I finished the China portion of my nine-month 36 country adventure in Xi’an because I wanted to try again to see the Terracotta Warriors. I had also finished the China portion of a Silk Road trip I had taken in the fall of 2017 in Xi’an. Unfortunately. I chose the wrong week to visit Xi’an in 2017. Unknown to me at the time – the Chinese celebrate that same week as one of their most important holidays which means no school and no work for 4 bazillion Chinese. And every Chinese family in all of China chose the day of my visit to see the Terra cotta Warriors.
Xi’an 2017 Wild Goose Pagoda
To say the 2017 visit was chaos and less than worthwhile would be an understatement. In addition to four bazillions Chinese creating a massive mile long and 15 feet wide scrum spoiling the day – it rained! So, I was not only shuffling along one six-inch step at a time with 15 person wide rows of shoulder to shoulder (in my case –their shoulders to my waist) people holding umbrellas with the points of the ribs at my eye and ear level. Additionally, Chinese are used to crowds and no personal space and use their elbows liberally to create a little extra breathing room.
Unfortunately, a 5 foot 2 inch old crone’s elbow reaches the exact wrong spot on a 6 foot 3 inch wide-bodied American. So, between the umbrella ribs to the face, the elbows to the family jewels and the fact that I never got near the railing of the pits containing the Warriors for a good look and quick photo the day was a major disappointment.
No crowds this time
With the last trip’s disaster in mind, I scheduled my time to be at the site when they opened and on a week day. The plan worked – we were among the first people there and managed to stay in front of the unwashed masses throughout my tour. I spent as much time as I wished along the observation railing of all three pits and took as many photos as I wished.
And this trip was very rewarding as I got to see and photograph many of the ranks of warriors in pit one as well as the archeologists reassembling the clay statues. You probably think as I did that all the warriors were found entirely intact. And you would be WRONG!
The clay army which includes 8,000 infantrymen – cavalry – archers, 130 horse-drawn chariots, 520 horses and the commanding generals were built by Qin Shi Huang, the 1st Emperor of China in 210-209 BCE to accompany him into the next life. To ensure no one would disturb his army and leave him defenseless the emperor had everyone associated with the project murdered upon completion to protect his secret. He must have missed someone because the tomb was discovered, looted and burned.
You might be wondering how clay figures in dirt pits could burn. They didn’t, the timber roof above them that was then covered in dirt burned. And as the heavy timbers burned thru the entire roof fell upon the Clay army breaking most into pieces large and small. Only a very few clay statues were found intact. In fact, the most famous is known as the kneeling archer and the only reason he survived was because he was kneeling instead of standing.
The archeologists have done an incredible job of piecing thousands of soldiers back together from millions of pieces of clay shards. The government has also done an incredible job of creating an infrastructure that allows for the orderly viewing of the main pit and two additional smaller buildings containing the best intact figures and relics.
But their work is far from complete. They still have hundreds of warriors, chariots and horses to reconstruct in the main pit. Additionally, there are more pits that have not even been opened yet. And all this massive archeological find laid hidden under a farmer’s field for over one thousand years. Until his plow unearthed the first small clue as to what was below in 1974 and he carried it to the authorities. Photos attached.
But there is more to Xi’an than the Warriors. The old city is surrounded by an incredibly well preserved great city wall with all its gates intact. In the center of the old city stands two 13th century towers (the Bell and Drum) that are beautiful pieces of architectural art and a very interesting. As you might guess the Bell Tower contains a huge bell that was rang at dawn and the Drum Tower contained a huge drum that was beat at dusk. Also in the very center of the old city is the chaotic and crowded Muslim Street Market worth loosing yourself in after dark.
Xi'an City Wall 2017
Xi'an City Wall 2019
And finally, there is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda that was built during the reign of Emperor Tang from 649 – 683 and stood 177 feet tall. The Pagoda originally constructed of mud fell 50 years later and was rebuilt with bricks taller and sturdier but was damaged again by an earthquake in the 13th century. Today’s pagoda was reconstructed after the earthquake and stands 210 ft tall.
On my 2017 visit, I walked part of the city wall this time I rented a bicycle and rode about half of it on the evening of my arrival. And yes, I rode atop the city wall. The wall is easily 10 meters across and provide plenty of room for walkers, cyclists, and even golf cart like little trams for the extremely lazy or unfit.
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- Xi’an 2017 Wild Goose Pagoda
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- Xi’an 2017 Wild Goose Pagoda
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- Xi’an 2017 Wild Goose Pagoda
Murphy Feng, of Wind Horse Tour (https://windhorsetour.com/) selected the perfectly placed hotel for my visit. The hotel was a short 500-meter walk to the city wall and a short 500 meter walk in the opposite direction to the Bell and Drum Towers and Muslim Street. The hotel would have been perfect if the damn air conditioning actually worked!
Bell and Drum Towers
Xi'an Muslim Street
Due to some issues accessing the internet in China and a later problem on the Uzbeki border in 2017 I got so far behind on the blogs I just didn’t bother once I got my computer back in Turkmenistan. I will write one last blog about my 2017 Silk Road adventure from Beijing to Kashgar. And then as I write my 2019 blogs on Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan I will include things I saw and photos I took in 2017 in these three Stans as well as Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.
2017 and 2019 photos of Xi’an’s Terracotta Warriors, City Wall, Drum and Bell Towers, and Muslim Street Market are all attached.
Incredible
Even with the crowds, I’m especially envious of your visit to see the terracotta warriors. Great intro photo!