A day as a tourist in Xi'an

Xi'an is famous for the Terracotta Warriors.  Chinese and foreigners come from all over to see this recently discovered history.  In 1974 a farmer was digging a well and came across this astounding discovery.  I finally made it out of Xi'an to see what everyone was talking about.

I had the privilege of going with my friend Andrew (an American who I met in Cambodia while we were getting our TESOL certification) and his parents.  I was able to join them for an entire day of Xi'an sightseeing.  We started out on the city wall.

Then we went to the Wild Goose Pagoda and visited the temples. Andrew rubbed the buddha's stomach for good luck.

The Warriors are about an hour outside of Xi'an.  There are mountains out there!

The discovered figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, and musicians.  The best preserved ones are colored so it is assumed that all of the warriors were originally colored.  There are 3 pits and all together archeologists estimate there are about 8,000 total figures (most have not been uncovered yet).   In 210-209 BC the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty (at age 13) ordered this army to be built so he could be buried with them to help him rule in the afterlife.  He didn't want any 2 warriors to be the same. Sounds like he also invented the phrase 'go big or go home'. 

They are still uncovering more and more warriors.

It's a fascinating story - especially the story of the farmer that discovered them but thought it was bad luck to find pieces of bodies.  He threw out the pieces he found first.  He didn't become famous until 1998 when President Bill Clinton said he wanted to see the Terracotta Army and meet the farmer that discovered it.  Since that day everyone wants to meet the farmer.  On most days he can be found signing autographs in the gift shop.   It was well worth the wait and this vast discovery did not disappoint.

For dinner we had 18 different kinds of dumplings.  They were beautiful and delicious.

The day ended with an authentic Chinese stage show.    Not only was it visually beautiful but the music and dancing was pretty amazing.

Thanks for a fantastic day Gestons!!!

**If you want to read more about the Terracotta Warriors I found a really interesting article that goes into the life of the farmer and archeologist.