Army and kebabs

  Xian, China
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Having had a look back at some of my recent blogs, I'm acutely aware that my use of superlatives has taken a bit of a pounding. Now I may have given the impression with words like "stupendous", "awe-inspiring", "unbelievable" etc. that I was seeing sights that really took my breath away (which in fairness, the Taj, The Forbidden City, etc have) . So I thought, okay - stop now, its getting a bit repetitive. Only use these words again for something that not only beat expectations, but quite literally picked them up and walloped them so hard that even Albert Trott might have been impressed (if you don't know who he is, look him up - if you do, you're as sad as me).

And then I went to the Terracotta Army in Xian. Stupendous, awe-inspiring, unbelievable, breath-taking, etc etc - anyway, you get the message. However before we arrived, things were not so promising. The journey there, in our little tour-bus was punctuated, as these tours so often are, with stops at local factories to see local craftsman at work - or alternatively the chance for the local businesses to trap you in their shop for half an hour as the tour guide buggers off for a cup of tea. So, having left the hotel at 9.30, we finally rocked up at the centre at 2.30, all feeling a little peeved. You then have to walk for about half a mile to the actual entrance, all the time running the gauntlet of half the population of Xian trying to sell you mini warriors or postcards or maps or anything else you didn't want.

Once you get in to the centre, you're steered towards an exhibition hall with more things for sale and a 20 minute film that shows the history of the army, why it was made, why it was lost how it was found etc. I'm not a film expert, but this was hysterically bad - it reminded me of the old TV series, Monkey (you remember, Monkey and Pigsy go round China and beat people up). As we left the film, our guide pointed out this elderly Chinese bloke sitting behind a pile of books, looking supremely bored. This was the farmer who actually found the army, whilst digging a well in 1974. Prior to that, although rumours of its existence had circulated for generations, it was thought to be myth. Anyway, you're not allowed to take a picture of him but you can buy a signed book at the exceptionally good price of £3! As was explained, as an uneducated farmer, the only thing he can actually write is his name which he must do hundreds of times a day, all through the year - no wonder the poor bloke looks bored. His moment of infamy came when he met Bill Clinton. He was taught one phrase in English - when shaking Bill's hand he was to say "How are you?" - unfortunately it came out as "who are you?"!

Anyway, now for the brief history. The army was built by the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shi Huang. Qin was also famous for two other things, one unifying China for the fist time and the second, building the Great Wall - so all in all a busy man. Qin, as you might expect, had a monumental ego and believed that on his death, with a great army, he would be able to rule the afterlife - so he commissioned the Army. And here's the weird part. He ruled for 26 years and the army took 28 years to build - so even before he ascended the throne at 13, his ego was telling him, he was gonna be a bit of a star! So anyway, the Army's built and put in position about 2 miles from his tomb. Then one day, Qin drops dead on a tour of inspection in the East of the country. His death is actually kept a secret for nearly a year, but once the secret's out, with no major figure to lead them, the peasants revolted (they do that well here). As part of their riot, they smashed and burnt the army leaving it to be buried by time. Which it was, until 1974 when the farmer thought this place looked like a good spot to sink a well.

So, now you've had to go through a bit of what I went through, you're now taken to Hall 1, the centrepiece of the Army. Bloody hell! It's a bit like a vast aircraft hanger, but in front of you are the soldiers lined up - there's not as many as you might think, but the sight is impressive nonetheless. I won't bore you with descriptions of the whole place, as words can't really do it justice - I've put up some pictures to give you an idea of the highlights. But, in particular have a look at the detail on the shoe

250 BC Nike!

of the kneeling figure and also the faces - each soldier has a unique face - the belief being that they were modelled on individual soldiers in the Emperor's army.

Everyone a different face

Every figure is also marked with the name of the maker - this was to ensure quality - if the figure wasn't good enough, they could check who made it and kill them!! Probably would have made sense to put your competitor's name there and make a dodgy one.

Although they say otherwise, little excavation work has been done on the army for a couple of years, and to be honest, this strikes me as a good thing. There are three halls in total, each in varying states of excavation - it's fascinating to see how they've done it, and also to see how smashed some of the figures were. It must have been a bit like putting a giant jigsaw puzzle together to actually reconstruct the figures they have done.

The centrepiece of the exhibition are two bronze chariots that were not actually found on the site, but nearer the main tomb. The detail is exquisite.

Stunning detail

It's difficult to see in this picture, but each fibre in this tassel is made from wound bronze. Bear in mind this is nearly 2,500 years old!

As for Xian itself, it's a place where it's history is more interesting that it's present. It was capital of China for nearly 500. During that time it became centre of China's commerce as it lay at the end of the Silk Road, which was the main trading route between Europe and Asia. Although the road itself has long fallen into ruin, one obvious reminder of it remains, the Moslem Quarter of the old city. The inhabitants today are direct descendants of some of the first Moslem traders to make their way to China and the religion is going strong. But it's a slightly surreal place. Lots of Chinese in Moslem prayer caps, the main mosque with Chinese and Arabic script side by side. Of course, this being a Moslem area, it has to have a market

A Chinese souk!

and walking through it, if it wasn't for the faces and the language, you could easily be in the Middle East. The food is also great - a weird fusion of middle east and Chinese cooking. I ate a Chinese kebab for lunch and it was pretty good!

So from here, it's off the Chengdu - famous for Panda's and food!

Rob