China: Terra Cotta Warriors near Xi'an

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Sept. 30

Today we enjoyed some funny interactions with the Chinese people. We started our day by going to the fitness center to ride the Exercycle (Wayne) or lift a few weights. However, the center was locked and had to be opened by Housekeeping. Perhaps this means we will be charged an outrageous sum for using it, but once we started the process of asking, we didn't think we could turn back. Our first problem was in knowing what to ask for, as "fitness center" here means spa. We had seen a sign for the gymnasium, so we thought that might be the correct word to use, but Wayne got a little confused when he called the front desk, so he asked them to open the "gymnastics room.". This led to a confused silence, and we imagined some poor staff member trying to track down a balance beam for us. We gave up with the phone and went down to the front desk, where we could make bicycle motions and talk to the manager who figured out what we wanted and let us in.

We then went with the group to a jade market and a medicinal herb market where we resisted buying dried lizards and eye of newt or whatever, but we did indulge in a game of peek-a-boo with some cute little kids. It's really tempting to take pictures of all of these adorable children, and the impulse works both ways. The other day at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, two little blond girls (German?) we're being followed around by a large group of Chinese middle schoolers who were trying to take their picture. They looked a little overwhelmed by all the attention. Then today Wayne was approached by two 20-something Chinese tourists outside the terra cotta warriors site, because they wanted to pose with a tall, red-haired American! I was laughing so hard that I missed the photo op.

Another amusing bit of people watching: on our drive over to the warriors, on a crowded freeway where traffic was crawling along, a car stopped dead in the left lane, and a man and woman got out and ran around to opposite sides - a real Chinese fire drill!

I won't say too much about the terra cotta warriors being excavated from the tomb of Emperor Qin near Xi'an, because you have probably seen pictures of them in books or magazines. I'll just say that the scale of the site is massive, and the details on the warriors (no two alike in face and expression) make it all the more interesting. This is a VERY popular attraction for Chinese and foreign tourists alike, and we were visiting on a national holiday, the mid-autumn festival, so we had some company, but again, the giant scale of the exhibit (in what look like three airplane hangars) meant that everyone could get close enough for a good look.

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