July 25: The Terra Cotta Warriors
One of the most highly anticipated days of the entire China experience was today. We awoke in our beautiful suite in the Wyndam Grand in Xian and after a light breakfast we were on board the bus for the one hour trip to the Terra Cotta Warriors museum and dig site. I had seen a video in preparation for this trip where a woman was standing in front of the thousands of warriors and she remarked that she'd read about and seen photos of it, but until you were actually here you just could not imagine the enormity of it all. And she was right on the money. There are literally thousands (eight thousand in the front section alone) of warriors that were buried with the emporer Qin Shi Huang. His statute sits outside the museum and I did not know until today that he not only is known for having all these warriors buried with him, but he is also the emporer who had the Great Wall of China constructed! The panoramic photo above of "Pit Number 1" is a great shot of all the warriors lined up in battle formation, but it just doesn't do the scope of it justice. They are all life-sized and it just goes on forever. AND behind them (you see photos below) they are still actively finding more and more of them! Another very interesting fact is that nearly NONE of them were found intact! Archeologists have had to piece them back together again! They were destroyed thousands of years ago by Chinese people who hated the emporer and stole the weapons that were buried with the warriors! As we walked down the side of the pit we eventually came to archeologists digging and piecing together more warriors.....just amazing.
And here's another ironic fact is how they were discovered. In the 1970s the region was going through a terrible drought so four farmers began digging for a well. They came across a piece of what turned out to be one of the warriors, but tossed it aside and contined digging. When they continued to come across more and more pieces they knew they'd found something of significance. A journalist just happened to be in the area and the government officials were alerted. And here is THE most ironic part.....the third photo below the one of Kim and I you see the actual well. It sits just on the edge of the first pit. Now if these four farmers had dug just about three feet to the side they NEVER would have discovered this site! WOW. Check out the close-up of the warriors at right......hey, what's with the warrior in the shades? LOL :) A little photo shop magic - we stopped at a workshop where they recreate the warriors and outside you could have your picture taken with one of the headless (and hollowed-out) statutes :) See the original photos below!
Below the well you come to photos of warriors that appear to be wrapped in plastic and have numbers on them. These are warriors that they are still finding all the pieces of and are in the process of piecing the puzzle together still!
Unlike all the warriors above, the three below are in the building where "Pit #3" is being worked on. The first warrior below is "The Archer" and he's the ONLY one that was discovered nearly intact! Note his ceremonal hair knot is on the left - all archers had this .... why? So they could draw their arrows over their right shoulder. What if you were left-handed? You were not an archer! The sec ond pic below is notable because (a) he has two hair knots and (b) he's obviously well-fed with a bit of a belly. He's a general! And the third is a commoner who is attending to his horse.
I had Kim take this photo because I - as well as most guests - carried an umbrella. NOT because of the possibility of participation but because it was 107 degrees out. Yes, one HUNDRED and seven degrees. Even our guide was carrying and umbrella and he told us afterwards it was the first time in 24 years of being a guide he'd done so!
These next three photos are of the two bronze chariots found in the pits. There are two photos of the second one, one from the side and one from the back. Note the open door - there is also a window on the side which you can't see and they both still work!
Last stop before lunch at the workshop, Kim and I with all the recreated terra cotta warriors. You could have a life-sized warrior sent to your home for $1500 (total price of the warrior and shipping!). They even had an area where an artist would take a portrait of you with a camera and then fashion a "terra cotta bust" of you as a warrior! Only three to five thousand :) We passed on that opportunity!
Unlike all the warriors above, the three below are in the building where "Pit #3" is being worked on. The first warrior below is "The Archer" and he's the ONLY one that was discovered nearly intact! Note his ceremonal hair knot is on the left - all archers had this .... why? So they could draw their arrows over their right shoulder. What if you were left-handed? You were not an archer! The sec ond pic below is notable because (a) he has two hair knots and (b) he's obviously well-fed with a bit of a belly. He's a general! And the third is a commoner who is attending to his horse.
I had Kim take this photo because I - as well as most guests - carried an umbrella. NOT because of the possibility of participation but because it was 107 degrees out. Yes, one HUNDRED and seven degrees. Even our guide was carrying and umbrella and he told us afterwards it was the first time in 24 years of being a guide he'd done so!
These next three photos are of the two bronze chariots found in the pits. There are two photos of the second one, one from the side and one from the back. Note the open door - there is also a window on the side which you can't see and they both still work!
Last stop before lunch at the workshop, Kim and I with all the recreated terra cotta warriors. You could have a life-sized warrior sent to your home for $1500 (total price of the warrior and shipping!). They even had an area where an artist would take a portrait of you with a camera and then fashion a "terra cotta bust" of you as a warrior! Only three to five thousand :) We passed on that opportunity!
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