kind of run/walk that was going on (kind of like 5K).
Here is our family shot atop the City Wall.
We went to a Terra Cotta Warrior Museum (aka factory where they try and sell you figurines. We were in and out of there in 5 minutes because we were past the point of feigning interest- by this time in Xi'an we had already been to a fan shop and a silk screening factory).
Of course the main reason why we wanted to go to Xi'an was to visit the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor where all the Terra Cotta Warriors were found by a farmer in 1974. When we arrived at the site, they had just completed remodeling and expanding the front entrance surrounding the museum. It was full of empty shops and storefronts, waiting for the influx of tourists that will likely come with the 2008 Olympics.
After making it past all of the shops and merchants, we had to walk across this huge expansive park where we were stopped by many more street merchants trying to get us to buy terra cotta warrior figurines for $1.
And finally, the excavation site of all the warriors. It was amazing to hear how they were made, and know that each life size warrior has a different face- no two are alike. The warriors were divided by what kind of weapon they carried, and there were also chariots, horses, etc. There are still many parts that haven't been excavated because the archaeologists are hoping that the technology will improve so that they can eventually excavate without having all the paint disintegrate (each of the warriors are actually painted, but the exposure to the air has caused the paint to come off). There are also a lot that have been damaged over time and many of the soldiers that are on display have been slowly pieced back together. There is only one so far that was almost entirely intact- that is located on display in the museum.
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