13th May – Xi’an Visit the Terra Cotta Warriors

This morning we have a bus tour to the Terra Cotta Warriors.  This army of figures included clay soldiers, clay horses, bronze horses & carts that were made from moulds to be buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China so that he had an army with him in his next life.  The sculptures were discovered in 1974 by a farmer who was digging a well.

The figures that we see today at the museum have been excavated over 4 pits, with pit 1, which was the 1st one discovered being the largest.  When they were first made they were painted in bright colours, however this paint has since disappeared.

The figures have been assembled from the pieces that have been excavated and the best examples are in glass cases.

The bronze horses & carts are in amazing condition and are also in glass cases. The horses & carts had silver & gold decorations on them.

The museum is fantastic and very interesting.

After we leave the museum and have our bowl of noodles for lunch we visit the site of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s grave on a hill.  The site hasn’t been excavated as it supposedly has rivers of mercury flowing through it, it is just marked with a monument at the base of the hill which is surrounded by beautiful trees & gardens.

Tonight we visit the Muslim quarter and walk through an amazing bazaar full of food stalls selling kebabs, special beef burgers, seafood on skewers and unrecognisable things, noodles, spices, rhino horn, sesame paste bars, frozen yogurt, fruit, you name it it is being sold here.  The streets are packed and it’s noisy with vendors spruiking their goods, music & people talking.  The lights are bright and there is a happy atmosphere as people walk along eating off sticks. A great place to end a lovely day!