Terracotta Soldiers – At Last!
The next morning was bright and cold. We got an early start because we had to be at the airport at 4:00 for our 6:00-something flight to Beijing. I bundled up to the hilt, boarded the van and headed out. The first stop of the day was the official reproduction factory for the Terracotta Warriors and Soldiers. The government controls the factory but there are small enterprises that try to mimic the process and then sell their wares for lower prices that the authentic ones. Or so we were told. We drove quite a way to reach the area we were going to visit and then wound our way through tiny old streets past old time houses and other buildings. Finally we came to the factory, which looked from the outside like a newer version of the older buildings nearby. There was a gateway leading into a hard packed earth courtyard. We were so early that we arrived before it opened but our driver got out and knocked on the door to rouse them. It worked and we were invited to come inside. Meanwhile, we were enjoying the sight of w sets of three each life-sized terracotta warrior. The middle one in each set was headless and backless so visitors could go behind them, stand on a platform, and be photographed as a terracotta warrior.
We asked Mei and Ma (the driver) to pose and they did.
Mei and Ma, terracotta warriors 0257
Buveh, terracotta warrior 0259
“You are very strong!” Buveh to terracotta soldier 0261
After the photo op, we went into the factory and a guide explained the process by which the reproductions are made, which is the same way the originals were produced. Molds are used and the very soft, chocolate-brown clay is pressed against the carved out portions of the mold in two pieces, front and back. Then the two parts are fitted together and fired. After firing, the bodies are placed upright with props holding them.
Bodies after first firing; note closed mold on the left 0265
Close-up of soldier’s uniform; nicely ornamented 0266
Half-size versions sit on a drying rack 0267
Guide showing us how the clay is pressed against the mold 0271
Table full of small, smaller and smallest versions; grey one has been completely fired 0272
Close-up of fired replica 0275
Many bodies awaiting their other parts 0273
After viewing the process, we were guided through the shop and into another area where lacquered items are made. They gave a tour of this process, too, but I wasn’t interested and wandered around, taking photos. I just wanted to get to the site of the Terracotta Soldiers. Later I had to delete unnecessary photos when my camera memory ran out and those were among the ones that got the axe.
From there we drove to the expansive grounds where the Terracotta Soldiers were discovered and where the repaired ones now stand in formation in a huge open museum. We had to walk at least ten minutes to get to the place where the buildings were and we had to go through three traditional museums before we were – finally – led to the “terracottas.” No photographs were allowed in the museums but we learned the history of the area and of the emperor whose tomb the warriors guard and about how they were discovered and how the excavation and repair of them are being done. It was very interesting, but I wanted to get to where the terracottas were!
Finally Mei led us from the last museum building out onto the grounds and across to The Museum, Pit 1 area! When we entered I held my breath, waiting to find out if what I’d see would live up to my expectations. It did! The room was vast and yet row upon row of repaired Terracotta Soldiers stood in rank and file along trenches excavated from the earth.
First sight of Terracotta Warriors and Horses 0286
Closer-up of soldiers and three horses 0287
Another view showing how many trenches of them there are 0288
Buveh and Terracotta Soldiers and Horses 0289
Sign explaining the fate of the weapons these particular warriors had held 0290
Buveh and soldiers, again 0291
Mei led us around to the right to travel along the long side of the building and then we could see what had been hidden from our previous vantage point: three long rows of warriors lined up facing the entrance to the (I believe) next pit.
Three long rows of soldiers 0293
View from the right 0294
“Sleeping” soldiers; this is the way all of them had been found – collapsed from weight and time 0296
More sleeping soldiers 0297
Covered areas where more soldiers are being excavated 0298
Buveh and the far set of Terracotta Soldiers 0299
Close-up of them 0301
In a pit at their feet were more, lined up facing the direction of the emperor’s tomb. Obviously, some are awaiting their heads and weapons 0303
Horses and soldiers around a corner from those above 0304
The wide view 0305
After seeing those magnificent statues, my mind was caught up in their grandeur so although we stopped at several of the gift shops in the various museums, I didn’t buy anything, even postcards! N&N made purchases, however. I already had my treasures – memories and photos. I’d wanted to see the Terracotta Soldiers ever since I first learned about them in a book about the Silk Road way back in the mid-1980’s. Something I didn’t realize, however, is that the Silk Road started from Xi’an!!! Of course, I’ve already been to several Silk Road cities, in Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bokhara. Now I’ve been to the starting point!
Our next stop was lunch, which was not as good as yesterday’s. Then we took off for the Tomb of Emperor Shihuang'.
After we dragged ourselves away from the soldiers, our next stop was the Tomb of Emperor Shihuang. The grounds were lovely although because of the smog we couldn’t really see to the top of the manmade mountain that was at the back of the site. On the lower level was a memorial monument with elaborately decorated tables topped by lovely potted plants. Traditional structures behind had pictures of events in the life of the emperor.
Some of the photos turned out well.
Landscaping 0306
Stairs led to the next level and eventually all the way to the top of the mountain 0308
Mei was ready to take us to see the murals and then take the stairs to the top of the mountain but we were frozen by then and we still had one more site to visit before going to be at the airport to catch our flight, so we opted to leave. As we made our way to the entrance, we saw reenactors dressed in military uniforms of Emperor Shihuang' s time standing guard with vicious-looking weapons. I paused long enough to take a picture of them and a view of the emperor’s mountain, where his tomb is located, as we made our way to the road and crossed it at great risk to life and limb to reach the van which had parked over there.
Huaquing Pool and Hot Springs
Our next stop had been a place of resort and rest for one of the ancient emperors, who built it especially for his favorite concubine, Lady Li. It had vast grounds and fantastic architecture and landscaping. When we arrived, Mei led us first to the original pool, which had been a hot spring until entrepreneurship set in after the emperor had been defeated in an uprising. Numerous hot spring bath houses had sprung up and the hot spring water diverted to feed those baths. Now it’s just a lovely pool with a beautiful building in one corner.
Huaquing Pool 0313
As we stood admiring it and taking photos, Mei told us about its background and then she led us up into the grounds. Of course there were lots of stairs but the landscaping was well worth the climbs involved.
View from one landing 0316
Inside one of the bath houses was one of the pools used by Lady Lin; it no longer has water in it 0317
A view of several buildings on the grounds 0318
Cool-looking tree with pavilion and building in background 0319
Wider view of the grounds with pavilion on right 0320
Close-up of pavilion with stone seating 0321
Interior pool reached by a bridge 0323
Fantastic walkways, round entry, many levels of stairs 0324
My camera memory had run out so I was prevented from taking many more photos. I went back through the ones in the memory and deleted those obviously blurry or unusable and managed to take a few of the Pool area but really wanted to take many more. Two more things we saw here were of interest. One was a larger-than-life-size white statue of Lady Lin. It was X-rated, however, so after a brief glance, I turned my back on it and sat down on a balustrade while Mei talked about the lives of the Emperor and Lady Lin. Then we went down some steps (surprise!) and over to a fountain with several water spouts. There, for a mere fifty-cents, we could wash our hands and faces in genuine water from the same hot springs as the emperor and his lady had once sported in. Surprisingly, while it was definitely warm, it was not hot and felt good to my cold hands and face. As we exited from the fenced area where the fountain was, we were offered the use of a towel – for a price. We each declined and let our hands air dry in the frozen air. Then we went through a room where other (empty) carved out pools were that Lady Lin had used. Around the walls on the upper level were paintings of the story of the two lovebirds, a tale that Mei called a “Chinese Romeo and Juliet story.” Nikki took issue with that phrase because it wasn’t identical or even parallel to Shakespeare’s R&J, but it was actually a kind of equivalent based on Chinese culture in which the practice of having concubines was common and accepted.
We had loaded our suitcases into the van that morning and the airport was between where we were and where we had stayed in Xi’an, so they were going to personally take us to the airport.
We arrived at the airport in a timely manner and had enough time to sit in a coffee shop and rearrange things in our luggage before going out into the spacious, clean and well-lit waiting area. I left N&N guarding my carry-on while I went in search of a new memory card for my camera. Fortunately I found a 1-gig one for a good price and snatched it up. I was relieved to know that I wouldn’t have to delete pictures in my other two memory cards in order to photograph the great sites we would be seeing in Beijing.
When we arrived at the airport in Beijing, we retrieved Nikki’s suitcase from the carrousel and headed outside the terminal to catch a taxi. We had the name and directions to our hotel written in Chinese (retrieved from the hotel’s website) to show the taxi driver and then sat back and enjoyed the ride through the darkening streets of Beijing. We actually stayed in a 2-bedroom “serviced apartment.” It was fabulous, with hard wood floors, modern furniture, walls at angles in proper fung shui style. It had a huge dining/living room area with a big TV, which we didn’t use but could have, and a big, tiled bathroom and a nice kitchen with wonderful appliances, of which we used only the refrigerator. It cost $108 per night; divided by 3 it wasn’t a bad price to pay for such nice accommodations.
Our tour guide for the next day had left a message with the desk for us to call him when we got in, which I did. I also by request called the tour agent I’d emailed extensively in setting up our tours to let him know we had arrived and would be ready to go the next morning.
Nancy, who had slept on the roll-away bed in the Xi’an hotel, got a bedroom to herself while Nikki and I shared the other room, which had two double beds. We had planned to play a game of Quiddler but were so tired we just hit the sack.
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