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Published: June 17th 2011
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Emperor Qin's Mausoleum
The view of the army from Pit 1 - where over 6000 terracotta soldiers were found. I had the hassle taken out of arrivng in a new city as I was picked up by my hostel from Xian train station. The driver ended up buying me some local food for breakfast which was nice to try – better than the normal cereal and tea. I ended up spending my first day getting myself sorted and organising my next few days.
On my first day I visited the Shaanxi History Museum (Shan – Shee) which is one of the first museums built in China. It was an excellent way to learn about the different ages and cultures that used to exist and still live in China. It is very popular to visit there and not mainly for tourists but for local chinese people as well. Even though it was free to get in – I did have to line up for over an hour, but worth it in the end.
I tried a local chinese specialty for dinner – steamed dumplings. They were yummy and nice to again try some local food. I was getting used to eating with chop sticks as well. Its not that easy to do though - I remember a friend of
Terracotta Army
Lifesize Terracotta Warriors and Horses. mine travelled to China a few years ago and used to carry a knife and fork around with him everywhere ! Thats when your desperate for a bowl full of noodles. They dont come in handy when eating soup though - luckily a spoon is usually provided as well. The dumpling banquet was part of the Tang Dynasty Song and Dance Show. The Tang Dynasty ruled for 97 years and was very powerful in Xian which was at that time the capital of the dynasty and the largest city in the world.
My second day in Xian saw me visit my next most anticipated place after the Great Wall – The Terracotta Warriors and Horses Mausoleum. A mausoleum is a large burial chamber or room and this one houses over 8000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in pits in the ground. The discovery of the terracotta army was made 37 years ago when a group of farmers accidentally found the army after digging the earth to try and make a well to find water. The mausoleum and the terracotta army were constructed in order to fight off
Terracotta Warriors
How most of the statues are discovered before they are restored. enemies of Emperor Qin in the afterlife, who was the first emperor of China ( the afterlife is seen as when a person has further life after their death on earth – meaning that a lot of emperors / rulers and important people prepared for their death by burying things of importance and power with them. Things like treasures, everyday objects and in this case a full army) Emperor Qin ruled 36 years and ordered the construction of the army at age 13, when he became King of China. The whole construction took approximately 37 years and it is said that each soldier was made to look like its maker. Once each statue was made, it had the inscription / signature of the maker and factory where it was made so that if there were any problems they could be solved. It is also believed that Qin ordered that the tomb workers and supervisors involved to be buried alive to protect its secrets. The area is divided into 4 different pits / rooms with the main army being in Pit 1 – where around 6000 soldiers have been discovered. All the statues of the warriors and horses are life size
The Big Wild Goose Pagoda Fountain Show
Great to see and hear it with music - see the video. and were made from terracotta (a type of earth / mud / clay that was baked using heat from wood fires). Even though so many statues have been found already, it is believed that there are many more thousands of statues to be found (which are still buried in earth, sand ,mud ). Restoration of the army is said to be continued for many more years, if not decades to come. It takes approximately 3 months to restore each statue of a soldier, by sticking all the small broken pieces of each one together. Wow – it was amazing to see – especially Pit 1.
I went for a walk to a local street and indulged in some local streetfood and dinner at a local , basic restaurant. Definately not a fancy eating place that I would guess receives no tourists. Even though I couldn't read anything off the menu board - I just chose any dish and crossed my fingers for good luck. It is ok in China to look at what another person is eating and choose the same - so I did that as well. Luckily I ended up choosing some yummy noodles and soup -
Light Show Extrodanaire
The Big Wild Goose Pagoda at night. I thought I would end up with some chickens feet and something really weird. I was lucky.
That night I ended up at the funnily named “The Big Wild Goose Pagoda”. No-one knows exactly why it is called this but there is an old legend (story). After a group of monks could not get any meat to eat , they praid to Buddha and at that instant a flock of geese flew past. The lead goose broke its wing and fell to the grund - which is why it is called "The Big Wild Goose Pagoda". A pagoda is an old ancient temple used by a group of religious people called Buddhists. Every night the square in front of the pagoda puts on a sound, light and water show. The square is full of water fountains which make different shapes in different colours to music for 30 minutes every night. It is very cool to see and definitely a highlight as well. It’s even better when the wind isn’t blowing strongly otherwise you are bound to get wet when the sprays of water from the fountains shoot up into the air.
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