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Published: October 27th 2009
THURS 8 OCT 09
Another night train but this time not first class! We were travelling with Derek, Leanne and an Australian couple from our hostel in Beijing - Stuart and Jamie couldn't get on our train so were following on a later and much slower one. We left Beijing at 21.18. The train, although nowhere near the quality of the first train was still passable and the great thing about utilising night trains are that they save time and money as you do not waste any exploration time during the day and it saves on the price of accommodation for the night.
FRI 9 OCT 09
We arrived in Xi'an at 8am. It was raining, grey, miserable and looked throughly rough! Perhaps it was the rain, the fact we were tired after the train or maybe because Beijing had been so superb but looking from the station over towards the centre of the city, which is bound by imposing walls, it had the dismal appearance of an enlarged prison establishment. We had booked a hostel called 'The Seven Sages' which offered a free pick up service from the train station and just to top off our increasingly dispirited mood,
the pick up never turned up!! We headed to a street away from the chaos so we could safety take the packs off our backs and plan the best way to reach the hostel. After 20mins we decided the plan of action would be for one of us to return to the station and ask another hostel for the directions since we had paid a deposit we couldn't really change hostels. I returned and whilst asking for directions saw a Chinese bloke holding up a placard with the name of our hostel on it - the pick up had arrived ... only a little late then ... not only that but the free pick up entailed the bloke simply walking us the two km back to the hostel!! Hhmmm!!
We spent our first day in Xi'an exploring the city. We walked miles - Leanne and Derek said they would normally get a taxi to all the different locations we visited and couldn't believe how much money they saved and how much fitter they felt from walking!! (I told them to wait for tomorrow and the day after!) We walked round the major sights including the Drum Tower, the Bell
Tower and the renowned Muslim Quarter, home to the thirty thousand Hui people living in Xi'an who are said to be descended from Arab soldiers. The quarter is famed for its street market and stalls. We walked round all the little twisting side streets, admiring the range of delights on sale, it was much better than the Beijing night market and felt much more authentic too - all the locals jostling and bustling about trading all manner of things - perhaps our initial impressions were not fair - Xi'an was turning out to be ok after all!
To conclude our explorations we grabbed a bite to eat and drinks on 'Bar street' before heading back to 'The Seven Sages' hostel. Note to self ... avoid ordering noodles in public when only chopsticks are provided - it was like the seen out of the Disney cartoon, Lady and the Tramp, slurping up the remaining noodles as I couldn't swirl them fast enough on the chopsticks to fit into my mouth in one gulp. Think you need to do some fancy wrist action manoeuvre to be able to effectively eat noodles with chopsticks ... knew I should have paid more attention
when mum tried to teach me knitting!!!
SAT 10 OCT 09 THE TERRACOTTA ARMY
Stuart, Jamie, Derek, Leanne, Paul and I set off walking down the street to find the bus stop to take us the 30km North-East to the site of the Terracotta Army. We had not got more than a few hundred metres down the road when a Chinese lady in a fancy people carrier pulled over and started shouting to us in English. Initially I didn't go over but then curiosity got the better of me and I turned to see what she was shouting about. She asked us if we were going to the Terracotta Army, to which the lads positively responded. She stated that she was a guide and had no bookings for that day and offered to take all of us for £30 in total which we did not have to pay until we returned to Xi'an at the end of the day. We all debated and despite thinking it a little strange and a little too coincidental we decided it was safe with six of us and took her up on the offer as we had previously decided to get a
guide when we reached the Army anyway.
We all got in the people carrier and the lady started the drive to the Army. I asked her a few questions and she all of a sudden seemed to loose her eloquence in English ... alarm bells started to ring. A few more questions later and after reiterating the fact we wanted to go to the Army and the Army alone, the motive behind the pick up became apparent.
“Yes, I take you to Army ... but Museum first to learn background knowledge!”
Well, this is a scam well known by travellers in Thailand as Tuk Tuk drivers pick you up and offer to take you to a location but divert on the way and take you to a jewelery store due to the fact they receive commission off the proprietors for each customer they get to walk in. Now fully aware of the rouse we were enthralled in, we attempted to salvage the situation and offered the lady drop us off where we were or go straight to the Army. Realising she had been rumbled she agreed to the latter ... and then drove straight to the Museum!!!! Doh! Not
one to be beaten or scammed, the back up plan came into play! We all stepped out of the car and rather than entering the Museum, we walked out the main gates and down the highway even though we didn't have a clue where we were!! We found a bus stop a few hundred metres down the road and caught the bus, ignoring the lady who had chased us and was bartering promising this time she would take us to the Army .. to late!! Buses over here only cost 10p no matter how long you are on them for or how far you travel, so 10p and one hour later we were back where we started and continued our walk to the bus station to get the correct bus to take us to the Terracotta Army!
On arrival at the location we found a registered guide, who used the English name Peter and started our tour. 'Peter' gave us a detailed account of facts about the history and background on the army. The Army was set to guard Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb over two thousand years ago. He was the first Emperor of a unified China
(246 BC) and the man who began the construction of The Great Wall. The Emperor believed that after he died his soul would continue living under the ground and subsequently, he would need a city to live in and the Imperial Guard to protect him. Therefore he built an underground city (like a miniature version of Beijing) but rather than sacrificing a number of his best guards so there souls would remain behind to guard the city, he had the Imperial Guard, in its entirety, modeled out of Terracotta clay and placed in battle formation guarding the entrance to his underground city. The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 by peasants digging a well on a farm. The day we were there, the man (a half blind peasant called Yang Zhifa) who owned the farm where it was discovered, was also there meeting and greeting people - I bought a book on the Army and he signed the first page for me (I wonder if that would be worth something on Ebay - ha ha!!) To this day three rectangular vaults have been uncovered which were constructed of earth with brick floors and timber supports. The guide told us that
what had been so far excavated was only 0.03% of the entire underground city - WOW, it must be immense!!!
We started in Vault 3 - the smallest vault and home to the battle headquarters. Sixty eight figures and a chariot had been uncovered. The detail on the figures was incredible, they were almost life like and each one had different facial features. It is just amazing to think that these soldiers were created so long ago and have been preserved perfectly underground!! In this Vault, the figures were not in battle formation and instead seemed to form an honour guard. (After we had visited all the vaults, Paul still deemed this one the most impressive!)
Vault 2 was a little larger and home to archers, charioteers, crossbowmen, cavalry and infantry. The figures displayed a great array of uniforms and posture but due to the fact that a great many soldiers in the vault were already smashed or broken it looked more like the aftermath of a battle rather than the preparation for one!! Peter informed us the reason for so many figures being damaged was due to the fact that Emperor Qin's strict policies, high taxes and
harsh laws had breed contempt and hatred amongst his subjects and after his murder, troops from rival factions had hunted down the underground city and had ransacked, destroyed and looted his tomb! One of the most impressive aspects of the second vault was that four excavated figures had been displayed in glass cubes which you could walk round 360 degrees and get really close up to and examine all the outstanding artistry. The figures included: A kneeling archer, a cavalryman, an officer and a general. Getting so close up to the figures really allowed you to appreciate and admire the detailing which had gone into each one and the subtle differences and contrasts between their representations according to their rank. They were exceptional!
Vault 1 was the largest area which had been excavated. It revealed more than a thousand figures even though only about a fifth of the whole area has been uncovered. As you walk into the hangar where the vault is housed all the figures stand facing you. Each one about 1.8m in height, with hair tied in a bun on the right side (sign of honour), apart from the archers whose bun is on the left as the quiver of arrows sat to the right side of their back. They wore knee-length battle tunics, with leather armour on the outside , although this had decayed. Photos showed how the soldiers looked when they were first excavated and traces of pigment revealed the soldiers dress was once bright yellow, purple and grey. However, Peter explained that within three minutes of being excavated the colours fade leaving just a grey hue. The estimate is that the vault houses around eight thousand figures, each solider again had different features, expressions and mark of rank - the guide told us it was believed that the soldiers were modeled off real members of the ancient Imperial Guard. Display cabinets located around the perimeter of the vaults housed the ten thousand plus excavated weapons which the soldiers were carrying including; swords, spears, bows and crossbows. The Terracotta Army was truly one of the most exceptional attractions I have ever seen and made even more impressive by the fact that it was created over two thousand years ago and is yet preserved so perfectly! Just astounding!
After we returned to Xi'an, the six of us decided to go for dinner at the Muslim Quarter. Yet again the attitude and irreverence of the Chinese we encountered was despicable. The six of us Derek, Leanne, Jamie, Stuart, Paul and I went to try and taste some authentic Chinese cuisine. Some stalls tried to charge us six times the price they were charging locals whereas other stalls refused to serve us at all. It mattered not to us anyway as we had to leave before everybody decided on a place to eat as Paul started feeling unwell - think its a touch of food poisoning! So we headed back and had an early night as we were leaving for Luoyang the next day and from there to Shaolin!!!
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karen allen
non-member comment
Hi
Hi, this looks absolutely amazing! I am really interested in things like this so it was really good to be able to see it and read about the history, i am amazed how they wer'e able to make such amazing things with limited tools! This is one place i would really like to see. It sounds like you have to have your wits about you because of all the scams! I would get done over loads and believe everyone! :) I hope your feeling better paul! Take care both karen and pete xxx