Xian - City of Warriors
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2007
1
4
58
Trip End
Oct 22, 2007
Xi'an,
China
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Before getting to the main attraction, The Terracotta Warriors, we had a few stops to make along the way.
First stop was the Huaqing Hot Springs, another place of relaxation for the Emperor and his concubines in really beautiful surroundings. The best part of it for us was going to the new relaxation chamber where you can sit on small stools and put you feet into clay bowls with water from the hot springs running into them. Feeling very chilled we set off via the fruit sellers to buy fresh pomegranates, yum!
Next was the obligatory visit to the pottery and furniture factory where we got to pose as and with the manufactured Terracotta Soldiers and even have the opportunity to buy a life-sized version of them, free shipping included!
Finally, after a final stop for a bite to eat for lunch and to see a terrible propaganda film of the country, area and discovery, we finally got to see what we came for and we were in no way disappointed, quite the contrary. There were rows upon rows of these life-sized warriors, soldiers, archers and horse drawn chariots, all for the protection of the Emperor in his after-life. (This all sounds remarkably similar to the Egyptian Pharaohs.) Amazingly, all of the artisans who created this army were killed at the end of it all just to ensure they did not disclose the secret location of the army! Wow, what an experience.
For supper we went exploring the Muslim district. There had been a power outage so most of the restaurants were very dark with just candlelight. Very romantic but I needed to be able to see. We found a restaurant with light and joined a long table. When we asked our neighbours what they were eating they pointed at the menu and very generously offered us some beef tripe, thank but no thanks. We did manage to find something edible which turned out to be delicious.
