Xi'an Round-up
Trip Start
Apr 03, 2008
1
18
26
Trip End
Jul 02, 2008
Xi'an,
China
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Sorry it's been so long again since I've written anything in the blog. We've been busy in Xi'an, meeting new people every day, and seeing some very interesting things as well.
On our first full day in Xi'an (Sunday 11th May), we hired bikes on top of the ancient city walls, and cycled around in just over an hour. It was great fun, especially since Ali hadn't been on a bike for years and had to remember how to ride!!! Towards the end of our ride, we caught up with 3 guys from our hostel who were also cycling around the wall. We finished the ride together, and then headed to a nearby bar for a couple of beers, and to a restaurant for some (very late!) lunch.
For the rest of the evening we played pool in the bar at our hostel, ate some dinner there of wonton soup and spring rolls, and then went for a drink on the nearby bar street.
On Monday 12th May all 5 of us joined the hostel run tour to see the Terracotta Warriors. It left the hostel at 0930, and got back at about 5 or 6pm. It was good value because we were in a small group, which made the trip more personal, but the guide was not really very knowledgeable, and also we were taken to a couple of places on the way to the warriors (a factory that made replica warriors, a restaurant for an early lunch and a silk museum next door) where we were encouraged to buy replicas etc.) That was annoying, but as soon as we made it clear that we were not interested, the tour moved on quite quickly. The lunch cost extra money, but was actually very good value as lots of delicious food was provided.
The warriors were amazing - it's incredible to think that an emperor would create an underground army for his afterlife! Also, it is believed that there are 100s more pits other than the ones that have already been excavated. The excavation is being delayed until there is god enough technology to preserve the colours of any materials found within them.
As I mentioned in my earthquake post, it was while we were in pit 2 at the warriors that we felt the earthquake. Pit 2 is the one that is being quite seriously excavated, so our first concern was that the building was caving in, and then later it because obviuos that it was in fact an earthquake. As we were quite far from the epicentre, the movement that we experienced was in long waves resulting in a swaying motion rather than a jolting. My first instinct was that I was fainting!
Earthquakes are not common in the region, so the security guards at the warriors did not seem to have an earthquake procedure to carry out. There was a lot of confusion, but everyone made their way out of the buildings instinctively.
Eventually we were permitted to return to the buildings, and we witnessed no further effects of the earthquake. The final building that we visited was the museum that holds the bronze horses and chariots, and many bronze weapons.
In the evening, we headed to the Muslim quarter of Xi'an for some dinner. There are some delicious foods to eat there - it's great to try as much as you can! After that we went to the bar at another nearby hostel, then tried to go to a club but Ali and Phil did not meet the dress code as they were wearing flip flops! We had some food on a street corner near to the club and then headed back to the hostel to watch a DVD until very late! It was expected that there might be some significant aftershocks, but we did not feel anything.
On Tuesay 13th May Ali and I intended to check out and climb Mt. Hua. However, we were advised against this by the hostel staff as they were concerned that the mountain might not be safe in case there were aftershocks. We decided to stay at the hostel for another night, and then headed to a nearby coffee bar for a drink and some fruit. The fruit plate was very ornate, but the service was unbearbaly slow (as it often is in China we have found!). Later we walked to the Bell Tower to try to visit it, but it was closed for some reason. We carried on the the train station to investigate transport options to Hua Shan for the next day. At the train station we noticed that there were many people camping out, and a high police presence. Later we found out that these were people stranded in Xi'an as they could not return to Sichuan. The police were there as there had been small scale riots happened as people became more and more frustrated.
We ate some dinner in the hostel bar again (it serves good Chinese and western food, but we always go for the Chinese food except at breakfast time!), and then got a taxi to the Big Goose Pagoda to watch the fountain and music show. It is meant to be the largest in Asia, and certainly is quite impressive. After watching the show and walking around the area for a couple of hours, we got a taxi back to the hostel, headed to the bar next door again to play darts and table football, and watched some more DVDs.
On Wednesday 14th May we checked out at midday, left our bags at the hostel for free, and headed to the train station. We got a bus from outside the station to Hua Shan (about 1.5 hrs on the bus). The bus leaves when it is full, so it is difficult to know when to turn up. We arrived in Hua Shan village at about 3pm, ate some lunch, and then set off on the 7km climb with a French girl called Carine who we had met on the bus. We started walking at 4pm, and arrived at the hostel (on Green Dragon Ridge) at about 8.30pm. The climb is easy enough for the first 4km, but thereafter it is resentless steep steps. The views are so wonderful though, that it is well worth it.
We arrived at the hostel and found that they were almost deserted, so there was plenty of room for us three! We stayed in a 20 bed dorm, but it was only us in there. The standards of the hostels at the top of the mountain is VERY VERY basic, as you might imagine. The beds were like board, there was no inside toilet, and the staff seemed mainly concerned with getting us to go to bed than anything else! Nonetheless, we waited about an hour before sleeping, eating some overpriced instant noodles first.
On Thursday 15th May we got up at 0430 (and we were grateful for the excuse to get off the horrible beds!), and walked about 40 minutes to the East Peak to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful. Although our climb up the mountain had been very quiet, many locals climb up the mountain during the night, so there were many people around by 5am. After watching the sunrise we walked around the East, South and West Peaks for about 3 hours (again reasonably strenuous) and then walked to the North peak to catch the cable car back down the mountain. From the bottom of the mountain we caught a bus back to Xi'an, arriving at around midday. We went to a restaurant with Carine for some lunch (one dish included something that was very strange, and I'd rather not know what it was, but it tasted fine...), before going our separate ways. We went to check back into the hostel, whereas Carine caught a plane to Beijing. We agreed to meet up again in Beijing in a few days. After returning to the hostel, Ali and I enjoyed nice hot showers. We got some sandwiches at the hostel, and then at 6pm we were collected by a tour guide called Clarence Guo who we had booked to take us on a tour of a cave dwelling village outside of Xi'an. He was really knowledgeable, and made us regret that we did not take his tour of the Warriors as well! It was really interesting seeing the caves that about 1million people still live in in this province alone. The tour took about 3 hours (mainly driving time there and back), and although the time there was short, it was well worth it.
On Friday 16th May (yesterday) we decided to have a lazy day around Xi'an. We did some shopping in the lovely markets in the Muslim quarter, and visited the Great Mosque as well. The mosque was very interesting as it was in a very noticeable Chinese style, but with obvious Islamic influences as well. We also went to the advanced train ticket booking office to buy train tickets to Beijing for Saturday. This was a much better option than braving the chaos at the train station booking hall as we have in the past!
We headed back to the hostel in the early evening, and then spent from 6pm until 4am talking to LOADS of new people! Every Friday night at this hostel they hold a free dumpling party, where you can learn to make dumplings, and then eat what you have made. We met a Danish couple, a Finnish girl, an Italian guy, 2 Australians, some Indians, and many many others all in the course of one evening - we had such a great time. One of the Australians had been caught right in the earthquake, so we were all listening to his stories of the chaos and fear. After the dumpling party, the time just flew by as we talked for hours about everyone's home countries and their travelling experiences.
Today is Saturday 17th May, and we are getting a train to Beijing this evening at 8.30pm. Today we have not doen much other than to check out, get some lunch, play pool and mess around on computers! We will head in to town in a bit to buy some supplies for the 12 hour train journey.
I'll let you know more when I can!
Kate xx
Comments
Re-evaluating the History of Xian's TerracottaWarr
The Qin Terracotta Warriors were discovered in China's Shaanxi province near Xi'an in 1974 by six local farmers. A flurry of national media surrounded the discovery, and excavations were soon begun. The figures were found to be part of a massive burial complex whose construction was ordered by the First Emperor of China, Qin Shihuangdi, when he ascended the throne in 246 BC. The underground city, which includes not only a life-size army, but also a variety of other court members and serving staff, was built to provide the Emperor with the resources necessary to recreate his earthly realm in the afterlife.
In addition to the first pit discovered by the farmers, two more pits were found nearby, containing altogether around 8,000 life-size warriors and horse s. These had been buried 5-7 meters underground, and archaeological studies have confirmed that there was at one point a wooden ceiling of about 3.5 meters high covering the warriors. Archaeologists believe that the subterranean structure was constructed by first digging a pit about five meters deep, which was then divided into sections by rammed-earth partitions. The builders then placed the beams of the wooden roof on top of these partitions, and covered the entire structure with a layer of earth 2.7 to 3 meters deep.
When the warriors were excavated, almost all the pottery figures were broken and the wooden ceiling had been burned. Carbon dating methods indicate that the ceiling was burned 2200 years ago, very soon after the death of Qin Shihuangdi. Sima Qian's Shi ji, one of China's oldest historical records, indicates that the Qin Emperor's palace and mausoleum were destroyed in the rebellions that surged just four years after the Qin Shihuangdi died, in 206 BC. As a result, most archaeologists believe that the reason why the warriors were found crushed beneath an incinerated wooden ceiling is because the rebels opened the underground complex in order to get at the weapons, and then set it ablaze.
However, there are some problems with this explanation. First, scans of the Emperor's tomb, which has not yet been excavated, indicate that it has never been opened, contrary to the Sima Qian's assertion that it was burned by the rebels. Furthermore, had the rebels actually penetrated the terracotta army complex to the east of the tomb, as they would have needed to do in order to burn the entire structure, in all likelihood they would have looted the bronze weapons buried with the figures. As over 40,000 bronze weapons have been unearthed in pits one and three, with possibly more still buried in p it two, this clearly did not happen.
There are also practical physical reasons why the present theory is untenable, making it urgently necessary to re-evaluate the current explanation for the state in which the warriors were found. The air 3.5 meters underground would not have been rich enough in oxygen to support a fire capable of destroying the entire ceiling. Also, the wood, after having been buried for many years, would have been wet or even rotten. It would have been difficult to burn under the best of conditions, but interred in a vast underground complex with little or no ventilation, it would have been next to impossible produce a fire destructive enough to cause the structure to collapse.
Overwhelming evidence suggests that the terracotta figures buried for the First Emperor's use could not, in fact, have been destroyed by the rebels intent on overthrowing the Qin dynasty. I would like to propose an alternate theory, which I believe conforms both to China's ancient and traditional religious practices as well as to the physical evidence unearthed by archaeologists.
In China, the oldest religious tradition, dating back even before the time of the First Emperor, is Daoism. According to the Daoists, the only way to send objects to the dead is by burning them as a sacrifice. This tradition persists even today, as people continue to burn paper money, horses, cars, etc., as offerings to their loved ones who have passed away. The layout of the underground complex, including its location and organization, suggests that the Emperor was convinced of the importance of feng shui, or geomancy, and used Daoist concepts in the construction of his underground realm. It is logical to conclude, then, that he would have want ed to ensure that he would have access to this upon his death, causing him to leave instructions that the complex be burned as a sacrifice to him after he died. I believe that the underground city containing the terracotta figures was constructed from the start with the intent to burn their contents, thus ensuring that they would reach the emperor in the spirit world.
After the wooden ceiling was burned, I believe it was buried by only a very thin layer of earth, not enough yet to produce a crushing pressure. 2,200 years ago, the ground level around the tombs was probably much lower, and when the pits with the warriors were finished, the wooden ceiling was in open air with around one-half to one meter above ground. However, yearly flooding during Shaanxi's rainy season over time could easily bring enough earth down from the mountains to bury the figures at their current depth. To the south of the Qin Emperor's mausole um lies a mountain which was completely deforested by the tomb builders in the process of constructing the enormous burial structure. The mountain is composed of earth, not stone, and when it floods every year, the water brings dirt and silt downhill. Over time, this caused the soldiers to be buried deeper and deeper underground. This accounts for the state in which the soldiers were discovered, as the pressure from the mounting flood material would have eventually produced the cave-in which destroyed the figures. The pattern of destruction in the opened pits corroborates this theory, as the flank guards, which are to the edges of the pit where the pressure would have been less intense, are relatively intact, as are the kneeling archers, who sit lower than the rest of the army and may in fact have been already partially buried by flood material by the time they were buried.
In Pit Number Two, it can be seen that the northern p art of the pit is four meters lower than the south. This is because the mountain, where the floods originate, is located to the south, producing uneven deposit patterns of flood material. From this it can be concluded that the earth on top of the wooden ceiling was brought by flood waters, and was not placed there 2,200 years ago by the First Emperor's workers.
The terrain around Xian is mostly loess, a special kind of silt or clay which erodes easily when soaked with rainwater. This supports the supposition that the terracotta figures were buried in successively deeper layers of earth after the initial burial, not interred seven meters deep immediately upon the emperor's death. Loess is also relatively soft, and this special geological property has made it possible for people in Shaanxi to hollow out caves in the hillsides. People have been living in these caves for several thousand years, and there are still more than on e million people living in cave dwellings around Xian and throughout Shaanxi province. If the Emperor had indeed wanted the the figures safely buried underground, it would have been much more reasonable and secure to place them in caves rather than bury them under a wooden ceiling vulnerable to the destructive forces of time and decomposition.
After several years of observation and study, I have concluded that the evidence points to an entirely different explanation of the warriors' history than the one that is currently accepted. It is improbable that the rebels penetrated the pits where the warriors were buried, as no looting is evident and scans of the mausoleum to the west do not indicate that it has been opened since its initial construction and burial. Physically speaking, once the complex was buried, as the excavators assume it was upon completion, it would have been impossible for the rebels to burn the wooden ceiling due to a lack of air and the dampness of the wood. The depth of the complex also varies markedly from the south to the north, suggesting that it was not buried to its present depth by its builders, but instead was gradually covered by flood material brought down from the mountain during the rainy season. This evidence shows that the existing explanation is inadequate. Drawing on my knowledge of ancient religious practices and historical traditions, which are evident in the construction and choice of location for the First Emperor's tomb, I believe that the Emperor ordered the complex to be built as a future sacrifice to his spirit after his death. This explanation matches not only the physical evidence revealed during excavation, but also the traditional beliefs that predominated at the time of the tomb's construction.
clarenceguo@yahoo.com