Xi'an Terra Cotta Soldiers

Trip Start Jul 28, 2006
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Trip End Ongoing


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Friday, August 18, 2006

Today we are in Xi'an where the famous terra cotta soldiers were discovered. We begin our day at the Shaanxi Museum where we catch a glimpse of the Golden Chariot among the throngs of visitors. Then we are off to the site of the famous 1974 discovery by two local farmers. While drilling for a well during this drought period, the two came across the head and shoulder of one of the thousands of life-sized terra cotta soldiers built by 700,000 workers under the direction of the Emperor Qin Shi Huango to guard his tomb. He is the emperor credited with unifying the seven provinces into one China and he lived in fear of his enemies. He also began construction of The Great Wall of China to protect his country from foreign invaders
The soldiers are amazing and I cannot imagine the giant jigsaw puzzle the archeologists have worked to put these soldiers together. Pit One is probably two-thirds excavated, while Pits Two and Three have only been started on chinese vase
chinese vase
 . Excavation on the emperor's tomb has yet to begin; the Chinese government is waiting at least 50 years so that excavation techniques can improve. The original soldiers were painted and we watch a circle vision movie reenacting their construction. In Pit 1 there are four columns of soldiers in 11 passageways; 6,000 soldiers in all and no two are alike. It is believed the workers used each other as models for the faces and the average height of the soldiers is5'11". By Pit three we are all hot and exhausted. But we trudge on to the original city wall around Xi'an and a pagoda constructed in honor of a monk. It has been an exhausting 12-hour day and we are all punch-drunk. Matt discovers Pit 4 right below our feet and we marvel at this site. More Chinese food-hot pot style this time-and we are off to bed.
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