First (And Last) Full Day in Xi'an

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I found out the hard way that the sun rises very early in China. Early as in 4-4:30 AM EVERY morning… So that definitely threw off my sense of time in the morning. I woke up and thought I had slept through my alarm, but luckily I didn’t. It’s really starting to set in now that I’m in China and that I’ll be here for 5 weeks. It is definitely a crazy thought!

The first thing we did today was go to a government owned/run terracotta factory. The quality of the work there is amazing. They use the same methods that were used before to harden the clay, but instead of stacking slabs of clay by hand and then carving, they use molds. They make all different sizes of terracotta warriors from full-size to only 4-6 inches tall. I bought a couple souvenirs from the factory, which I think are really cool.

At the factory, you can also get custom terracotta warriors made. They will take several reference pictures of your face from different angles and then begin work as soon as they are able. I do not remember the exact price, but I do remember that it includes insurance and shipping back to America. If I am able to afford it in the future, I’d like to get one of myself and Kevin made. I think it would be something awesome to have for decoration.

After visiting the terracotta factory, we visited the real terracotta warriors. The walkway from the parking area to the warriors was extremely beautiful. There were many flowers planted along the way, beautiful trees, and intricate pathways. I was very surprised. Once at the main area, it became very crowded. I was surprised to see so many people there that were Chinese. I guess I expected it to be more foreigners than Chinese.

There were so many warriors there. Many of the warriors aren’t even fully excavated and restored yet. I believe I recall there being over 7,000 warriors that have been currently excavated/found. That means there are even more waiting to be found. Thinking about how long it took and how many people it took to make the warriors really astounds me. Not to mention, each warrior has a different face to represent different people. The warriors also vary in design based on their function (archers, generals, etc). The warriors today almost always have no color due to their age. However, in ancient times they were painted in bright colors. The amount of time and effort that went into each warrior really amazes me.

After the terracotta warriors, we went to a mosque. The mosque was nothing like I expected. It was almost like a nature sanctuary. Beautiful trees, flowers, fountains, buildings etc. It was a very relaxing place to be. The crazy thing is that it is in the middle of a huge city and you have to walk through a huge street market to find it. I am glad that we had a tour guide showing us around, because I would have never been able to find it on my own. The mosque did not have as many people as I expected either. It was practically empty except for our group and maybe 10 other people.

After the mosque, we went to a water show. The water show consisted of about 7 or so songs being played while fountains shot water in different directions to the music. It was very crowded and many more people were there than I expected. I’m not entirely sure why it is so popular, but it was definitely a unique experience. At the water show I also had many people approach me to take photos with me. I’m still not quite used to it yet, but it definitely makes things interesting and I get to meet new people.

After the water show, we went to the Tang Dynasty show. Dinner was served for us upstairs before the show. It was a buffet style with many types of food, but nothing really stood out about the food. The show was something else though. Intricate costumes, a constantly changing backdrop made out of a projection screen, traditional music, and amazing dancing. One dance really stood out to me and I will post a video of it when I am able.

This day was extremely long, and it’s hard to remember everything that happened just because it was so crazy! I will post photos when I am able, but I would like to be able to pick the best photos and give them a name.

Thanks for coming along with me on my journey!

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