Xi'an, the Terracotta Warriors and a City Wall

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While in China we made the decision to hang the expense and visit the city of Xi'an. Xi'an is home to the Terracotta Warriors located at the tomb of Emperor Qin. While the Pyramids are an engineering feat to marvel the Tomb that this guy built for himself was absolutely incredible. And the fact that they only discovered it in 1976 was amazing. His tomb covers an area of approx 66 sq kms. The Warriors are but a small part of this tomb and they are still unearthing various pits filled with all types of artifacts.

For the first time we decided to go with a guide, which turned out to be the right decision. He was a great guide and so very patient with the boys answering all of their questions and filling their heads with information about the tombs.

It turns out that only one of the warriors discovered so far was intact. Those rows apon rows of warriors you see in the pictures have all been "glued" back together !

After heading back to our hotel we went for a walk to get some dinner, taking our lives in our hands we crossed the roundabout outside of our hotel and headed through the south gate - Hugely impressive to find something to eat - yep you guessed it Mc Donalds, damn having unadventurous kids !

Anyway Xi'an is pretty much one of the few cities in China with a fully intact wall around it. A very impressive big solid wall at that, so much so that when you reach the top you can hire a bike and ride it around the wall. It is wide enough that 6 people could ride side by side. (No we didn't hire bikes)

The following day we went up onto the wall for a walk in the rain - it rained all day. We then headed off to check out the Bell tower and watched a musical performance there which was something rather special.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see the Big Goose Pagoda or the Little Goose Pagoda or any of the other sites around Xi'an, but after a rather wet, smoggy day we were satisfied with our trip and very happy to head back to Beijing for some "fresh" air.

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Photos

Kneeling Archer
The only warrior found fully intact in the pits, the others were all damaged when the wooden roof collapsed.

Lots of Warriors
This is Pit number one, in this pit they have put together some of the many warriors discovered in this pit, they have found another six thousand in this pit that are yet to be restored.

Family Shot - Yay
We had a wonderful guide while visiting the Warriors, who was very patient with the boys. It also enabled us to get our first family shot.

The Southern Gate of Xi'an
Lit up at night this gate was impressive, although it is just as impressive during the day

The trees are blossoming
After a grey, dreary Beijing I was so happy to see blossoming trees

Small section of wall
This is just one small section of the wall that surrounds Xi'an. People can hire bikes and ride along the wall.