We were there about 8 am. It was freezing cold. It was really a sight to see all of the retired folks doing their exercises with swords etc.
Anyway, that night (Day 3), we got to Xi An and had Peking Duck for Thanksgiving Dinner.
Here are the kids in their Panda Hats.
The next morning, (Day 4) we went to see the Terra Cotta soldiers. They were discovered in the 1970s by 4 farmers digging a well. They thought they had dug up a Buddhist Temple and were scared. Historians were contacted. In the end, they found a 4 mile by 4 mile complex. The tomb is for the first Emperor of China. They were buried with him about 200 bc.
We went to a reproduction museum first. AKA sales pitch. We learned about how the figures are assembled for reproduction.
We got to take a few fun pictures before we went inside.
Me nagging....
Our guide explained the process of reproducing the soldiers in the way that they were originally made.
There is other pottery as well. I bought these below. They are the Chinese zodiac for Bill, me, Billy, Jerry, Patrick and Caroline.
Interesting, our guide made sure that none of us was born in January because that would make us a different zodiac sign then we make think. Their year usually starts at the end of January or start of February.
Some of the other things for sale at the shop. Beautiful furniture.
One of the common 3 wheel cars in China.
They are clearing many old buildings and making way for new apartment buildings.
Xi An is known as a middle size city. It has about 8 million people. Beijing has about 20 million, Shanghai about 23 million, Chong Ching is the largest with about 25 million.
Smog is a huge problem. There is always this haze in the air. The next pictures really show it. Interesting fact: They are putting 1000 new cars a day in the city of Xi An alone.
All of us had burning eyes by the end of the second day. Not too bad for me, but I could feel it.
A real eye opener...
The sun had a futuristic, post apocalyptic movie feel to it. There was always this haze. Not much blue sky.
When we arrived at the Terra Cotta Army Welcome Center, we had the usual group of Chinese folks looking at us in wonder. You can see over to the left how they would turn and just stare at us. They are not used to Westerners at all. Sometimes they would come and join our group. Not talk to us, just stand there and look and listen.
Heading to the Museum.
I was really excited because this is what I wanted to see. Some wanted the Great Wall, some wanted to see the soldiers. I was so excited.
The soldiers are life sized. The tallest are Generals. They get smaller as the ranks go down. Each soldier is unique. They all look different from each other. This has led to the speculation that they were modeled after the first Emperor's actual army.
This is the first pit discovered in the 1970's. There are 4 pits. They just discovered another 2 years ago. You can see how immense just one pit is. It is amazing to think how many soldier are here and no two are alike.
We had a great lunch after...
Caroline has another photo...
On the way back to the bus, we were chatting and I spotted some four leaf clovers. If you know me, you know I can spot them from 10 feet away ( a weird talent). I got my bouquet of 4-leaf clovers from China for my collection.
I was walking with the grandparents of another family, the Ostrowskis. Patrick and Caroline are friends with the kids. My kids started calling them Grandma and Grandpa because their friends call them that. So we all called them Grandma and Grandpa.
I was walking with Grandma and mid-sentence I say, "There they are, I knew I would find some.." and off I go to the right and start grabbing four leaf clovers. It took everyone a few seconds to figure out what I was doing. Then I find everyone a clover--you have to pick it yourself for luck.
Grandpa Ostrowski told me that they were not to impressive because they were just Chinese knock-offs. The real ones are in Ireland. Hilarious.
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