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May 17, 2009
Day Fifteen - Wall Biking & Terra Cotta Fighting
I slept surprisingly well, considering the poor air quality and poor mattress, and woke up in time to stop by the hotel breakfast area. After a couple cups of coffee, we all boarded the bus towards our first destination: the Xi'an City Wall. It was a cute, antique-ish wall that used to be surrounded by a functioning moat and an operating drawbridge. We walked "inside" and posed for a couple of pictures with some men dressed as warriors (I wasn't sure why they were wearing those outfits, actually). All of us rented out bikes to bike the circumference of the city wall! I was hesitant at first, as I haven't ridden since 7th grade and am not an experienced biker in the least. I gave in when I was encouraged to ride a two-person bike, so Anup and I rented one out and started the journey.
The biking was slightly strenuous (as Anup often forgot to pedal since I was sitting in the back and he was joyriding intermittently) and slightly scary; at some points along the wall there were connector areas with stairs leading down to the next segment. All of them had a ramp at some part of the stairs, but you couldn't tell the ramp area apart from the stairs until you were 3 feet away from them. we also noticed some ramps that led all the way down to a pair of closed doors, while others lead to a construction pit, which we decided was the burial grounds for the "stupid Americans." Luckily, we finished unscathed. Some other people experienced interference with go-karts, while others suffered a flat tire. Anup and I yelled out "Ni Hao" to every Chinese passer-by, including construction workers on roofttops. We got some pretty enthusiastic responses. It was a fun, unique experience - I'm glad I pushed aside my mild biking fear for it.
We rested for a little while after the biking, got back on the bus, and went to our next site: the remains of a 6,000 year-old village (or "willage," as Gao says). At first I thought the site was relatively interesting, as it was cool to see how these people lived and to learn about their habits, burial practices (which we saw a little too much of once we got to the next room which showcased skeletons), etc. But after a while I was getting worried about the limited time we would have at the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit, which was the main attraction of our trip to Xi'an. We broke for lunch (everyone was starving) at another lazy-susan style restaurant as common in Beijing. They actually had a lot that I could eat that time, so I was pretty satisfied. We got ice cream from the vendor outside and went back on the bus, excited for the Terra Cotta Warriors.
Here is an excerpt from JM's blog entry, as he did an excellent job narrating the Terra Cotta Warriors history bit:
"The museum for the terra cotta warriors was only about 10 minutes from where we ate lunch. The tomb is a national museum and it was obvious by the sheer size of the place. There was an entire village before we even entered the grounds for the museum, complete with shopping areas, a bank, and KFC. Once we were inside, we had to walk through gardens that they built specifically for tourists to walk through before we came to the main museum grounds. The museum is divided into different excavation pits. However, before we went into the different sites, we watched a video on the Emperor who built the tomb. The Emperor was the first to unify China in 221 B.C. and thus spent lavishly on his tomb that he believed would provided him all the things he would need in the after life. The tomb is the biggest in the world and it was started when he was 13 years old. It took 730,000 people 38 years to complete and the Emperor actually died while inspecting the tomb. After watching the video, we proceeded to Pit 1.
Pit 1 is definitely the most impressive site. They had excavated 6,000 warriors, which were all erected in battle formation. The sheer size of the place and the fact that they had only excavated ¼ of the soldiers from this location was hard to grasp. After Pit 1, we walked out the back door to Pit 2 and Pit 3. Both 2 and 3 were very similar. They had erected less of the statues and there was more rubble around the sites. Also, Pit 3 was an ongoing excavation so there were places where it was covered with plastic wrap. It was interesting seeing this tomb and trying to understand how/why they would have built it. We were asking about the actual tomb of the Emperor and why it hadn’t been excavated yet. There were a couple reasons that it was still underground, these reasons included the fact that it was surrounded by underground moats, contained a considerable amount of mercury, and was also 56 meters underground. She did say however, that the tomb contained a considerable amount of treasurer and also included the remains of the 3,000 concubines the Emperor had in his palace. The tour guide explained that the Emperor slept with a different woman every night, which resulted in him having a considerable amount of children. However, he only thought the first son was important and in his will he told the rest of the children to commit suicide, which they did and were then buried within the tomb. Seeing the terra cotta warriors was definitely an awe inspiring experience and one that made the trip to Xian worth it."
It was so incredible to see these warriors in actuality, as I remember reading about them in past World History classes and seeing photos of them in verious textbooks. I loved how each had a different face and 'personality,' along with different heights, resembling unique individuals. I really wish that we had more time, especially in Pit 1, as I would have loved to stay there longer and stare, in awe, at the thousands of Terra Cotta men.
We went straight to the airport, said goodbye to Gao, and ate in a restaurant inside. A bowl of rice later, I went to scope out a good cup of coffee - which I couldn't find for less than 60 RMB, which is unheard of! (That's ~8 dollars) I made a list of a couple of things I needed to see/purchase before leaving China (it's crazy to think that the end is near), and then boarded the plane back to Beijing. Luckily, the flight was smoother this time! I was so happy to be back at the Wenjin - I think we all missed our sun-drenched rooms and ridiculously comfortable beds. Tomorrow consists of 2 classes and minimal free time. But on Tuesday some of us are going to the Chinese National Cultural Park!
Miss you,
Karen
P.S. HAPPY GRADUATION DAVE! Wish I could be there! lovelovelove
Posted by rockwood at May 17, 2009 12:41 PM