First day in Xi’an..
Oct 18th, 2007 by scott
Update: I forgot to include a link to the rest of the Terra Cotta Warrior (兵马俑, or bÄ«ngmÇŽyÇ’ng) pictures, so here it is…
Well, I don’t know how to write this post. I have received such nice treatment here by my friend’s friends, that I am almost embarrassed to discuss it. I am staying in a wonderful hotel and have had the best food so far (sorry, I didn’t take pictures). They sent a car to pick me up at the airport and we then had dinner together in a private room in the hotel. The courses included a Sichuan fish that was fantastic, and some local specialties, including very nice cold dishes. There was too much food to eat and it was all great! I wish I did bring my camera, as it was truly well presented as well as well prepared.
Well, I then went to sleep and woke up to go to the breakfast buffet. My new friends were there and I had too much to eat because I wanted to try some of everything! This included three types of “soup”, rice congee, a corn soup that would be what grits would be if made into a soup, a noodle soup with spices. I’m going again this morning, so I’ll see if I can take a couple of pictures this time.
Anyway, after breakfast, I went in the car and was accompanied by a very nice girl who is from Hunnan province and is going to school here. She doesn’t speak the best English, nor I the best Chinese, but we communicated OK. We went to the Terra Cotta Warriors (兵马俑, or bÄ«ngmÇŽyÇ’ng, which means “soldiers and horses that are buried with the dead”). Needless to say, they are an impressive sight and it makes you think of how impressive it is that a civilization built a large portion of the Great Wall, had the skills to make this army so skillfully, and many other feats, all well over 2000 years ago! But, enough has been written about this that I can’t add much.
Our next stop was the tomb of the first emperor of China, Chin Shi Huang Di. He was the one that caused all of these wonders to be built. The tomb has not been excavated for a couple of reasons. First, from all the evidence, it appears that the tomb may still be intact, and they want a way to preserve it when it is opened, so the oxygen does not destroy what is found (as, for instance, the vegetable based paint on the terra cotta warriors faded within minutes of contact with oxygen). The second reason is that there were reportedly rivers of mercury buried there as part of a “map” of the world as it was then known. Needless to say, this is extremely toxic and also needs care in excavation. The tomb is a huge mound that was, at one time, almost four times as high. Even now, it is over 3km around. I guess the first emperor did everything on a grand scale. He had work on this tomb begun as soon as he became emperor at age 13. He died in his late 40′s and the tomb was completed two years after his death.
Finally, we went to a hot springs spa and bath for Tang dynasty emperors (they ruled from 618 AD – 906 AD), called Hua Qing Chi. After touring that, we took a cable car up 骊山 (lÃshÄn, or Black Horse Mountain). From the top of the cable car, we walked the rest of the way to the top. This was apparently the site of a famous story, which I’ll recount next time, as I have to take a shower and get ready for today’s activities!
I never knew that about the vegetable based paint’s, pretty cool. I would imagine, that like the great wall, pictures do not quite do it justice. Do they let people into the hot springs, or are they just for touring around them?
Hey Dennis, Well, for about 8 cents (1/2Y) you can go into an area that has three fountains and wash your hands and face. The water is pleasantly warm, not really hot. But mostly it’s like looking at the ancient Roman baths, just checking them out.
[...] First day in Xi’an..We went to the Terra Cotta Warriors (兵马俑, or bīng mǎ yǒng, which means “soldiers and horses that are buried with the dead”). Needless to say, they are an impressive sight and it makes you think of how impressive it is that a … [...]