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After five days in Beijing, we took the sleeper train (14 hours) to Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Warriors! Xi'an is a university town and the capital of the Shang-tsi province. With a population of seven million, it's no joke! (There are so many people in China!!) In the center of town is an ancient bell tower which gives the city a nice, old fashioned feel!! (Which was wonderful.) Because of the national holiday, the city was VERY crowded and a little overwhelming. Xi'an does not have any pedestrian light/signals like Beijing and for the first time we experienced what a kamikaze mission it is to cross the street. The drivers here are insane!! You literally have to run for your life. The cars actually SPEED up when they see someone in front of them. And if they must stop, they wait to the last second and brake within millimeters of your knee caps. Totally nuts. It didn't take long to learn to follow the Chinese when crossing the road! They, of course, are completely unfazed as cars screech by barely missing their toes!
TERRACOTTA WARRIORS: Another China highlight was visiting the terracotta warriors which were discovered in 1974 by
poor farmers digging a well. Built by the same emperor who built the Great Wall (this guy had SOME ego) the warriors are part of his vast tomb. What's so unbelievable is that this emperor's tomb covers 56 kilometers and the terracotta warriors were discovered only 1.5 km from his actual grave. Can you imagine how much more is out there, waiting to be discovered??? Since this is clearly an international tourist destination (and the eyes of the world were on them regarding this enormous discovery, China has put a lot of effort into housing the warriors well. The buildings are modern and well maintained. Dave reverted to a twelve year old and literally twittered with delight. "These soldiers are so cool!" It is awe-inspiring to stand in the largest building (which is much larger than a football field) and see rows and rows of life size figures, each which is uniquely individual. We even met one of the original four farmers who discovered the tomb. Apparently, the farmers are now huge stars in China. He only comes out on holidays and signs copies of guide books. Of course, we got one!!
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Terra Cotta
anonymous
non-member comment
"Warrior Dave"?
Looks more like RoBoT dAvE to me - Drew