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Published: December 28th 2010
There is so much to see here, so much incredible history and in two (or even three) years, it is not possible to see it all. So we decided that we'd never get to see the Terra Cotta Warriors unless we did it on a weekend. It is about like going Calgary-Toronto for a weekend, doable , but busy.
Having only decided this on Wednesday, Rick booked tickets and a room on Thursday and we took off on Friday after school. Arriving there in the late evening, we enjoyed strolling around the Muslim section in the old city. There are about 30,000 Muslims who live in this area, so it is hopping with vendors, food stalls and small restaurants, people, animals (live and not so live), lights, kids and noise.
The hotel we booked was in the middle of the old city, so we walked or took the city bus wherever we wanted to go. It was an adventure catching a bus and making transfers to find the bus to the Warriors, but local people are always so friendly and helpful. Some one literally walked us the several blocks from one bus stop to the other one.
The
warriors were amazing - not exactly what I was expecting, but overwhelming to think how old they are and the scope of the burial site. We mistakenly paid for a guide through the area, who quickly abandoned us when she realized we weren't going to buy anything in the jade and pearl warehouses (aka gift shops).
We were surprised that everything was so accessible - at home everything would be behind glass, replicas only, but you saw the excavations, restorations and the rebuild warriors.
This is some information about the site:
Taking the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, began to work on his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is thought that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life. A group of peasants uncovered some pottery while digging for a well nearby the royal tomb in 1974.
The museum is divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit, in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public in
Restoration
These figures, which look rather robotic, are in the process of being pieced together.1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back.
No. 2 Pit was found in 1976. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 chariots of wood and was opened to the public in 1994. Archeologists found No. 3 Pit also in 1976, 25 meters northwest of No. 1 Pit. It looked like to be the command center of the armed forces. It went on display in 1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses.
Much of this pit has been covered again because this was the first time that warriors with the original colour were uncovered. Afraid that the colours would fade with light and pollution, they re-covered them awaiting new techniques of preservation.
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