Terracotta Army

Terracotta Army buried since 221 BC

We went to the busy breakfast buffet at the Wyndham Grand Xi’an South at 6:30 and had tea, rice congee and a mix of Asian fruits. We went back up to the room to brush teeth and shower before we needed to be on the bus at 7:30. While this shower doesn’t have the side water jets, the rainfall shower head was very refreshing.

The morning was much cooler than we experienced on prior days. Not only had we been moving north but we are now east of the Himalayas resulting in a change of climate. The morning was a combination of cloudy, fog and smog. We took light jackets and either ponchos or umbrellas since rain was in the forecast for the day.

We arrived early at the site of the Terra-cotta Army and entered the exhibits before most of the visitors. Since Viking had purchased our tickets in advance we did not have to wait in any lines but entered the grounds directly. Our first stop was at site one which is the largest excavation. We were amazed at row upon row of life sized terra-cotta soldiers. It was immediately obvious that each soldier was unique not only in the role of the soldier but in details of facial features. We saw officers of all rank, infantry, archers, charioteers, mounted soldiers, cooks and every description of soldiers. Restorers have been able to determine the rank and job description of each soldier from the clothing, hair style, weapons and body position. The life sized figures are realistic down to every detail from the footwear all the way up to the hair.

The terracotta army is the project of China’s first emperor who united the warring provinces. Prior to Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi each province was a separate kingdom. When one province would take over another province through warfare, the enemy soldiers would be taken prisoner and re-educated before being released. In most cases the enemy soldiers would return to help the former province fight against the invading kingdom. After coming to power in about 221 BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi simply buried the captured enemy soldiers alive to prevent future treason. In that way he conquered and unified most of what we now know as China.
The History Channel special, China's First Emperor, shows the role that Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi had in unifying the warring provinces.  However, it also clearly shows the brutality and quest for power of the dictatorial emperor. 

In his quest for immortal power, the emperor had an army of thousands of soldiers constructed of terracotta and placed in formation in giant pits. The complex of soldiers, horses, weapons and implements was surrounded by a moat of mercury. This was covered with woven mesh fabric held by wooden beams and covered in fine soil. All of this was undiscovered for over 2000 years until a farmer near Xi’an was digging a well in March 1974 and came upon some clay figures underground. He alerted cultural experts who studied the area and initiated scientific excavation. The excavation is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Workers piece broken terracotta soldiers together

We saw a number of workers down in the pits meticulously removing soil and extracting bits of buried artifacts to be reassembled. While there are thousands of soldiers that have been reconstructed, there are many thousands more that have not been extracted or even discovered.

In pit three we saw the model of the military headquarters. The over 2000 year old figures here were not produced with weapons other than ceremonial items. This smaller chamber was well excavated and most of the soldiers were reasonably complete although many lacked the heads at this time.
This was one of the better stops on our trip.  I have been infatuated with this site since learning about the discovery of the buried clay army when I was a college freshman.  I never dreamed that I would actually go to the site but took advantage of every special on the History Channel or article in National Geographic to learn more about this ancient wonder.  Being able to share the experience of being here with family was a special day that certainly topped the bucket list.

Pit two was the least excavated of all of the locations that we visited. Scientists are using ground penetrating sonar and side scanning sonar to map unexcavated items in the pits. Renderings show that, like pit one, thousands of terracotta figures are arranged in formation under the packed earth. At this time excavation is not being done at this site. However, we saw a great deal of equipment set up to explore the site without digging. We learned that the scientists are waiting to dig until technologies emerge that allow for better preservation of the artifacts. Of special concern is the color of the paints on the soldiers. All of the soldiers that we have seen are earth colored, but we understand that this is because the pigments degrade very quickly once exposed to atmospheric oxygen.

We learned that the emperor died at the age of 49. There is some evidence that he died from mercury poisoning. There is debate as to whether he was intentionally poisoned as an assassination or whether he ingested mercury in his quest for immortality. At his passing he was succeeded by his son, Qin Er Shi, an especially cruel dictator whose reign lasted only 3 years.  He was forced to commit suicide by his ministers.

Our group with replica terracotta soldiers

When we left the terra-cotta warriors we walked to the bus through the ever present gauntlet of street vendors pushing cheap trinkets and fake jewelry. Bob, our friend from Hawaii, stopped and asked about a pelt for sale. The vendor told him it was a wolf skin. It was clear to us that the hide was from a golden retriever. There were many vendors selling cheap copies of the terracotta warriors of all sizes. Patrick, our guide, told us that these are very poor quality trinkets and are made from unfixed clay or plastic. Most of our group was not tempted by any of the stands.

My fierce warrior face

From the archaeological site, we rode the bus to a company that makes high quality reproductions of the terracotta warriors from clay that is fired at high temperatures in a process similar to the construction of the original terracotta warriors. The replicas are available in sizes ranging from two inches to life size. The deal that was being promoted is a life sized warrior with two interchangeable heads. One of the heads is on an original warrior from the pit. The other head that could be put on the body was a likeness of the buyer. The six foot statue would be sculpted within six weeks and sent to the buyer’s home postpaid for $2000. Several people in our group bought terracotta models including two people who bought ¾ or full sized statues to place in their gardens.

Mary in warrior mode

We continued through the store to see their facility to produce furniture produced with the highly lacquered traditional Chinese finish. The wood in many of the pieces was beautiful. We especially liked the chests made of camphor wood that had a sweet odor when the lid was opened. They also had an area where they were selling antique Chinese furniture that has been restored or stabilized. We enjoyed from of the elaborate carvings and hand work on the furniture.

We continued on to the upstairs of the building where we had a nice traditional family style Chinese lunch with the lazy Susan. The meal was not unlike many of the others we have had in the country except the preparation and seasonings were a little different. We enjoyed our meal since we had worked up an appetite with all of the walking around the terracotta warriors site.

At Xi'an city wall

After lunch we boarded the bus to travel to the ancient city wall around Xi’an. This wall which was built in the 1300s is one of the most complete city walls in the country. In addition, at over 8 miles in length, it is the longest city wall in China. We spent a good deal of time walking along the top of the wall despite the rain that was starting. We looked down on the moat below the wall and considered the difficulty that an invading army would have in breaching the city wall. Like we saw at the wall around Jingzhou, there was a closed courtyard at each gate. This was done to trap invaders if they were able to get past the first gate. Archers on the top of the wall could shoot down on the invaders before they were able to get through the second gate. We also learned that there was a guard tower every 120 yards along the wall. This was because the archers were only accurate to about 60 yards. This allowed two towers to cover the 120 yards between the two. The view from the 700 year old wall was worth standing in the rain.

Flutist at Xi'an street fair

We returned to the Wyndham around 5 pm and returned to our rooms to warm up and change clothes. Since we had traveled north from Chongqing and Chengdu we were no longer having the heat that we had dealt with. Rather than joining the group for the dinner and show, we decided to walk around for a while before going to dinner. There was a nice park with fountains and ponds. Many Chinese people walking in the area wanted to take a photo with us or greeted us in the few words of English they knew. Everyone we encountered smiled and seemed very friendly. We saw few other Europeans in the area other than the four of us. We continued behind the hotel in the open mall area that was being decorated for the upcoming national holiday week. The area had decorations hung from light posts and stages were being constructed throughout the area. We walked for a bit until we got hungry and decided to give McDonalds a try. Mark saw that there was a McDonalds about a mile away so we decided to see how a McDonalds in northwest China is different from those in the US.

Lights at Xi'an street fair

We went into the restaurant and used the touchscreen kiosk to make our selections. However, we were unable to complete our order since only Apple Pay, face recognition and Union Pay are accepted. We cancelled our orders and attempted to order at the counter so we could pay with cash. We couldn’t find anyone who understood English well enough to help so we pointed to pictures and the clerk was able to get most of our choices correct. The Xi’an McDonalds had some unique menu items including mango, pineapple and pomelo (similar to grapefruit) ice tea. I had a Russian burger which had two thin burger patties and a German sausage with a pomelo ice tea. Mary had her usual double cheeseburger. The priced when converted from Yuan (RMB) would be about the price at a US McDonalds.

Xi'an prepares for the national holiday

The evening was dark by the time we left the McDonalds so we walked back through the area where the holiday fair was being set up. We had a real treat awaiting us. There were many acts performing on temporary stages all along the strip. We saw several orchestras, a violin duo, a flutist, vocalists, rock bands and many other performers. We appreciated that these acts appeared to be local amateurs that were out playing without a tip jar or fee. There were many lights placed in the area including searchlights all over the sky, lights on all of the park statuary and on columns. It was impressive that many people were out keeping the area clean. There were people constantly wiping benches dry if there was a mist of rain. Other workers were constantly sweeping the sidewalks and streets. Even if a leaf fell from a tree, a worker quickly swept it up. Xi’an was the neatest and cleanest city that we had ever seen. Although Xi’an has over 8.5 million people, it had a very friendly feel and seemed like a great place to live.  We walked around, took snapshots and watched the performers until we were ready for bed.

Chendu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

Because we didn’t arrive back at the St. Regis Chengdu until after 10 pm, we were tired when we went to bed. We slept well until a little after 4 am then showered before going to the hotel breakfast buffet at 6:30. We loved the Chinese Opera last night but we turned in later than we were used to going to bed since we are still not fully adjusted to the 12 hour time difference here in China.  

Since we had packed the afternoon before so our bags could be transported to Xian, we didn’t need much time to prepare. We hoped that we would beat the breakfast crowd by showing up at 6:30 when the dining room opened. However, it looked like everyone had the same idea because the dining room was very busy. We had our usual breakfast of Chinese dumplings, steamed rice cakes and hot cereals. The servers were so busy that we didn’t get tea until we were nearly ready to leave. We didn’t stay long at breakfast since we needed to be on the bus to the panda preserve by 7:30 am.

Our local guide, Annie, gave us information on pandas telling us that the population had been rapidly declining because of habitat loss and diminishing food supplies. It turns out that pandas only feed on a few varieties of bamboo that grown in a small area of China. At one time pandas were widely distributed around much of the country but are now confined to Sichuan and portions of two other bordering Chinese provinces. The panda preserve promotes breeding of pandas as well as education on the importance of protecting these endangered species. China is very protective of the remaining pandas in captivity as well as those in the wild. A foreign zoo wishing to have a panda cannot purchase one. They can only rent an animal for one million dollars per year for a five year term. This all assumes that the zoo can provide adequate facilities and care to satisfy the Chinese panda team. In addition to the million dollar annual rental, the cost of feeding and caring for the panda far exceeds the rental. The types of bamboo required to feed the panda must be imported the regions of China where the bamboo grows.

At the Chendu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding we probably saw 60 pandas. The adult giant pandas need to be housed separately so they do not fight and injure each other. Since they are bred by artificial insemination, they are not even housed together for breeding. The younger pandas can be kept together to romp and play until they are about 4 years old. In captivity, the pandas often live over 30 years.

We started our tour of the adult pandas since they are usually more lethargic and are only active at meal time. Locals say that the giant pandas only eat and sleep. Because we were at the panda preserve early in the day at meal time we were able to see the adults moving some.

From there we went to the teenage pandas. These rowdy youngsters were full of energy and loved to romp and play with each other. They playfully bit and climbed on each other and tussled on the wooden structures provided.

The baby pandas in the nursery stole everyone’s heart of course. Some of the babies were tiny with eyes just starting to open. One newborn had a worker come in to wrap it in a towel to assure that it was staying the proper temperature. Each of the wooden cribs held up to eight baby giant pandas.

We were disappointed to learn that our visit to the panda preserve would not include the lesser red panda. However, during one stop we saw a sign pointing to one of the red panda areas so we opted to split from the group to see if any were out. We were pleased to find four red pandas chasing each other through a bamboo forest. They were running so fast that we were scarcely able to get a snapshot of them. These appeared to be adult red pandas who didn’t seem to have a problem with being in the same area. We walked on and caught two more red pandas feeding up in the bamboo. They were practically over our heads in the tall bamboo stalks. We quickly snapped a few photos then rejoined the group before were missed.

After spending about three hours at the panda preserve, we met for lunch at the café on the grounds of the preserve. We had a nice Sichuan meal with the usual lazy Susan and choices of beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, bamboo, lotus root, rice and noodles. Several choices were very spicy and included lots of hot Sichuan peppers. We all had our fill and walked toward our bus for the short ride to the train station.

We had about an hour to wait for our train so we walked around the Chengdu train station to look around as we waited. The train arrived at the station on time, and the Viking groups took most of the seats in our train car. The seats of the train were roomy and we were able to move around as we wished. We read, napped and played card games as we traveled the nearly three hour train ride between Chengdu and Xian. The ride took us through some beautiful country. We transitioned quickly from farm land to cities with skyscrapers and the ubiquitous cranes building more skyscrapers. We counted about 60 separate railroad tunnels on the rail line between Chengdu and Xian. There are times that we exited one tunnel then immediately entered another tunnel. The train ride was very smooth even though it went over 100 miles per hour at times. The train is not a mag-lev train like we saw in Shanghai but is a standard rail electric train.

We got to the Wyndham Grand Xian South Hotel around 6:30 and checked in quickly. Like all of our other hotels on the trip, our rooms were very nice. We have a large king sized bed and a roomy full featured bathroom and a complete business center in the room. The free Internet was fast and reliable.

We didn’t get to dinner until nearly 8 pm. The Wyndham had a nice buffet of Chinese and Western menu choices. We are eating Chinese at most of our meals. Our feeling is that we can eat Western foods when we get back but the authentic Chinese dishes will probably never be as available to us again. We have also noticed the differences in the food as we traveled across the country from east to west and now back toward the north and east.

Xian, along with Athens, Cairo and Rome, is one of the ancient capital cities of the world. Xian is one of the smaller mega-cities in China at 10 million residents. Although still a very large city, Xian seemed to have a very friendly atmosphere.

After dinner we went to our rooms and prepared for our early departure to the terra-cotta warriors exhibit on Thursday morning.