Xi'an

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Day 12-14 (March 25-27)

We left our cruise boat with luggage as we were to be picked up from the tour of the gorge. It was an overcast day but not raining. We saw the size of the engineering that went into the dam as well as the garden surrounding. A clearer day would have been more impressive but we were glad to have had the good weather for the gorge trip.

We made our way to Wuhan which was a 4 hour journey to airport on a mini bus built for people with no legs (Wuhan airport was apparently a safer one than the one closer to our destination). We stopped for lunch after 2 hours for one of the best meals we have had so far. The arrival in Xi’an all went to plan.

Xi’an is another large city which over the centuries has often been the capital. The city still has it’s wall in tact but it now divides the inner and outer city. Xi’an is the home of the terracotta warriors. Before heading out to see them however, we visited a facility for the mentally handicapped called Huiling - Intrepid are one of the sponsors. It was a truly wonderful facility not in terms of the buildings but for the atmosphere in which the place was run. The focus was for older young people but they did have some younger as well as older adults.

Many lived there during the week and then went home for the weekend if their homes were further away. The philosophy saw the staff treat the residents as friends and in that atmosphere taught basic living skills from dressing, cooking, shopping and also trying to find their artistic skills. There was painting, singing and dancing and craft work. All things sold were given to those that made/performed them. It was moving to hear of one person who after 25 years was able to buy his mother a present for the first time. The art work was most impressive (from the brochure because the following day they were about to have a major exhibition). We were also served lunch here - delicious noodles prepared by a resident.

After lunch we drove to the location of the Terracotta warriors. Our local guide explained as an aside how difficult it was for Chinese men to find a girl as there are 4 men to every woman and that they can choose men who are richer (he said he'd be 50 before he had a flat, a car and a reasonable income and no longer attractive to a young girl). This may be a slight exageration but shows both the difficulties of modernisation and globalisation (girls are free to marry men from overseas) as well as some impacts of the one child policy.

We stopped at a facility that was making replicas in the style of the original (only using casts). They also had impressive furniture, tapestry’s and other crafts. At times like this I wish I had a larger pack. After resisting the shopping experience, we drove a little further and entered the area for the Terracotta warriors.

There were several pits we were able to view the warriors in various states of restoration. The grounds were also well set out and the area was more like a large museum than archaeological digs. The information provided by the displays was also interesting. Showing how advanced the Chinese technology was at that time. For example, they knew how to do chrome plating 2200 years ago (but later lost this know how which was only rediscovered in the West in the 20th century.

It was also strange to be asked to pose with locals - they liked having their pictures taken with westerners. We were still unusual site for many. We topped the day off with another great Chinese banquet.

The following day became a day off due to the persistent rain, so unfortunately no cycling on the wall (I had also managed to get another cold and so took advantage of some down time - I’m hoping I don’t get a cold in each country). In the evening we took a short walk into the Muslim area which had crafts and cheap t-shirts etc. as well as souvenirs such as Iraq’s most wanted deck of cards, Mao watches that had his hand wave on the hour. Dinner was some Kentucky Fried, my first Western take-away however the sizzler wrap did have Chinese flavoured sauce!

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Photos

Up close
The warriors are all unique

More recent excavation
With horses