The terracotta warriors were a massive army of statues commissioned by Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. They were buried with him so that he could take his army to the afterlife with him. They were discovered by a farmer outside of Xi'an, and after excavation, archeologists have found hundreds of pits, as well as the emperor's burial tomb, however, they are hesitant to open the excavation sites for fear they will ruin the statues inside. In fact, all of the warriors used to be painted bright colors, but within a few hours of being exposed to our modern air the colors disappeared. When technology is better, they will continue to explore. But for now, tourists can check out the three main pits filled with terracotta soldiers, generals, horses, archers, musicians, and acrobats, which bring in millions of visitors every year.
To be honest, this touristy place would have been super boring without our amazing guide, Linda. It's just lines and lines of statues. However, the history of how they were created, how they were discovered, and how they are being reconstructed was really interesting. I'm glad I went, but it was a one time deal: no need to go twice.
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| Sabra-cotta warrior |
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| Briel-acotta warrior does not work nearly as well... |
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| The main pit of warriors |
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| Some bad-ass dudes |
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| Pictorial proof that we were actually there |
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| Some Chinese tourists were following us around and taking pictures, not of the warriors but of us... they really wanted a picture of Ima throwing up the peace sign, so she obliged. |
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| Mr. Perfect and me, the only soldier they found fully intact. Boyfriend material? |
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| Holding up the pagoda because it's no big deal |
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| Buddha |
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| Female buddha |
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| Wait for it... |
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| Disco Buddha |
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| Pray to this Buddha for wealth |
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| I get Mr. Perfect, she can have Happy Buddha... |
What happened next is one of those, "is this really happening?" moments. We went to get more money from the ATM, but my card kept getting rejected (I had to get a new card while in China and they didn't transfer the note that said "for use in China") and Ima's card got eaten by the machine, so we were penniless and poor in Xi'an. Plus, we were yet to pay our wonderful guide. Not like she could have left us there anyway, but she went above and beyond to make sure we were set up and able to get a working card. We were supposed to go straight to the Muslim Quarter for dinner, but instead we went to our hotel first and I was able to call my bank and get it straightened out while Linda and our driver waited patiently in the lobby. By this time, it was already 8 PM, we hadn't eaten, and would be unable to pay Linda until 9. She took us to the Muslim Quarter (where our driver left us, because apparently it was his BIRTHDAY and his whole family was waiting for him to go home. I may or may not have shed a few tears over the thought of his small children and a wilting birthday cake.) We took a successful trip to the bank and she showed us to the restaurant where we were supposed to have eaten at much earlier, a Xi'an dumpling place that makes dumplings shaped like the food that is in them.
While I would have said, "see ya" and ditched us immediately, Linda stayed with us and told us about the restaurant, made sure we were getting the right food, and hung around even as we ate. By this time, it was 9:30 PM and she had been with us for over 12 hours. We had to insist that she leave and go home to rest: she seriously deserved it.
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| So delicious! |
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| Not rabbit stuffed dumplings, they were of the sweet dessert variety. |
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| Chicken dumplings |
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| Oh hey there bunny, I'm going to eat your ears off... |
Afterward, even though we were exhausted and frustrated with our day, we went to the Muslim market. It was totally worth it. Even though we were stuffed from dinner, there were so many kinds of interesting foods to try. We wandered through the streets looking at the artwork, jewelry, and all the trinkets and tchotchkes.
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| The drum tower at night |
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| Everything was in Chinese and Arabic |
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| Chef at work |
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| Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm |
The next day, we went back to the city wall to walk around and check out the Muslim market during the day. We were flying to Nanjing in the evening, so we kept it relaxed and didn't do a whole lot: mostly just meandering.
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| Breakfast... basically a Chinese falafel |
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| On the wall, while the photographer (Ima) has a heart attack |
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| Drummin' at the Drum Tower |
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| The wall. Excitement abounds. |
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| "Look at all these lanterns!" |
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| The Muslim Quarter in the light of day |
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| The fixins... |
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| That could go in my awesome sweet rice dessert-y thing |
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