Terracotta Warriors

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We have spent two days in Xian and today was a real highlight - The Terracotta Warriors. You see photos or stories on TV but nothing really prepares you for seeing them in real life - amazing! We left our hotel at 8.15 and travelled about an hour or so out to the country. Very cold today and it seemed to get colder during the day. Visibility was down to less than a km this morning - mixture of smog and fog we thought.

Before getting to the Warrior museum we went to a replica factory and got some idea of how they were made originally - you can order life size replica's but have your own features put on the head - great garden ornaments we were told... I don't think so. We did buy a small one though as a souvenir. Factory also made lacquer ware - very interesting to watch how it is crafted. Then it was on to the main event of the day - the real warriors themselves. We got to the museum reasonably early which was good and watched a 15 minute movie on the discovery and creation of the warriors. Four farmers who were digging for a well discovered them, two have since died and and we saw one of the two remaining farmers today - he was signing books but apparently he gets very cranky if you take his photo. We went into the first and biggest pit and it was almost overwhelming to see the real warriors. Rows and rows - all with different faces. There was a section where the archaeologists are putting damaged warriors back together - I would enjoy that job - a big jigsaw puzzle! The first pit isn't all uncovered yet. Pit 2 was just slightly smaller - it was where the chariots and horses and archers were situated - this pit has hardly been touched as far as uncovering goes. Pit 3 was quite small and we were told it was a command post. Overall it was an amazing experience. We were told that the emperor's tomb (the emperor who this army was built to protect in the afterlife) has been discovered but has not been opened yet - they are waiting for better technology so that they can preserve articles better. We will just have to make a point of coming back when they open that tomb up!!

After a banquet lunch we went back into Xian proper to walk on the city wall - one of only three surviving city walls in China. 14 kms in circumference - we only did about 2 kms of it I think. Then it was into the muslim quarter of the city for an hours free time - we left all our valuables in the bus and just took a bit of money as we were told that foreigners were big pickpocket targets. We enjoyed walking around, enjoying the smells of the street markets (not tempted to try anything - we are being sensible food wise!!) I bought an overnight bag, a scarf and some gloves in the markets, all of which I bargained for myself - much more civilised than the silk markets! We had a great banquet dinner and finally got back to the hotel about 8.45 - a very long day but certainly one to remember and like the Great Wall - something that I have always wanted to do which I can tick off the list.

(Am struggling to load photos and haven't worked out what I'm doing wrong so sorry no photos yet!!)

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Photos

The Warriors
Pit 1 of the Terracotta Warriors - truly amazing!