Xian - Home of the Terracotta Army

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As with all the overnight trains we taken we arrived in Xian early in the morning, only this time we were greeted with rain, torrents of it! We left the station and kept a look out for my name as we’d been told we’d get a free pickup for the hostel we’d organised earlier. It didn’t take long for us to find the gent holding up a soggy piece of paper with my name on it but we were informed that the hostel car was broken and we were led to a public bus stop. He paid for our ticket and told us to get off at the south gate then follow his map, so we did as we were told. When we arrived, we noticed that he’d led us to a different hostel, same company just older. We went into the reception and were told that we had the choice of which to stay at but on further questioning found out that no rooms were available at this one, there were some at the other though. Not much choice then… We were told to wait in the café until a car was available to take us to the other one. After breakfast we had a whole bus to ourselves for the journey across town… Where was this bus earlier?

We checked in to our hostel, got out of our wet clothes, showered, napped and then set off into the city with our umbrellas to have a mooch around. We headed off into the Muslim Quarter of town, as we’ve read this is most lively part, but about 100m down from the hostel a car came zooming past and splashed water all up my legs. Oh well, I didn’t plan on staying dry for very long anyway. We had a good look around all the small tourist stalls that lined the streets surrounding the Great Mosque and bought a few souvenirs and some street food. We’re really getting the hang of bargaining now, sometimes getting things for a third of the original asking price. It didn’t take long in the pouring rain before we were both wet up to our knees so we headed back to the hostel to dry off and relax for the evening.

We woke up early the next day for our tour (booked with the hostel) to see the Army of the Terracotta Warriors; breakfast was included so we started in the café. The bus came and picked us up a little while after breakfast (we were the only two from our hostel) and off we went. The first stop on our tour was a souvenir shop… We were told we were going to see some warriors being made in a factory but it was blatantly just a souvenir shop with a few warrior statuettes being cleaned in it, there wasn’t even a kiln here. It did also sell art, embroidery, rugs, ceramics, silk and huge pieces of Chinese furniture all shippable of course. A lot of other tour groups also stopped here and there were a lot of people taking pictures of and having photos with the warrior souvenirs. I just wanted to shake them all and remind them that they will be seeing the real thing in little while; I’ll never understand some people. The only good thing about coming here was that we were told about how to distinguish between a General, Officer, Archer and infantry by the different uniforms and head dresses. Faye and I waited outside until it was time to board the coach and actually see what we’d paid for.

The Army of Terracotta Warriors are one of China’s top historical sights, they were built 2000 years ago by Emperor Qin Shi Huang to guard his tomb when he died. They were discovered in 1974 when some farmers digging a well found an underground vault of earth and timber which eventually yielded thousands of the life sized warriors. Since then the whole area has become a huge tourist draw with the excavation sites (three) all enclosed with modern architecture and marble everywhere, making walking around them a more sanitised archaeological experience, and ensuring their preservation. There is an audio visual centre which shows a very interesting 360° video on how and why they were made and also there was one of the gentlemen who unearthed the warriors, who at the grand old age of 79 would sign a book if you bought it. It’s a living I suppose and probably a very good one.

In the first pit there are 6000 warriors although only 2000 are on display/been excavated, they are arranged in corridors with grey brick floors and with pillars and beams that once supported a roof. Every figure differs in facial features and expressions. When you walk in you can’t help but be awed by their presence. We spent a little while here trying to take photos (terrible lighting) and viewing the formation of all the warriors and trying to spot the different types we’d been told about earlier. We were then hurried along by our tour guide into the other two pits, the second contains 1000 figures and the third only 68 but most of them haven’t been unearthed yet so not a lot to see. There is also a museum which has a whole wing dedicated to how the modern complex was built (why would I be interested in that?) and a room downstairs housing a pair of bronze chariots and horses unearthed much closer to the tomb. These were quite interesting but didn’t really warrant a whole building to themselves. After the museum we were hurried back to the coach and taken to a restaurant for lunch. As this wasn’t included and we weren’t allowed to choose what we wanted (it was set menu for 25 Yuan) Faye and I left and went and sat outside. After ‘lunch’ we were taken to Lintong museum which didn’t contain much of interest apart from a few warriors on loan from the army down the road and as we’d just seen 2000 of them, 2 wasn’t that impressive. We then headed back towards Xian to fight the traffic back to our hotel.

All in all the tour was extremely poor, it would’ve been much better if they missed off the museum and gave us more time with the Terracotta Army. At the end of the day I was pretty pissed, not with the tour just with myself for being surprised at how it panned out. That’s the reason Faye and I never go on these things. I would’ve paid three times as much to do it ourselves and then had all the time we wanted with the Army, that’s the whole reason we were in Xian. It would’ve actually been cheaper to do it ourselves just more hassle, that’s what you get for wanting an easier life! On a lighter note the little time we had with the Army of the Terracotta Warriors was superb and it was definitely worth coming here, I recommend seeing them to anyone (just do it by yourself).

At various points on the tour we kept bumping into Steve (Jennifer was ill) as he was in a different tour group doing exactly the same thing, so we’d agreed to meet up in the evening and go out for dinner. When we got back we didn’t have much time so we went to meet them at their hostel, then spent a while hunting for a restaurant that Jenn had heard about. When we couldn’t find it we popped into a different one that looked ok but had a kind of buffet/canteen atmosphere. On the menu there was ‘beef penis in a pot’ and although I tried I couldn’t find it anywhere, but then, I was looking for a pot with a huge phallus sticking out of it! The food wasn’t too great but the company we were with was awesome and that’s what counts.

Over the next couple of days in Xian we really didn’t get up to much at all. It rained constantly and going out just made us miserable. My trousers kept getting wet up to the knees and my shoes were so full of water I had to pour them out! We bought a few souvenirs, one is a giant terracotta warrior that is going to be hell trying to get home (we may have to book him a seat), and loads of other bits and bobs. I also got my hair cut as I thought that I was starting to look like a hippy and it kept getting in my eyes. The funny thing was, that the guy who cut it didn’t ask once what I wanted, he just chopped away, although he did seem confused when it didn’t stick up, I suppose he’s not used to fine European hair. I think I’m now sporting the most popular Chinese haircut but it looks great and is exactly what I wanted really.

The evening before we left we bumped into a northern couple (Blackpool) that we’d met way back in Beijing so we stayed up late chatting and drinking cheap Chinese beer (5 Yuan - bargain) with them. They’ve been travelling for 10 months now and taken in most of Asia. I know I complain about the north of England (it IS cold and wet), but the people are always so open, warm and friendly. We should be more like it in the south, we never say hello to anyone, sometimes even if it’s said to us!!! We’ve swapped contact details as they’re going to be travelling through to Tibet on their way back to India, which we’d like to do next year so it’s be nice to hear about how they get on.

We’ve managed to pack all our gear into our bags (plus one new one) ready for the flight back to Shanghai so hopefully everything will be alright. Our new little friend though will be coming on as hand luggage; luckily the head comes off so at least it won’t snap off in transit!

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Comments

[Jackie Norris]

Well done you!
Michael, what inspirational writing - thank you - truly worthy of publishing as a guide to beat the Lonely Plant to a pulp! It has made me determined to include China on my itinerary now I have your experiences to follow. I am a late comer to the Gap Year (53 next month and only just managed to push the darlings out of the door!) but it's got to be now or never; I'd never manage all those steps if I leave it much longer!! I love that you and Faye have made the brave and exciting decision to get out there and enjoy your dreams together. I imagine you will have some fantastic times and I wish you both all the luck in the world. Please keep up the writing!