This morning we let bring and early. My dad had hired a driver through the taxi driver that took us to tour hotel last night. We left around 8 and first went to see the terracotta warriors. Maybe next to the Great Wall of China, the terracotta army is the coolest thing I have seen in all of China. There were thousands of warriors there, and thousands still that need to be rebuilt or uncovered. When they were first unearthed, almost all of them were broken into one or many pieces. Workers have carefully fit the pieces of the warriors back together, and a lot of them are complete warriors again.
We hired a tour guide who told us lots of good information throughout the tour. There were 4 pits of warriors we could look at. The first pit was the largest, and had tons of warriors, both rebuilt and still in pieces. Pit 3 had the next largest number of warriors. Most of pit 2 is still covered and hasn’t been unearthed yet. They are going to try and preserve the warriors better than the first and third pits were. All of the warriors were originally painted in bright colorful colors, but that was 2000 years ago. As soon as the paint was exposed to air, it oxidized and turned to the black that we are so familiar with. The guide said since the technology is so much better now than in the 70s when they were first discovered, workers think they can preserve the paint of the warriors still underground.
I took tons of photos and videos. It was just so amazing! I really wish Rob could have seen that with me. I know he really would have liked it. We went through a little gift shop while we were there and the farmer who discovered the warriors was there. I got a book about the terracotta army and he signed it. It was kind of cool. I also bought a key chain that had the lucky kneeling archer on it. He’s called the lucky one because he was the warrior in the most perfect condition when he was unearthed.
(Note to self: try not to go anywhere on Chinese holidays. This weekend is the Dragon Boat Festival, which I guess is a pretty big holiday. Anyways, it was so crowded there! People were everywhere. And there are a few things about the Chinese culture that I will never understand:
- There is no concept of personal space in this country. If you aren’t 2 inches away from the person in front of you, you are way too far away, and they will push into you to get you to move.
- China doesn’t really believe in lines, so when it comes time to go into the park, or get on the electric cart that took us into the park, it’s kind of a free for all. People were running to try and get ahead of the person next to them. It was really frustrating, but hilarious to see!!
- Apparently in China, it’s not rude to stare. (Or at least at foreigners it’s not rude.) It’s so awkward to turn to your side and see the entire group of people standing 2 inches away from you just staring right at you. It’s so weird.
- It’s normal to have about 10 people walk in front of you when you are trying to take a photo of something. Or, for people to cut in front of you so that you can’t take a photo at all anymore.
So, not to self, do not go anywhere on Chinese holidays. It’s crowded enough in this country, and when the entire country is trying to go the same place as you, it makes it near impossible.)
On our way out of the terracotta park, we had to walk through a little village full of shops selling things. I bought 2 small terracotta statues for a really good price. We also ate lunch there at the Subway. Then we headed on to our next place.
We went to a “village/park” which is where the same emperor, Emperor Qin, would take his favorite concubine to bathe. It is a small “village” at the base of a mountain that has many natural hot springs. It was really cool because there were lots of buildings in this little village thing. But the layout of the village went up the mountain. The buildings were literally built on the side of the mountain, with stone stairs leading up to the next building. It was really neat to see. My dad and I hiked up a few levels, but then headed back down. It went on forever! I think it goes until the top of the mountain. You could ride a cable car up to the top, but we chose not to do that. My dad said the village was cooler than being up top of it.
After that, we headed back into the city to see the old clock/bell tower and drum tower. We just drove past them because we still had things we wanted to do. But it was really neat. We then went to the city wall, which is the wall that surrounded the ancient Xi’an city. It’s like a mini version of the Great Wall. We were able to walk of stairs to get on top of the wall, and when we were up there, we rented bicycles and rode them around on top of the wall. It was really fun. It was a little challenging because the bicycles we rented weren’t the greatest, and didn’t have the best brakes. Plus, the wall is like a cobblestone street, so it was very bumpy. But, it was really fun. Amie and I each had singles, and my parents rented a tandem bike. We didn’t ride the whole thing, because it’s huge, so we only chose a section. It was fun.
After the bikes, we rode a “scooter drawn covered cart” over to an art street. They had all sorts of artsy things for sale in the little shops there. We bought some scrolls with paintings on them. We also bought these really cool Chinese style recorders. I think my dad said they were called ocarinas. They were made out of black clay, with engravings on them. The shop owner engraved our names on their sides, and gave us a little chart that shows us how to play the notes in a scale. I want to really learn it, so maybe I can eventually.
After the art street, we went back to the hotel. It was already almost 7:00, and we were exhausted. Plus, my dad said we had already done almost all of the major things Xi’an has to offer. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant again. This time we ordered dessert, and had Boston Cheesecake. It was delicious.
After dinner, we all went back and got in our pajamas. Then we played a card game, and headed back to our own room. Amie and I are watching TV right now getting ready to go to bed. It’s been a super fun day, and even though short, a really fun trip. We leave to go back to Shanghai tomorrow morning.
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