There were three primary things we wanted to see in China. We saw two of the three in Beijing - the Great Wall of China and the giant pandas. We'd see the third - the Terracotta Army - in Xian.
Xian was home to China's first emperor 2,200 years ago and the emperor is buried 30 kilometres from Xian. His tomb has never been opened for a number of reasons. There are concerns about how to get in as the tomb is believed to be rigged with traps and filled with rivers of mercury. There are also concerns that treasures inside the tomb will be damaged or stolen if the tomb is opened.
You can't visit the emperor's tomb but you can see his terracotta (clay) army and it's an amazing sight. The army of 8,000 soldiers was assembled to ensure the emperor was well protected in the afterlife. They're buried 1.6 kilometres from the emperor's tomb.
In addition to being home to China's first emperor and his terracotta army, Xian was also the center of the Tang Dynasty that ruled China between the 7th and 10th centuries. We attended a performance of music and dance from that era.
This was the end of our quick one day stop in Xian and we were off again to the airport. We headed south to Chongqing where we boarded a ship for a cruise down the Yangtze River.
Vanessa and Blake
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| The main excavation pit with rows and rows of soldiers |
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| A closer look at one of the rows of soldiers |
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| Soldiers are life size and modelled after real soldiers from the emperor's army |
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| Each soldier has a unique face |
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| There's incredible detail in the face and clothing of each soldier |
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| The terracotta army has horses just like the real army |
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| Most of the soldiers get broken when they're excavated - these are being reassembled |
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| View of the army from the back of the excavation area |
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| One of the secondary excavation areas - some assembly required |
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| Us with replicas of the soldiers |
In addition to being home to China's first emperor and his terracotta army, Xian was also the center of the Tang Dynasty that ruled China between the 7th and 10th centuries. We attended a performance of music and dance from that era.
This was the end of our quick one day stop in Xian and we were off again to the airport. We headed south to Chongqing where we boarded a ship for a cruise down the Yangtze River.
Vanessa and Blake
