Lily, Caden, & Gia Lovers: Xi'an

Xi'an - Day 5

I headed out for an early run this morning to ensure I was back and showered for our 7:30 AM pick up to head to the Terrar Cotta Warriors. I initially planned to head into the downtown, but it was a bit longer than I expected, so instead, ran the direction of the Buddhist Temple, then towards town for a bout 30 minutes before turning around. These early morning runs provide a great glimpse into the culture. I pass street sweepers, meticulously sweeping the tree flower pedals that have dropped to the ground overnight (and they are there throughout the day keeping the sidewalks spotless). This morning I also passed people doing tai chi and what appeared to be something like tai chi but in one instance with whips, another with swords. There were people singing and people doing something that looked like hula-hooping, but without the hula hoop!

This intricate overpass for pedestrians connected all four corners of the busy intersection,

When I returned, Corey was up. Love this pic of him in the window. Gia was up shortly after and enjoyed the high-tech toilet :)

Lily's Post.... We headed to the Terra Cotta Warriors today. We had a driver picking us up at 7:30 AM. The problem was that we finally adjusted to the time change, and slept until 7 – so we did not have time for breakfast. So we went to a convenience store to get something quick.

The options were limited, so we each picked out our own flavor of wafers. I got chocoloate (obviously). Gigi got strawberry and Caden got vanilla. My mom got a lemon shortbread. Dad got yogurt. Then we were off.

Too much sugar!

Too much something! We teased Caden that he looks like he is going on a bug hunt :)

On the way, Gigi needed her hair done. She was sitting by Caden so she let Caden do it. Problem was he tugged and tugged until it was a big not. By the end, Gia was crying and her hair was a rats nest.

More "copy-paste" building views...

Once we got to our destination, we were outside and it must have been 100 degrees. A lady walked up to us and asked if we needed a tour guide. We said yes. She gave us each an ear bud and voice control that we wore like a necklace.

She first took us to “Pit 1” where we saw the Terracotta Warriors in perfect rows. She explained to us that each one was unique, with different hair, different faces, different everything. There are 8,000 warriors in total, plus horses and chariots. She told us that they were built for the first emperor to protect his body in the after-life. One of the other facts she shared is that the emperor was 13 years old when he became emperor and they started building this mausoleum for his burial as soon as he became emperor. They built for the next 37 years, until his untimely death at the age of 50. Another fact is that when the emperor was ruling, he had 400 Confucius academics buried alive. One of the most horrible facts I learned was that the emperor had these ladies called concubines. Three thousand of them! -- that had no choice but to serve in this role to make children. The concubines that did not bear any children were killed and buried with the emperor at the time of his death.

The emperor ended up fathering 19 sons. The youngest knew he would not become emperor because the oldest son was first in line. So once his father died, he killed all 18 of his brothers, and put them in the tomb with his father. The whole experience was really fascinating.

The emperor chose to be buried here because of the beauty of the location, between mountains and a river, and the proximity of jade and gold.

These ones are in the process of being restored. They will not use any substitute pieces, so they keep hunting for the right pieces for rebuild the broken warriors.

This is a photo of the wooden roofs that cover the tomb.

This warrior was found intact except for his right hand. All of the warriors were built in different sizes and in different positions, with different weapons, based on their level of importance.

We stopped by the souvenir store afterwards and the farmer that made the discovery was there! Pretty cool. We all got to shake his hand.

Caden: It was interesting that they found the Terracotta Warriors recently (1974) by a farmer digging a well and that the farmer is not wealthy from the discovery. Our guide told us that he got paid the equivalent of about $10 USD because in China, the government owns all of the land.

We were starving by the time the tour ended so stopped at KFC. Yes. KFC. Which was at the entry point to the ruins. Sigh. But the ability to put your sandwich container over your straw made it all worth it.

The drive back....

The driver stopped to charge the air conditioner, we think. The kids can entertain themselves anywhere :) I love how well they play together.

These cool phone chargers are everywhere. We need these in the US too!

Once home, we went for a swim.

That evening we took dad to dinner at the Korean restaurant we ate at yesterday. We stopped at a grocery store along the way. The fresh fish was crazy! They even had bullfrogs. It looked like an aquarium. They had conveyor belts that moved grocery bangs around above our heads. I bought some of my favorite Longan fruit.

After dinner we walked up to the Buddhist Temple and visited the markets and enjoyed the beautiful lights and music. We had another funny experience of some Chinese women asking if they could get their photos with us. It makes us feel famous J