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Published: April 24th 2007
Day 29
Before starting to describe the day we want to say a massive THANK YOU to Graeme and Katy as this was their wedding present to us - we had an amazing time.
Arriving at our pick up point for our tour to see the Terracotta Army and Hua Qing hot spring Palace a little early, we went around the corner to find something for brekkie. Wandering the streets we stumbled upon a very local looking covered food stall area and unperturbed went in to grab a snack. We managed to get a really tasty fried pancake / batter patty stuffed with onions and spices which set us up for the day perfectly.
It turned out that the tour was just for the two of us and our guide led us out to the front of the lobby, he took us to a posh new car with tinted windows where our chaufeur (Mr Lee) was waiting. We felt like dignitaries with the guide and driver opening and closing our doors for us throughout the day - it was a wonderful break from the frantic hopping on and off buses we normally face.
The first stop
was the Hot Spring Palace (Hua Qing). This was used by Emporor Qin as his Winter retreat with the hot springs providing heating for the buildings during the bitter winter months (and i think he was quite partial to a bath with his concubines). Our guide showed us around and told us all of the stories and history behind the site which was really interesting. Well worth going with someone who knew all the details.
From here we headed straight over to the Terracotta Army for the main event which we were reliably informed was the "8th wonder of the world"! The first excavation site we visited was cunningly named pit 1 - and is the biggest of three. It houses thousands of life size individually sculpted infantry soldiers. Each warrior is different to all of the others including different faces, stances etc. It was an incredible sight and something we have wanted to see for ages. The warriors were built in battle formation appartently to protect the Emperor in his tomb after he died. During the building of the warriors there was an uprising; the weapons that the warriors originally held were stolen and the whole place burnt
to the ground. The roof covering the warriors collapsed squashing them underneath. Rows and rows of warriors have now been painstakingly reconstructed by archeologists from the broken remains that were discoverd in 1974 by a farmer digging a well. Its safe to say we loved it!
From pit one we moved on to see another section that housed the generals quarters. This was smaller but showed the different guards and formations that were adopted in the time of the Emperor.
The third and final pit contained the cavalry and archers. This was still under excavation but showed some remains of both kneeling and standing archers as well as a clear idea of the roof that used to cover the army when they were first built. The tour finished with a couple of artefacts found near the Emperors tomb including a half sized bronze model of the Emperors chariot - nice!
The final stop for the day was a restaurant on the way back to Xi'an. An all you can eat place. The day was just getting better and better! After stuffing ourselves with enough to make sure we did not need to eat later - we rolled
back into our chaufeur driven car and were escorted home.
Tonight we are catching the train to Chengdu (where there is a panda sanctuary)
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Dad
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Old Bazaar in Xian
Don't tell me you didn't get any rice pudding in a Kettle that you could suck through the spout!!!!!!!! Looking forward to the parcel, especially as it was wrapped twice.