Terra Cotta Warriors - 8th Wonder of the World

After the Tour de Wall bicycle ride, we get into the van and Jacky informs us that it’s about 90 minutes to the Terra Cotta Warriors (TCW) museum so we sit back and take a break while we make the trek to the museum. After about 30 minutes, we stop at a place to “learn how the warriors were made”. When we walk in, we are greeted by a man who begins to talk to us and shows us the clay, the molds, the kilns, etc. As we continue to walk through this “prequel”, it begins to dawn on us that this has nothing to do with how the warriors were made but it has to do with how they make the souvenirs that they sell. Once we were done with how the TCW figures are made, we walked through a furniture making gallery, then on to other clay figurines, then to silk art, then more artwork and finally, they show us the gallery of items from each area that are for sale. They had actual size warriors there for sale (the price includes shipping….really, what the heck am I going to do with it? Look, I have a full size warrior in my house. It might be interesting for a little bit but it’ll soon be a big dust collector that you wonder “why did I buy this thing?”). Not only could you buy one actual size, they would make a mold of your face and put it on the warrior. They had an example of one where a Canadian had his face put on a warrior’s body. Now, I didn’t ask the nationality of the person that had this made, they told us it was a Canadian. So for my Canadian friends, I didn’t conclude this on my own because he had a hockey stick and a Maple Leafs jersey (or for the French Canadians, a Canadians jersey [with the obligatory beret], or for the tweeners, a Senators jersey). I couldn’t fathom the logic (or perhaps more accurately the arrogance) behind this move. Conversation piece…sure but c’mon. The Terra Cotta Warriors are part of the history of China, why would I interject myself into it by having them make a statue with my head? It’s like buying a replica of Mount Rushmore but removing Teddy’s head and inserting my own…It’s all about me. Anyhow, they had all sizes of the warriors for sale, some made from the clay, others from “jade” (there’s no way it was real jade) and all kinds of other things for sale here (books on the “history” of China….like that’s the true story, it’d be like expecting CNN to actually report on the news). There was no pressure put on us to buy so we didn’t (along with most of the other tour groups on this stop). It was kind of interesting but it was also like walking through a large, unnecessary gift shop before you got to the museum.

So, back into the van we went and we didn’t stop until we hit the museum. There was a small village surrounding the museum, souvenir shops, food vendors and off in the distance were the homes of some of the original farmers in this area. The odd thing here was that they checked your ticket three times before you made it inside. Jacob didn’t need a ticket due to his age so he went through with me. Each time, the guard looked at me, at him and I could see them thinking that he was older than we said but Jacky stepped in to indicate his age and we were waved on through. Jacky started us in Pit 1. As soon as we walked in, it was simply unbelievable. You were at the ground level and were able to look down into the pit to see rows and rows of these terra cotta soldiers at the depth that they were buried. They were in the pit lined up in formation like they were ready to advance on the enemy. Pit 1 is 230 meters long with 11 corridors (each about 3 meters wide). The corridors were paved with small bricks and then covered with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. The wooden ceilings were then covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil to make the pit about 2 to 3 meters higher than ground level. As mentioned previously, we saw the small traveling exhibit and since that time couldn’t wait until we got to see the real deal. It is hard to describe but it was nearly unbelievable when you consider that the army was made over 2,000 years ago. There are no two warriors that were to be made alike and so although the body may look similar, each has a distinctly different face so just the magnitude and scale of this project is huge. The collection of people needed to construct the army would have to be massive and this was just one pit.

At the moment, they have three pits that have been excavated or partially excavated and they know of 5 more that they will not excavate until they can solve the one major problem that they have. The warriors are actually colored with paint to make them appear exactly like they would in life but once they are exposed to the air, the paint fades and cannot be restored. So, they all look just like clay figures despite the fact that when they were unearthed, they were in color (where’s Ted Turner when you need him). From what we were told, it takes less than 3 days for the color on the warriors to completely fade away. They have tried to paint the figures to match the original condition but they have not found the right mix to match the original look and that will remain on the warriors (the original recipe for the paint and many other things found in the pits were lost to history since many involved with the building of the Emperor’s tomb and the pits for his army never left the area (fertilizer). For this reason, Pit #3 has been partially excavated but none of the warriors have been exposed to date. Once they believe they can preserve the warriors, they will continue to dig at these sites to continue to unearth the army of the first emperor of China, Emperor Qin (pronounced Chin). At the moment, they believe the three pits contain a total of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 calvary horses.

When you see them up close, you can see the soles of the shoes have an actual pattern (and you could just make out the small swoosh) and the individual hairs on the head are detailed along with other things like the fingernails. The detail work is simply amazing and was really the thing to see, it was tough from the viewing of the pits but later when we got an up close look, it was something (we also got to see this with the traveling exhibit but you could not take any photos). We asked Jacky how this could be done and he indicated that each warrior was inspected and if it wasn’t right, someone else take your place (above the ground). Talk about pressure.

Along many of the rows typically near the back, there were hundreds of broken pieces of soldiers. Years after the burial of Emperor Qin, the people broke into the pit and destroyed many of the warriors to display their feelings towards the Emperor’s “less than kind” regime (the Chinese have developed a computer program to scan the broken pieces and help them re-assemble the broken warriors). The majority of the workforce were basically slaves so the working conditions were poor and the people were pushed very hard to complete the task. In addition, when their work was complete, many of the laborers were killed to preserve the secrets of the pits and the tomb. Many of the things found in the pits, the bricks, the advanced metallurgy of the weapons, the paint pigments were lost to history when those that created them were killed to prevent the secrets from being revealed. It’s hard to fathom but many of the secrets of the pits have yet to be discovered even with the advancements in technology. Emperor Qin created the army to serve him in the afterlife so he could continue his rule as Emperor.
Our goal was to move around and get some good photos. We started with a great spot just above the original entrance to the pit and I wasn’t moving for anything or anybody until I had the photos I wanted. We had one chance to get this and I wanted to capture as much as I could with the camera. This was the prime spot since everyone wanted a photo with the pit in the background. We finally gave up the spot and began our move to the side of the pit. It was so interesting to see the warriors at the sides of the pit were actually turned and faced the sides of the pit as if they were preparing for an attack from the flank (that’s the side and not the cut of beef just in case you were confused). In the very back of the pit, there were several dozen warriors that were in the process of being re-assembled (like a large 3D puzzle). I can’t imagine the time and effort to perform this task but in this US this is what we would call “job security”.

The pits and army were part of the folklore of the country but faded into obscurity until the pit was discovered in 1974 by a group of farmers digging a well. The tomb of the emperor has not been opened and they will not attempt to open it until they are certain that they will not destroy any artifacts that might exist in this tomb. Right now, it’s a large dirt mound that looks more like a small hill in the distance but it is a burial mound that has been reduced in size again due to the passing of time. All around Xi’an you will find these burial mounds for various emperors/leaders of the country, Jacky indicated how many of the burial mounds there were but I can’t recall the number. This one is obviously the most famous simply due to the fact that this is the tomb of the emperor that created the country of China.

We went from Pit #1 to Pit #2 where there was a more limited collection of the warriors. This was more of the “office” of the pits where communications were done and orders were handed down to the army. Pit two, although much smaller in size and scope still was very interesting just due to the level of detail involved and again, it was a massive undertaking. Pit #3 was basically an unfinished dig site. They had dug down to the level of the top of the pit but had not uncovered any of the warriors in this area. This pit showed the enormity of the task involved in getting these warriors out of the ground. First you had to dig down to the “roof” of the pit. Then you need to remove the wooden roof and begin the arduous task of removing the dirt and debris to expose the warriors contained in this pit. The thing is that they have no idea what’s under the roof, perhaps all of the soldiers in this pit have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Conversely, perhaps this is the pit that will contain the answers to many questions around the technology for some of the weapons, the coloring pigments, etc. It is so interesting to think that although there have been a lot of warriors exposed, there are still many yet to be revealed. As you walked through and saw the sheer magnitude of the dig and all that they have uncovered, we hoped that in our lifetime that they will be able to open the Emperor’s tomb and reveal the remaining TCW without losing the color of the warriors. We’d love to go back and see more of what there is in Xi’an for the TCW but we don’t think that things will change in time for us to get the second chance to see the 8th wonder of the world.

So this concludes our Day 1 in Xi’an. Day 2 is all about Hua Mountain so stay tuned to see what we learn from that experience.

Xi'an - The City Wall

Day one in Xi’an started with an early wake-up call, not from the front desk but from outside. First, where our hotel was located was very near to one of the Chinese government offices. Second, we were also very near a small park where people went early in the morning to do Tai Chi and dance for exercise. So, music starts playing about 6:30. Now, if the windows were not open it might not have been that bad but the rooms were stuffy and we had to have the windows open to get some air in the rooms. So, the music is fairly loud, not obnoxious but loud enough to wake you up from your slumber. I’m still not really certain if the music was for the changing of the guard, the flying of the flag or whatever. It really didn’t matter much, it woke you up (and played for 15 minutes so there was no falling back to sleep). Then the Bell Tower bells ring to let you know it’s time to get up (thanks for the “free” wake up call). Of course, in between the man-made noise; it’s the cooing of the stupid pigeons that were on the window sills of the apartment complex right next to the hotel. The people in these apartments obviously fed the flying rats and so they hung around waiting to get something to eat. All of this added up to an early start to the day. We were still tired from the day long venture to Xi’an but we got moving so we could grab breakfast and meet Jackie and Mr. Wang to get the day started.

Our itinerary for the first day was the city wall, bell tower, and then the terra cotta museum in the afternoon. We started out by driving over to the city wall. It was indicated to us that we could (if we wanted) ride bikes on the city wall. Now, I’m not afraid of some exercise but I wasn’t really keen on riding around on a bicycle on my vacation. However, along the way to the wall Jacky has his mind made up for us, you will get some exercise and ride around the city wall on bicycles. Huh!?!? When we arrived, he gave us some history on the city as we walked up the stairs to the top of the city wall. He showed us some interesting items about the wall, some of the logic behind the structure and the architecture and then more about when it was built. All the while, I’m snapping photos and listening while looking for another angle for a photo (say cheese). Then, we happen to walk by a bike rental place and Jackie indicates that here is where he says goodbye and he will wait for us while we ride around on the wall. How long is it around the wall? Oh, only 14.5 kms (ONLY 14.5!!!). So since there’s no backing out, we go ahead and rent the bikes for 100 minutes this was the standard rental time so I guess it’s enough time to complete the circuit..

Now a moment on the bikes…these are your daddy’s bikes. Seriously, the lady from the Wizard of Oz (you know, she turns into the wicked witch of the west….I’ll get you my pretty) had a bicycle that was more modern than these things. No shocks, no frills, no padding, squeaky brakes and just enough rust to make you wonder if it will last the trip. I haven’t ridden a bike for many, many years but I was able to get back on and get moving without killing myself (or anyone else) so we headed off.

So, 100 minutes to cover 14.5 kms…the math should’ve been obvious to me but for some reason it didn’t register until I got rolling. Perhaps I was still mulling over the bicycle ride in my mind and didn’t realize that I was actually doing this. I thought this was optional? We started the ride at about the halfway point on the North wall. The sky was probably as clear as it gets in Xi’an and the temperature was good for a ride so things could’ve been a lot worse. The kids take off with Tammy close behind and me stopping every 10-20 meters to take photos. Yeah, this was a good idea….NOT! I’m trying to take photos just to show the overall scope of the wall, the inner city, the moat around the wall and the modern city rising around the walls plus I wanted to grab images of some of the other things that interested me while on the ride. Hey, wait for me (Sqeak! Snap-snap! Rattle, rattle…okay so the sound effects don’t work well, try to image it, be the bicycle), I’ll be right there. It might surprise you to know that the city wall was erected during the Ming dynasty, which makes it pretty old. Of course there have been renovations, I’m sure the cable lights weren’t part of the original wall. So, if I had thought this through logically something might have occurred to me regarding the wall. It was about 1 km into the ride that it occurred to me that this wall wasn’t really meant for cycling. (Ta-Dah! Yes, I know, it’s an absolutely astute and dare I say brilliant assessment of the situation! Well done, Mr. Watson!) I know that you are dying to know how this thought came into my head. Well, it’s pretty simple, the blocks that made up the top of the wall weren’t really very level and the wear and tear on these blocks caused a great deal of unevenness between each block. So, combine a very uneven riding surface and a bicycle made in the 1940s with no seat padding and you’ve got a recipe for some jack hammering going on (please don’t squeeze the Charmin)…do I need to paint you a picture? As the ride went on (and on, and on) I would try and scan the area for photo opportunities plus have to swerve around on the wall to avoid the larger holes and find the “smoother path” and still try to keep an eye out for the family. When we finally got to the Northwest corner of the wall, I realized that we were in big trouble (or perhaps it was just me). It was clear to me that once you start, you really can’t just turn around and go back so we paused at the corner and then down the West wall we went.

There were many interesting sights to see on both sides of the wall, a few examples of those are listed below;
• There are parks on the outside of the wall all around the wall. People go into these parks to exercise with the “equipment” there. Nearly every time I looked, there were people on these contraptions that were obviously meant for exercise but I have no idea what they were called or when they might have been built.
• There was demolition going on in many areas inside the wall. Seeing 4-5 guys on top of a building with sledgehammers hitting the walls beneath them struck me as odd. One big swing of a wrecking ball would’ve taken the whole place down but that’s only a job for one person. This job involved a lot more people and therefore it was better to knock the building down brick-by-brick.
• People getting a haircut out on the street, the barber chairs were on the street and there they were….a little off the top please.

Just the sheer size of the wall was a surprise to me. When we were halfway through the ride, it seemed that the wall would never end. I kept looking ahead to see if the next building might be a sign that the corner was near (of course it never was). We stopped and took a break near the mid-point in the ride. Tammy and the boys actually stopped and waited for me to catch up and they had a Gatorade ready for me (I was huffing and puffing like an overweight smoker that just walked from the couch to the fridge for another beer and some pork rinds). We stopped for about 5 minutes and then, it was off to finish the ride (it was the mental challenge now, I think I can, I think I can..). I had started to become a little more finicky about the photos I took since if I kept at the current pace, we would never be done. It was a loooonnnngggg ride. The kids finished before Tammy and I and as you can imagine, we had to pay a little extra since we didn’t make the 100 minute curfew. I think it took us a little over 2 hours to make the trek around the entire wall.

Once we finished and got to take a break and mull it all over, it was definitely worth the effort (maybe not so much the bruising) to get to see and feel large the wall is and get a better feel for how the city must have looked during the time when the Silk Road was the major trading route. The sheer size of the city at that time must’ve been a simply awesome sight and the blending of the cultures/dialects as they came together for trade would’ve been something to witness. I was very tired and we were lucky to have the chance for a break after the ride was over. We got back into the van and headed for the Terra Cotta Warriors museum….more on that coming up.

Easter in China

So we take a short break between the Xi’an posts for a quick blurb on Easter Sunday. You might note that it’s a day after Easter Sunday (which also happened to be Warren’s birthday) and we have to fess up…..we ate the Easter bunny. [To the tune of I Shot the Sheriff] I ate the rabbit ‘cause he didn’t bring me Easter eggs. Okay, a little explanation. Since it was Warren’s birthday, we allowed him to choose the fine dining establishment for dinner. His selection; Baschu, the Szechuan restaurant about 5 minutes from the apartment. The place is usually very crowded (which is always a good sign) and so we headed out early to ensure we didn’t have to wait for a table. We got right in and started through the menu to pick our favorites. The one thing we had to have….spicy rabbit leg. Sorry Easter bunny fans but eating rabbit leg on Easter seemed to be the perfect fit. It was very tasty and you wouldn’t know that the rabbit has just gone around the world delivering Easter eggs and jellybeans. Of course since we didn’t get any of those things we got our revenge by eating the rabbit. Now it may not have been THE Easter bunny but I think we sent a message about our expectations for next year. I guess the chef at Baschu could now be called Elmer Foo (kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit…).

One other strange sight from yesterday day was that as Tammy and I headed to Auchan to pick up a few things, we drove by the Blue Marlin restaurant. Hanging outside the establishment was somebody dressed in a Bugs Bunny outfit. Now perhaps it is just me but I’ve never, ever confused Bugs Bunny with the Easter Bunny. No relation, no way, no how. But in China, a bunny is a bunny so shut your trap and bring your kids over to get their photo taken with Bugs/Easter Bunny. Anyhow, that was our Easter on this side of the world. Hope you enjoyed your Easter Sunday.

Now we return to our regularly scheduled Xi’an stories, stay tuned.