Xciting Xi'an


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Asia » China » Shaanxi » Xi'an
October 30th 2010
Published: November 2nd 2010
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The Bell TowerThe Bell TowerThe Bell Tower

The heart of the City
Yep, it was still here when we landed. Xi’an is the capital of the Shaanxi province and a city of about 6 million although there is a very distinct cultural centre contained within the city walls as opposed to outside where it’s one of China’s manufacturing heartlands.

We got here quite late so had didn’t really take too much in when we got to the Hostel, the Han Tang Inn which is probably one of the best hostels that we’ve stayed in anywhere. In fact we would recommend hostels over hotels for anyone travelling in China, they’ve all been really good but the Han Tang is excellent, although it is placed innocuously down a grubby little road. A nice communal area, cheap beer, good breakfast and menu, nice clean rooms, brilliantly helpful staff and there’s even a rooftop garden & chill out zone. They ran a free local food tasting evening (a good laugh) and the beer was 50p a pint happy days.

The following day we had a planning and admin day and checked the weather to try to make the most of our couple of days in the city. We decided to have a wander and check out the centre of the city. The 4 main things to see in the city are the bell & drum towers and the two large pagodas. We decide the latter could be missed (as we have seen quite a lot of pagodas on the trip so far) but the former were really impressive landmarks, up there with those in the capital. We had a wander round the Muslim quarter; there is a large Islamic population here and they know how to sell to tourists. Walking past one of the food stalls on the street there were some great smells assaulting the senses so we decided to indulge in something that we could not pronounce but could try to digest. It turned out to be a kind of fired kebab in unleavened bread, very nice it was too.

The next day was the main event, Xi’an is home to the second thing that every visitor to China needs to do and that’s visit the Terracotta Warriors. We decided to go on a tour because having someone point out things which you’d otherwise miss is priceless (well worth a couple of quid at least). The bus picked us up and Zsa
Head ManHead ManHead Man

The General keeps watch
Zsa, our hilarious and energetic guide, immediately decided that of the 12 people on the bus she’d pick on Chris. He obviously thought it was because she fancied him whereas Lisa realised it was because he’s such an easy target.

Though only 13 when he ascended to the throne of the western state of Qin in 246BC, within 25 years Qin Shi Huang had managed to subjugate the whole of China and thus became the first emperor of a united China. While a bit of a tyrant he was also responsible for the building of the Great Wall, so along with his pottery army he’s made a name for himself. He decided to build himself a huge tomb, the biggest in the world apparently & from written records 700,000 labourers took 36 years to build an imperial city below ground, a complex full of wonders with the heavens depicted on the ceiling of the central chamber with pearls. The seas were represented by pools of mercury and made to flow by machinery and there are said to be multitude of traps protecting the relics. Given abnormally high concentrations of mercury that have been found in the soil at least
The ArcherThe ArcherThe Archer

the 1st find at the site
some parts of these accounts seem true. Given its possible grandeur, probably up there with the great pyramid or Tutankhamen’s treasure, it is surprising that nobody has yet made a start on the excavation. For today’s tourists it’s just a little hill.

It was to protect this tomb that the warriors were manufactured, to protect the emperor in the after-life and to keep his tomb safe. We were taken into Vault 2 & 3 first, both have hardly been touched by the archaeologists yet. There are four groups of warriors here, archers, charioteers, cavalry & infantrymen. This first view of the warriors is amazing. They are so lifelike, and you gaze in amazement when you consider their age, history and significance. Actually the pits looked like the results of a battleground, because the roofs of the tombs have collapsed whether simply through time or through human intervention and the warriors are broken into many pieces and have to be painstakingly rebuilt.

The rebuilt figures, while lovely, don’t really prepare you for the real deal. As you enter vault 1 suddenly rows and rows of hundreds of these fantastic figures, lined up as if still guarding some ancient treasure,
Massed RanksMassed RanksMassed Ranks

On parade again
quite takes your breath away. We’ve seen some great things but this is up there with the best. As you look closer at the figures you see that they do indeed all have different features and expressions. There are about two thousand soldiers ranked in battle formation and this is a small fraction of the estimated ten thousand that are there. 35 years of excavation has yielded less that 10% of the buried warriors, more are being uncovered every day. If you look closely you can still see traces of pigment on their uniforms, when they are first uncovered the armour was still yellow, purple and green but this quickly fades once the 20th century’s air does it’s work. There are also a few horses that have been uncovered, but the wooden chariots have long gone. Unfortunately a large bronze chariot, uncovered a few years ago was off being displayed to the world at Shanghai’s expo, oh well. You really don’t want to leave, simply gazing on this silent army forged from the earth makes time stand still for a while. Well that is until Zsa Zsa tells Chris off for doing something wrong again.

We make our way
The evidenceThe evidenceThe evidence

all 14km without pushing
back to the city, via a lunch stop in a tourist hotel, and we’re glad we chose to take a tour, to share the experience and to enjoy others’ pleasure as well as your own. If you are ever this way, don’t miss it.

Things must be turning for the better as we woke to sunshine, and on a day we had planned to explore as well, happy days. We headed off to the city walls and then on the top hired a couple of bikes. It was a nice ride, giving us the chance to view much more of the city. But at the half way point of the 14Km ride, Lisa’s muscles started reminding her that this was definitely the furthest she had cycled, ever. After completing the 90 minute ride she toddled off doing a great impression of Charlie Chaplin. Maybe we should have started with something shorter. An early night was in order because we’re back to the 6am starts again as we go off in hunt of Pandas.



Additional photos below
Photos: 16, Displayed: 16


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Not just menNot just men
Not just men

But their steeds kept them company
HeadacheHeadache
Headache

Not for these boys
VisageVisage
Visage

Anyone old enough to get the pun?
FacesFaces
Faces

The artist often copied his own
Old RelicsOld Relics
Old Relics

and some warriors
Doesn't look muchDoesn't look much
Doesn't look much

but this tomb could be the greatest discovery in history
It's better than it looksIt's better than it looks
It's better than it looks

The view from the hostel
Muslim QuarterMuslim Quarter
Muslim Quarter

Great food and interesting stalls


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