Oh my there is a lot to catch up on! We were so busy our two days in Xian that it was very late and I was very tired. This resulted in no blog for those days!
First of all, Xian was much more modern then I had anticipated, but it is an industrial/manufacturing city. They are definitely over building apartments! It is a city of 8 million and it looks like they have built 8 million apartments and are continuing to build, apartments EVERYWHERE! There seem to be as many construction cranes in Xian as there were in Dubai! We were told that apartments often sit empty for three years! There was also tremendous pollution from the factories! Coal is a primary energy source.
Upon arrival, we went to see the Underground Museum. It is a pit that is full of artifacts and small terra cotta soldiers. However, these soldiers were created after the life size ones done by the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Because he was the first emperor of the Han Dynasty he had no money and could not afford to build the life size soldiers. These soldiers all have the same face and are about 18 - 24" tall. The museum is quite well done, but almost no one was there. Few tourists go to see the Han Dynasty (25AD - 220 AD) burial pit because the life size soldiers of the Qin Dynasty are the true Crown Jewels of archeology! However, we found it quite interesting!
On the way into the city, we were amazed by the traffic. People drive down the middle of the dotted line to see which lane might open slightly so that they can dart into it. It is the CRAZIEST driving system. (And I thought Cairo and Vietnam were bad!). However, everyone seems to understand the system. We were told there were only 12 deaths attributed to traffic incidents in Xian last year. Perhaps that is because there are so many cars and the streets are so congested, you can never go very fast. This must result In a lot of damaged cars, but few fatalities.
Our guide, Mr. Liu, took us to a lovely restaurant for dinner and helped us order. Actually, we thought it was the best meal we'd had in China! He did a good job of ordering! Everything is served on a giant lazy Susan and there are always 7-8 dishes ordered. (Always too much food)! You lose track of how much you are eating because you are always just putting spoonfuls of different dishes on a small plate! I think we'd all be horrified if we saw everything that went on our small plates all piled up on a big plate!
The second day in Xian was the piece de resistance though! We went to see the excavated burial pits of the Emperor QinShihuang, the first emperor in Chinese history. The Qin Dynasty went from 221BC - 206 BC. It took 50 years to build the tomb. The First Emperor died (at age 50) before it was finished so his son finished it for him. When the son did his own tomb, the terra cotta warriors had to be even smaller since they couldn't be the same size as his fathers..
Mary was thrilled to revisit the life size Terra Cotta site. She was here with friends from Memphis about 23 years ago. That was just a short time after the first pit was opened to the public. Since then, the pits have been enclosed in a building a a great many more warriors have been found and reconstructed. Currently there are 1400 Terra Cotta soldiers and they estimate there are about 8000! There is much yet to be uncovered. In fact, the actual burial tomb of the first emperor has not yet been opened. They have a good idea of what exists inside the chamber from other records, but they are short on money and worry about the technology of preserving items. When the first terra cotta soldiers were discovered, they still bore some of the brightly colored paint that had adorned them. But after being exposed to the air for three days, the paint colors disintegrated. So, they are leery about uncovering the Emperors burial mound. All the work must be done by Chinese archeologists. They are concerned about letting other countries help because of the fear of what happened to a great many Egyptian artifacts which ended up in the British Museum. The work is slow and tedious but they are doing an amazing job of reconstructing these ancient guardians of the Emperor!
We were actually given passes and allowed to enter the archeological display pit and walk among the soldiers! It was amazing! These soldiers were crafted by about 80 different artisans. (They would mark their creations. Sort of their version of quality control ). Each warrior has a different face! All 1400 of them are so different! There was a pit of cavalry soldiers with their horses and the chariots. There was a pit where the Archers all faced one direction to guard the tomb. There are Generals and officers (usually those with hats of some kind) and there are the infantry soldiers with different top knots of hair. Their hands are empty because the infantry held spears and weapons made of wood which has long since rotted! Remember, these were created over 2000 years ago!
It is believed that original soldiers were the models for the Terra Cotta warriors. There was a pit found which contained human remains-- some of whom were buried alive. (They can tell by the position of the hands.). These were the construction workers. When the Emperor died, all the concubines who did not have children were also sealed in the tomb alive..The construction workers were buried so they could not reveal the location of the tomb.
The first pit was discovered in 1974 by four farmers who were digging a well and found some ancient artifacts. A few months later, archeologist showed up and began excavating. We actually had one of the 4 original farmers who discovered the site, sign a book for each of us detailing the Pit's history. There was a second pit discovered close by which held the remains of several bronze chariots drawn by four horses along with the Tera cotta cavalry figures. A third, and very small pit was discovered last and it is believed to be the Generals/Officers administration room with the Terra cotta remains of all officers. Items appear to have been buried in the pits for anything the Emperor might desire in his afterlife. (Very much like the Egyptians placed all things in the pyramids for the Pharoahs afterlife.)
In the afternoon we visited a Museum with lots of amazing artifacts that have been discovered in the area. They have even discovered "jugglers,acrobats" made from Terra cotta and figures they believe to be administrative officials of the Court. These have a totally different look then the warriors, but they still have individual faces. The construction of these figures all have solid legs (both animals and people) but the torsos, arms and heads are all hollow. The holes in the hollow pieces allowed gases to escape when the clay was being fired and avoided explosions. We still do not understand how skilled these artist were to fire these clay figures to a hardness that survives today. We do know the figures were originally painted bright colors - red, black, yellow, blue and white-- the colors represented south, north, the center, east and west respectively. The bronze chariots discovered were primarily white representing the west direction. They believe there will be 8 additional chariots in the other colors placed in their respective directions that will be uncovered one day. We were actually lucky enough to see the archeologists bringing in a newly reconstructed warrior to be placed in the pit with his fellow soldiers. We even saw them place his head into the hollow torso.
While in he museum in the afternoon, we saw some of the first pieces of paper that were one the inventions of the Chinese. Actually, the paper was hemp and fairly thick and was not used for writing initially, but as toilet paper. (That's what we were told.)
Last night we were treated to an amazingly beautiful show of dance, music and costumes of the Tang Dynasty. I will post some of these amazing pictures that show the magnificent costumes. We had an 18 course Dumpling dinner before the show. Some of us tried the dumplings, but I think only two small dumplings out of three large pots were eaten. But since there are always so many courses, you never go hungry even if there are several items you don't care for!
This morning we left a smoggy Xien for what we thought was going to be an even smoggier Bejing! But, much to our surprise, this city is the most smog free of any so far! We could actually see blue sky! We took a lazy stroll through the people's park to see the Temple of Heaven. But the amazing thing was the actual walk through the park on a gorgeous afternoon. It was filled with people doing everything! They are not performing for money, but there will be organized groups all around singing! There are lots of dancers! Some are in costume, some are not. Some are just housewives doing our version of a western line dance. There are people exercising and LOTS of card games and Chinese chess games! Gambling is illegal, but there was a lot of private wagering going on! There were women selling wares along the way-- not pushy at all, just displaying hand crocheted items of all types from hats to baby toys! I'd say the park was probably extra crowded. Today is day 2 of a 3 day state holiday called "Sweeping of the Graves" where people go to their ancestors tombs and tend them. If you take the three days off, you are not paid. If you work, (like bus drivers) you will be paid double.
Our new guide, Oscar, is a delightful young man with impeccable English. He is married with an 11 month old infant. He and his wife stay with her parents who have a larger apartment and can babysit since both he and his wife work. The trade off is, it takes him an hour to get home on the Metro. In the mornings and late afternoons, the Metro is so crowded you literally cannot move when on the train. He says sometimes his cell phone will ring but he physically cannot move enough to get his hand in his pocket to get his phone out! There are long lines for buses!!! Actually two lines-- one line for people who want to sit and the other line is for people who stand! And even with all that, there are huge traffic issues. Depending on the last digits of your license plate determines which days of the week you may drive your car. Wealthy families who have two cars will get license plates that end in different numbers so they can always drive at least one of the cars!
Tonight we went to dinner on "the antique street" for another taste of fine local cuisine! Oscar did a great job ordering for us and pretty much everything was delicious! One unique twist at dinner. There was a famous local artist painting watercolor horses on a large table in the dining room. We watched for a short while as he was painting. Arlene asked if he would be interested in selling one of his "horse" paintings, but he wanted $1000. USD for it. While they were interesting and fun, that was not even in our zip code of thought!
I have to end by telling you about our new hotel-- the Park Hyatt. Our lobby is on the 63 floor! We go down to our room on the 41st floor! You can walk around the entire floor on the 63rd and look out the glass to see every direction of Bejing! Since the smog has temporarily lifted, it is an absolutely spectacular sight with the city lights. This hotel is the second tallest in the city! Below us are offices and private condominiums and in the basement (
just above the Metro line)'there is an enormous shopping mall! It has every single designer name I have ever heard of and a whole lot of expensive stores whose names I don't recognize at all!
Tomorrow we go to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It will warm up to around 80F tomorrow but start out around 60F. Layers...
I have to end by telling you about our bathroom facility. We have a "Smart Toilet". When you walk in, the seat cover automatically raises. There is a control panel that does everything. (I posted a photo!). The only caveat is that the seat begins to heat as soon as you sit down and we can't find a switch to either turn off or lower the heat! :))). It does prevent dawdling! Goodnight until tomorrow. Only three nights in Bejing before we head for home!
This is the first museum with the "miniature" Terra cotta soldiers all with the same faces..
Miniatures found in burial pit .
Inside the repair workshop,of,the Han Dynasty figures..
This is the first pit discovered and contains some officers but mostly infantry..
We were allowed out onto the pit floor! Quite an amazing thing!
Bringing in the newest reconstructed soldier. They put his head on last.
Officers because of their hats..
One of the original bronze chariots.
It's spring and thus all the cherry blossoms are in bloom!
Gaby Panda was also impressed by the soldiers!
Mary made new friends! The young people love blondes because we look so different. They keep asking to have photos taken with us! And, they love to practice their English!
This is the farmer from the village who discovered the burial pit. He signs books at the state owned museum. He does get paid something for each book. There are only three of the farmers left. One recently passed away. This is one of the original farmers signing Arlene's book.
Pictures of the Tang Dynasty music and dance show.
Mary resting on the way to the top of the Temple of Heaven!
Temple of Heaven in Bejing.
Sent from my iPad
