Warriors!
The day of the terracotta warriors deserves its own entry. I apologize for the length.
On our night in Xi’an we attended the Tang Dynasty Song and Dance show. Before the dinner, there was a dumpling feast - and what a feast it was! Although expensive for China, the food kept coming and coming. They were the best dumplings I’ve ever had - some were the same style as the Korean mandu, but far less greasy. The others at the table agreed.
The song and dance show was also impressive. Gerald knows the history of everything, so he could tell us which instruments were authentic and which were based on nothing more than paintings and descriptions. The Tang dynasty is known for being quite open - it was under the Tang that there was the first Empress of China, and apparently she spent her time sending royal envoys out to pick up hot guys for her “personal use.”
We were up early in the morning (well… most of us were) to see the number one attraction of Xi’an: the terracotta warriors. The warriors aren’t actually located in the city, they were discovered in some fields about 1h20 outside of the city, even beyond the suburbs. The entire road there, of course, is quite developed with stalls and attractions the entire way. We passed some hot springs, the actual tomb of the Emperor…
Our bus driver finally reached the terracotta warriors - the parking lot was presided over by a giant warrior. Once the bus parked, we were suddenly surrounded by people selling things and offering their services - wheelchair rental, postcards, replica warriors… and, of course, the standard bottle lady, collecting our empty plastic bottles.
To get to the warriors we had to walk through a small tourist village. George said that the souvenirs sold were primarily fakes, but if we weren’t concerned about quality they would be far cheaper than the ones inside the museum. We rushed through this, and then commenced the 5 minute walk towards the museum complex. All of our bags and jackets had to be x-rayed at the entrance to the compound.
Our first stop was the movie theatre. There were screens set up all around us, so that one could stand there and rotate around to see the action. They told about the Qin dynasty, and how the Emperor wanted to unify China. In fact, that Emperor is the one who started the Great Wall and standardized both the Chinese characters and the measurement system used throughout the nation. We got to see some horrendously cheesy battle scenes, and we learned that there are very few terracotta warriors that have survived intact. Most of them were damaged during the peasant rebellion that occurred a few years after the first emperor’s death. The peasants stampeded the emperor’s tomb (which is located in a 56 square km area), smashing the terracotta warriors and setting fires. Most of the warriors on display now have been painfully reconstructed, and many of them are still missing parts or have chips. I saw more than one headless warrior! The video also included a reenactment of the discovery… you see a few farmers around a well they’re building, they drop a bucket and come up with a terracotta head.
I picked up a really nice illustrated book on the site which was then signed by the farmer who had discovered the site. Although the book was expensive, the photos were fantastic and the English was a pretty decent translation. It tells about the history of the warriors and the Qin dynasty.
Our first stop was Pit 1. For those of you who watch the Amazing Race, this is where they had to find the clue. George gave us a quick rundown on the site, then we had to patiently wait our turn to get to the front rails for the impressive overview. We’re allowed to take pictures, so while checking out the signboards and taking photos, these rude European tourists stampeded up and tried to push our group out of the way. Ugh. The tourists at the warriors were actually, on a whole, extremely rude… they kept fake apologizing, but whatever.
Pit 1 is the site of the original discovery that occured in 1974. They show the spot where the original well was and describe the tomb and its characteristics. There are supposed to be approximately 7000 warriors in the spot. Only the first few rows have been reconstructed - beyond that there are either smashed warriors or sites that are still covered in dirt. So far they’ve found the walls, so each part is divided.
We then moved to Pit 3, which was supposed to be the “command centre” of the warrior army. There was a chariot found there, with four horses, and it’s made up of a much smaller contingent. There were only 48 (I think) warriors found at that spot.
Pit 2 was really interesting. A lot of it is unexcavated and you can see where they’re still doing work on it - there are wheelbarrows and dirt sifters and shovels located around the area, plus lockers and containers. A lot of it is covered in plastic - one of the worries about the excavation process is that the paint on the soldiers fades as it hits light and air - therefore the Chinese government and the archaeologists are really careful about protecting the warriors and the site itself. There were no reconstructed soldiers here, but you could see the ones that were found intact behind glass on this site. It’s amazing - I’ve seen photos of these warriors, but in real life they are so much more real. They all have these little smirks on their faces, and the workmanship and detail is incredible. You can see the treads on the soles of their shoes, there for traction in the case of battle. In the parts where work is continuing, there are little squares open here and there so you can see down - it’s neat because you would see, for example, half a horse or half the head of a warrior, and the rest would be buried.
Our last stop was a big exhibition hall, housing several attractions. There was more bronze, which, I’m sad to say, is really boring - after the Shanghai Museum and almost every other attraction I’ve seen, I have zero interest in bronze. The section on gold and silver was much more interesting - bring on the bling!
The basement of the exhibition hall houses the main attraction, which is two reconstructed chariots that were discovered. These were much smaller than the chariots of the terracotta warriors… the signboards showed how they were discovered, and the reconstruction work involved. The size of the chariots, in comparison to the terracotta warriors, made them much less impressive than they would have been at any other time.
As we left the compound, we were once again inundated by people selling us things. In the area where the movie played, they were selling terracotta warrior replicas for 280 yuan, or a little box of them for 200 yuan. While walking towards the parking lot the same things were being pushed on us - we just kept walking, and the further away we went the lower the price went! I ended up paying 5yuan (less than $1) on a tacky, fragile set of terracotta warriors. The perfect tacky souvenir. As soon as I returned to the hotel I wrapped them up in toilet paper. We’ll see how many survive the journey to Canada - my theory is that if they get smashed, it’s just that much more authentic.
We stopped at a big restaurant after the warriors for lunch - it was a George restaurant, meaning we’d be paying about 25yuan each. It was like a buffet of foreigner friendly dishes - rices, noodles, vegetables and meats. The worst part is that the chopsticks had no pointed end… for those who have used chopsticks, you know how hard that can be. The table was quite a mess by the time we were done! It was very Chinese of us.
By the time we made it back to Xi’an we only had a couple of hours until we had to check out. I needed to buy new headphones, burn my memory card to CD and pick up some new batteries. I walked around the more expensive shopping area for a bit, stopped back at the hotel to drop off some stuff and then decided to head in the opposite direction. Sure enough, the prices dropped 10 to 20 yuan - instead of paying 30 or 40 to burn the CD, and waiting half an hour, I paid 20yuan and it was done in fifteen minutes. They also had a small convenience store attached, so I got some train goodies at the same time. Meanwhile, on the way home I saw some headphones hanging in a stall - I think I may have inadvertently bargained. I asked the guy how much, I thought he said three, I held up three fingers to confirm, and he was like “oh, okay…” so I pulled out a 20 (still thinking it would cost 30), he handed it to the guy behind him, he pulled out fifteen… then the original guy said something in Chinese so the money guy gave me another 2 yuan. Therefore… it was 3 yuan, which is about 45cents Canadian. Paying 5 yuan, which is my guess at the original price, still would have been under $1!
Got back, checked out of the hotel and still had to kill another half an hour. I was too lazy to walk back out in the rain and wander around the shopping district, so I sat in the lobby, grabbed a drink and read a couple of issues of the China Daily until we headed to the train station.
I feel the need to mention the train station in this entry. It was RIDICULOUS. We got into the station, and George found our waiting room which was upstairs. The waiting area was packed full - no room for people to sit, so they were piled up everywhere, sitting on top of shopping bags and duffel bags, eating or playing cards. Every now and then, people would all start to move around, getting ready to go, but nothing would happen. The train was delayed. Finally, they opened the gates.
There were hundreds of people who were getting on this train, and they had to get through four gates. Meanwhile, the station people were saying that the train would be leaving on time. This meant one thing: Asian pushing game. I was not in the mood for it, so I was disgusted at first by how immature these people were acting. They were pushing and shoving, using their elbows and packages to knock people aside. We couldn’t give way, because if we did then there would be another rush of people who would rush in. One of the guys did give way, and suddenly there were about two dozen people swarming around him. It was an indescribable human press… some women were using babies and small children to get forward, holding them in front of them like a shield or weapon.
People were RUNNING down the passageway to the train - full on sprints, to make sure they didn’t miss the train. There were lots of people with hard seat tickets (trains go: hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper, soft sleeper), and we saw them jumping on through the windows to ensure that they weren’t left behind by the train. This made us a little worried, especially as we heard whistles blowing. Fortunatley, however, we made it to our carriage in time and with no casualties. George told us that people never get injured or killed in that sort of thing, but it’s really hard to believe.
Anyway. We arrived in Pingyao this morning… I will update on that at a different time, seeing as how the room is now ready! Besides, there’s a Chinese tour group outside and their guide has a megaphone… *shudder*
