Xi'an the warriors - beyond expectations

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Geo: 34.2712, 108.991

Just saying, lucky to be here blogging tonight! I believe with every fibre of my Chinese heart that I am here because my soup had three NOT four mini wontons in it! (For the non-Chinese literate...four is the number of "death".....no fourth floor indicated in the lifts in hotels...three wontons much better than four!)

Anyway, it was 9.10 pm and the Tang Dynasty show had ended and at 9.12 as arranged we emerged from the theatre to see our driver reversing our car up the steps! Now that is taking door to door service literally. Mr Shin was out of the people mover van and was holding open the door for me to get in. As usual I lumbered up the step and was "in" ... So he let go to start towards the front door....and in that split second the car started to roll towards the 3 lane highway under its own steam with precious cargo (me) on board. SERIOUSLY, Mac (my hero from The Wall remember) grabbed hold of the moving vehicle in the sliding door opening and held it back! Mr America, Spider-Man, Batman, Arrow, Superman, the Green Hornet ..... you name it....somehow he reacted fast enough so that others joined in to stop the rolling vehicle.

And with the luck of my three dinner wontons on my side, I live to blog another day!

The funny thing is that I didn't realise what was happening. I was actually in the car thinking that I had somehow managed AT LAST the vault into the van with a modicum of elegance.

And with that out of the way...back to the beginning....again.

We woke this morning complaining that it had been a bit of a tough night-the room was just so hot. Mac had adjusted the air conditioning - or so we thought - but it chugged away all night and kept the room at a toasty and stuffy 26 degrees. When Jenny arrived this morning we asked for her assistance in finding out how to control the AC. The concierge informed her that due to the refurbishment activities the AC was not working and we could have either a bowl of ice (?) or a fan. Your guess as to what we opted to take.

Jenny was here right on 9.30 and we took off to visit the ancient City Wall.

I have to mention that the guides have a four year university degree - Jenny has majored in English and history - speaks beautiful English and has a passion for her job and her city. And, as if that isn't enough, each year, the guides re-sit an examination to ensure that they maintain their recency of knowledge in order to keep their licence. The stories that make up the tour are what contribute to making our adventure a "living history". You are right there standing on the spot where the archers defended the city, you enter the living quarters and touch the iron bell, you scale the parapets to scan the moat and city beyond and you strain to hear the chiming of the hours from the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower.

The rectangular ancient city wall has a perimeter of 14 kms and is surrounded by a moat that is 7 metres deep. It has a width that accommodated four racing chariots abreast and today you can hire bicycles (singles and tandems) and complete the round trip in about 90 minutes. We completed an ambling walk for just a short distance today but it did make me think that if China could cope, this would be a perfect cycling expedition for the Fab5!

We ventured into the City Wall museum to learn a little more about Feng Shui and emerged with my precious ying and yang jade pieces. We are not sure how we are going to get them home but they will replace the "countdown" at our front door. Can't wait to put them in place.

Off to the warriors. But not before we stop at the "factory" to learn how the replicas are made today. The process was interesting but the real purpose is to get us to buy something. The replicas ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous - and I am not sure how our local factory guide Kenneth thought two Australians were going to get a full sized or even quarter sized replica home....but, there you go...we got to inspect them all.

Kenneth did not get quite the outcome he had hoped for ...we bought a pair of very very very miniatures. And remember, we haven't seen the warriors yet!

To get out of the factory you have to run the gauntlet of lots and lots of other alley ways and shopping opportunities. I saw an amazing piece of crystal....an open plinth that looked like the palm of the hand that held a floating crystal ball of the world....but I resisted.

In the next room I spotted a red lacquered plate that featured a pair of cranes (the symbol of longevity ...we had seen it before in the Imperial Palace) and of course I was tempted. But the price of 860 yuan was out of my price range. However, the price changed instantly and a calculator was produced. But it was still beyond my dwindling birthday funds.

I walked away. Another offer was made - so I went back and had another "hold" but was still not convinced I knew enough about it to be tempted to part with my funds.

And besides, we were getting hungry. We left with purpose - I was happy to leave the plate behind. We were almost at the exit and I was lllloooonnnnggggg finished playing the bargaining game but obviously the stall holder hadn't and one final offer was made..."name your price". Apparently I was playing the disinterested buyer role perfectly! So I did...I named a price that I would be happy to pay...and we are now the proud owners of the red lacquered plate! And to make me feel like I had driven a hard bargain, The stall holder said I had to pay cash! I wonder who the real winner was in all of this?

Lunch today was at a "tourist" venue - not our favourite lunch experience - but I guess we have been so spoiled to date in the food department that our expectations are high! Lunch really was a "public cafeteria" atmosphere and the food was almost frisbeed to the table by the passing staff.

Onward to the warriors.

And yep, simply spectacular (Mac's word). Pit 1 is 250 metres long and so far approximately 1 000 warriors have been fully or partially reconstructed with a further 6000 predicted as completing the collection. This is one pit of 400 pits of varying size that have been identified. Only one warrior, a kneeling archer, was found intact amongst the 1 000 revealed to date. The others are uncovered as broken and shattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle which are painstakingly reconstructed. There is enough work here to keep archaeologists working into the next millennium.

The farmer who stumbled on the broken pieces of the warriors while digging a well on his farm was at the exhibit today. He was signing the commemorative chronicle of the warriors. Of course we now own a signed copy of the book. It really is amazing that the discovery was made...his find was on the very edge of the pit....if he had dug another 50 cms east....the discovery would not have been made.

Despite the leaps and bounds in scientific methods and tools...this is still a tedious exercise. When you see the tumbled, jumbled mess in the pits you really do appreciate that each finished warrior is a miracle. And imagine what secrets the next pit could hold. Imagine what might be found in the Emperor's mound?

A great afternoon!

We rounded out the evening with a dumpling banquet and the Tang Dynasty Show. It was a relaxing and entertaining show and we enjoyed the fun of sampling so many different tastes in the banquet.

We were feeling on a high as we headed towards Mr Shin for the ride home ....and so the story began!

Pedometer total; 7 719
Temperature: 28 C

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Comments

[Aunty Gail]

Well, I have to say that I am having an absolute wonderful time on your holiday......feeling right there with you.......and what an adventure we are having......Bravo Super Hero!!!!!! You saved our precious girl from certain disaster!And so
glad to see that you have the 'bargaining' technique down pat!!! Well done......I can hardly wait to see what our next bargain will be!!.....xoxoxoxoxoxo

[JA]

Glad to see you are having the time of your life... Loving the updates.

[Dick Tellegen]

Hi superhero Wayne I must see your outfit on your return and hopefully not tight lycra pants.Great updates Jan love the reads from you.Dick