Terra Cotta Warriors, Dumplings & Tang Show

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Geo: 34.27, 108.9

Breakfast at the Grand Noble Hotel was nearly as big as the one in Beijing and Brennan was happy it included omelets. We tried dragon fruit (red peel with white fruit that is speckled with black seeds) which was very tasty. Yesterday we tried dragon eye fruit which had a hard green/brown peel with an eyeball inside (white with a pit). Dave and I liked it very much, but Brennan did not like the texture and it came flying out of his mouth!

On our way to the terra cotta warriors, we got a Xi'an history lesson from Jo, a native. Before visiting the actual terra cotta warriors museum, we stopped at a factory that makes replicates. We had fun taking pictures with the soldiers and our heads. Brennan found a small sword that he wanted. We bartered it down to 300 yuans (about $50) but left it on the shelf while we discussed with Brennan whether he wanted a silk robe or sword. When we went back, Tory (a guy from our group) had picked it up and was going to purchase it for his nephew. Brennan was not happy! We told him we would be able to get one somewhere else but it is hard for an 8-year-old to understand that and he was very disappointed. We bought a small terra cotta General for our knick knack shelves.

We drove to the museum and learned that the emperor who had the terra cotta soldiers made to protect his tomb wanted to live forever and was searching for a magic pill. He would offer a great reward to who could come up with the right antidote for death. Of course, no one did and they were all executed. He told one of his high ranking ministers to give it a shot. The minister knew he would be killed if he did not come up with something, so he told the emperor that he needed 3,000 boys and 3,000 girls and the boats to carry them. He then set sail to never return - the journey ended with the establishment of Japan! This same emperor was the one who: united the people of China for the first time, standardized measurements, currency and writing characters. He was also the one that started to build the Great Wall; however, he was a ruthless ruler and had 720,000 people work on his tomb. It took 37 years to complete the warriors who all faced east (where his enemies would come from). In 1974 some farmers were digging a well and found them. They had all been destroyed during a rebellion soon after the emperor died.

Because Jo had "connections" in her city, we were able to drive the bus nearly to the entry gate of the terra cotta warrior museum. With the development of grounds and buildings of the current museum, it is hard to comprehend the area as farm land. There are three major dig areas, all enclosed, a theater, displays and gift shops. In one building, one of the original farmers was signing books. There are some 2,000 warriors reassembled and they estimate another 6,000 that will never be put back together.

No pictures can really show how massive these digs are. Hall #1 contains most of the 2,000. It stretched two football fields long and one wide. Though all the figures are now clay brown, 2,200 years ago they were all painted in bright colors. When first escavated, they still had some color, but they faded quickly when exposed to air. There will probably be no more escavation until better technology can be developed to preserve them.

We had lunch at the terra cotta warrior museum restaurant. It offered a combination of family style at our tables and a buffet. The highlight was two chefs demonstrating how to make noodles. They pounded the dough, stretched it, swung it from a mound of dough into perfect thin noodles several feet long. They ended up in our soup -- very fun!

It was about an hour back to the hotel and we had a couple of free hours before the Tang Dynasty show and dumpling dinner. We spent it playing "hammy" games in the room (because the actors we were about to see were going to ham it up) and then went for a short walk in the neighborhood. We bought a bottle of red wine for 65 RMB. The next cheapest we had seen so far was nearly 200 RMB. It turned out to be pretty good, or maybe we were just desperate!

The Tang Dynasty Show and dinner were in a beautiful theater just a short bus ride from the hotel. Our group sat at tables in what would be the orchestra level with two tiers above us. The stage sets and walls were gorgeous. The Tang Dynasty was from 618 to 907AD. All of the dances and musical performances of the show were from the Tang period. Costumes, both male and female, were very colorful and period accurate, as were the instruments.

The show was proceeded by an 18 dumpling dinner! They were all different and many shaped like the content; i.e., pork like a pig, duck like a duck and fish like a fish. Brennan ate 8 dumplings and obviously duck was his favorite since he had three of them. Like all of our meals, we were served unlimited tea and either a soft drink or beer. This time we also had rice wine. The dessert was a birthday cake for one of our group, Ann. It was a surprise arranged by her husband, Charlie and Jo.

Candidly, the show ran about two acts too long, but an event we would not have wanted to pass up.

We were back at the hotel about 9:30.

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[dave-sue]

Sue's head and Brennan's hands.