Xi'an -- Terracotta Army Pit One

There's the big man himself... No, not Rodney, but the first emperor in China, Emperor Qin, who had the army built to protect him in his afterlife. Story is he also sent 300 boys and girls to an island in search of the 'medicine of eternal life'.... of course, there was none to be found, but in order to save their own lives, they fed him kiwi. 

Pit 1 houses the location of the original 1974 discovery by three farming brothers while digging a well. At that point, the farmers no longer had land to farm, so these days their (paid by the government) job is to sign autographs at the gift shop! And for US$3, they'll smile for a photo ;0)

This stop was so exciting for Rodney. He remembers as a kid going to the World's Fair and seeing a Terracotta Soldier, so to see them in real life, was pretty much a dream come true!!

The soldiers were originally standing in form of pomp and circumstance.

 

They were originally manned with real weapons, but at some point they were ransacked with the weapons being taken and the statues broken to pieces and all set ablaze.

 

 

Archaeologists are still working tediously to find pieces and reassemble the statues. We would have loved to see them working, but they only work after hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you happen to travel to China, it is worth joining the more than 5 million tourists to see them!!

Now we were off to lunch and the other two pits!!

Xi'an -- Terracotta Factory

Before going to see the Terracotta Army, we stopped at the terracotta factory to see how some of the pieces are made today.

"We warmly welcome the friends from all over the world!"
Xi'an Daqin Terra-cotta & Lacquer Furniture Art Factory

Our chance to be a terracotta warrior!
But, these pieces weren't made of terracotta.... they were metal.

 

The entrance to the factory. 

Pressing rolls of terracotta clay into molds to make tabletop statues. 

These pieces were 3-4 feet tall. The heads and hands are attached later in the process. And, yes, they are all hollow!

She's attaching and detailing a head to this piece. 

The worker on this end is making horses. 

He was applying the lacquer to this table so fast his arms were almost blurry in real life!!! 

Some gorgeous lacquerware pieces inlaid with other stones.

 

Very detailed work

 

In the shopping area...

Almost life-size

 

My favorite was the Kneeling Archer. 

Of course a lacquerware factory would have a lacquer piece for a wash basin!!!

Then we were off to see the Terracotta Army!!!! 

Xi'an -- City Wall

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!!!!
And we were prepared to celebrate our Thanksgiving with Slim Jims and Butterfingers ;0)
Although, we had such a busy day, we never had the chance to partake :0(

But, back to our tour....

Xi'An is the city of peace in the west.
Xi = west An = peace
It is a city of eight million people and covering 5600 square miles where an apartment is four times cheaper and salaries are half than in Beijing.

Twenty-two hundred years old and the starting point of the silk road, Xi'an is the only Chinese city with its wall still standing. Our hotel was also the only hotel inside the city wall.

Up until 600 years ago, the inner area of the wall was surrounded by a moat and only accessed by a drawbridge, but entered only by the royal family, keeping the poor outside the walls.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Queen for a Day!! ..... or at least a few moments... 

 

 

I have no idea what this thing is, but, it seems it would be a very mean crowd control device! 

The wall has an outer gate and an inner gate. When an enemy attacks and breaks through the outer gate, they believe they've broken into the city, but, they've put them self in a trap in this square. During the National War, Xi'An was saved from destruction by "catching a turtle in a jar"!

Old meets new .... and even newer being built.
LOVED seeing the colorful fall leaves!!!!  

It took me a bit to realize this was a trash can! 

The Baileys 

Yep, a Mini-Cooper on the side of a building!! 

Looks like China loves Pepsi! 

Meet our driver,  Peng. He may have done a great job maneuvering their 3-ring road system, but he NEVER smiled. And, it was obvious he sat on the bus and smoked the whole time we were off of it..... But, guess that shouldn't have been such a surprise since 700 million people smoke in China. The government owns the the tobacco company (making a profit from the cigarette sales) and pays farmers to grow the tobacco. Men actually greet each other in the mornings by exchanging cigarettes. If they, by chance, don't smoke, they put it behind their ear saving it to pass along later.

Speaking of greetings, I found it interesting how their greetings have traded through the years....
Before the 1970s people would greet each other with "Have you eaten?" replying with "I've eaten" regardless if they had or not. (Sounds familiar to our "How are you?" "Just fine." even when things are not fine!)
Over time that greeting changed to "Have you become rich?"
While the modern day greeting is "Have you divorced?" due to the fact their divorce rate has gone from 0% to 33% just in this century!