Xi’an, Shaanxi Province
Monday, November 28th, 2005Impressive or what…????
Hi All!
Here we are in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province, and one time capital of China. This city of 6 million is also a walled city, following along the traditional city grid layout. This is a very modern city, very clean, with some well preserved sights. It actually reminds Quene a lot of Madrid, the wide streets, clear skys, and it’s not too cold, just yet. Much milder than Pingyao or Beijing, i’s about 700km southwest of Beijing. There is a large Muslim population in town, close to the hostel we’re staying at. Close to the mosque there is a street lined with food stalls and restaurants selling typical food, such as lamb and beef skewer kebabs for 1yuan (10 cents!). There’s also an excellent history museum.
Porcelain figure from the museum:
The centre of town is marked by the Bell Tower, where the bell is rung every hour.
Bell Tower:
Xi’an’s major tourist drawcard is actually about 30 km outside of town, and that is the Terracotta Army! Discovered by 4 farmers digging their fields in 1974, there are currently 8,000 uneartherd warriors, horses and chariots. They were originally painted, but with exposure the paint has worn off. Every face is unique, they are lifesize soldiers in complete traditional battle formation. They were created for the then Emperor Qin Shi Huang over 2200 years ago. We took a few pics, hope you like them. These excavations are commonly considered as the Eight Wonder of the World!
Teracotta Warriors in Battle Formation (pit 1）：
Semi-restored warriors：
Rows of warriors:
Espanol
Hola a todos
Estamos en Xi’an, la capital de la provincia de Shaanxi.Ciudad de 6 millones tambien esta amurallada, moderna , limpia, con monumentos bien conservados.
Nos recordo en algunas cosas a Madrid, calles anchas, cielos azules( despues de vivir tanto tiempo en Dublin sin sol, nos recordo a Espana.
On yer bike!
Now if only I could remember where I parked my bike！
Esta a 700km al suroeste de Beijing. Hay una comunidad musulmana muy grande cerca del hostal, y cerca de la mezquita hay calles con muchos restaurantes y comida callejera para los bolsillos mas vacios.
Hay comida tipica para ellos como kebabs de cordero o ternera por 1 yuan (10 cents!).
Tambien hay un Museo de Historia muy grande donde es recomendable ir con zapatos comodos
Horses and Warriors:
La mayor atraccion turistica en Xi’an esta a 30 km de la ciudad , los soldados de terracota!
Descubiertos por a4 granjeros cavando un pozo de agua en 1974, encontraron una de las 8000 cabezas que completan los soldados, caballos y armas.
Some warriors are incomplete, over 100,000 pieces have been unearthered so far!!!!
En un principio estaban pintados, pero con el paso del tiempo ya casi no les queda pintura. Cada cara es unica, dicen que es la cara del artista que las esculpio,son de tamano real y estan en formacion o posicion de guerra.
Fueron creados por el emperador Qin Shi Huang hace 2200 anyos.
Estas escavaciones estan consideradas la octava maravilla del mundo.
