TERRA-COTTA WARRIORS

Today, we are off to visit the Terra-Cotta warriors. For almost everybody, this is their reason for the trip. One of the guys from Vancouver was very worried that we wouldn't make the visit because of our missed flight from Beijing to X'ian. But, our guide said that missing out on this visit would never be an option. We were primed to get there as soon as possible that morning. But, "Let's go visit a factory store where they make copies of the warriors. It will introduce you to what to expect and, of course, all souvenirs bought here have the government stamp of approval and are official. And, there will be a discount for you." How many times have we heard this already?

So, off to the factory and some silly pictures while waiting for the tour to commence. Scary, eh?

This worker is working on the small size warriors. They are made from the same clay as the original life-size ones. You can tell this because your fingers don't get black from these ones. Ours did, and the guide couldn't explain why. Oh well.....

You could buy these life-size statues and they would be shipped directly to your home. Didn't even enquire as to the cost.

They let us take pictures throughout the factory/store.

Some of these workers were artisans. He is applying lacquer to a panel.

The Terra-cotta warriors were ordered to be built by the first Chinese Emperor. He wanted to have an army of soldiers to protect his tomb. He had thousands of life-sized soldiers built of clay and then covered by wooden structures and then covered with dirt. He was not very well liked by the end of his reign because of how he treated the workers, etc. Of course, the workers had to be killed when they finished a section because he didn't want them telling his enemies where he was buried. He died before all was finished and the people found out where these warriors were. They dug up the entrances and then went in and demolished as much as they could. They then set fire to the wooden structures and they caved in on top of the warriors. This all took place over 2200 years ago.

On March 29, 1974, three farmers were digging a well and one of them found a clay head of one of the warriors. The government decided that this would be a great tourist attraction and proceeded to dig out the area. They enclosed the area in three very large exhibition halls. Those people who excavated the area then had to put together the parts of all the warriors due to their earlier destruction. The first exhibition hall was opened in 1989 and the other two were opened in 1994. Many heads of state have visited this area. In our book, there is a picture of former president Clinton with his family among the warriors. Normal people are not allowed to go into the area. We must look from the outside.

Heads were separate from all the warriors and were placed on the finished body later.

Emperor Qin also had two chariots for his travel to the other world. They also were destroyed and have been put together like a huge puzzle.

A kneeling archer on display behind glass. We bought a copy of this one. (of course, at the factory store. Who would want a non-government factory copy?(even if they are 1/2 the cost)

There were a lot of pictures like this of how the excavation progressed.

Here are a couple of the chariots in colour.

Below are views of the exhibition halls. They are called Pits. There are three of them that are excavated now but there are plans to open others. We even got the chance to look at some areas that they were still excavating. They work at night when the exhibit is closed.

The Pits are huge structures.

The warriors were placed in formation and separated by dirt walls. The wooden roofs were placed on top of the dirt walls.

What a great visit!!!!!! Oh, and what of the farmers who discovered the site? They were given a gift of 39 dollars each by the government. Only one is living now. He has a job at the gift shop signing the book about the Terra-cotta warriors. I have a copy at my house if you ever wish to look at it. Of course, the best way to see all this stuff is to go there. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

IMAGES OF BEIJING

One day in Beijing, we took a tour of the Hutong area, the old neighbourhoods where the people have lived for many, many years. The area was being replaced with new housing and new neighbourhoods before the government realized that they needed to repair and restore this part of their heritage. It is an ongoing process although the area is much smaller now than it used to be. Our tour started with this bicycle rickshaw. I felt sorry for a couple of the drivers who had some very large people to ferry around.

We were bike #30 and had to make sure to get the same driver to get back to our starting point.

We eventually ended up in a small courtyard which housed three families in accomodations which opened up into this courtyard. The lady in front is retired and she and her husband give presentations and tours to tourists. Their two sons also share this courtyard space although they all have their own private areas in which they live. She gave us a lot of information, translated by our guide, and answered many questions about her life here. Our guide also spent his university years living in the Hutong area. After her presentation, she allowed us to wander through her living quarters. Below are some pictures of the rooms.

Our group listening intently. Doesn't the Japanese girl in the black jacket with white stripes on the sleeves look like Erika? Emily celebrated her 24th birthday on the tour.

The Kitchen.

The living room and display cabinet.

The living room from another angle.

When walking back to our rickshaws, we went through an area that was rebuilt and had to stop and visit with a small dog.

You can see the renovations taking place here.

Very narrow alleyways.

Sometimes, they demolish the complete house and then start from scratch but reuse as much of the building material as possible.

We also visited a park in the morning. Here, we saw many people exercising, dancing, visiting and playing.

This long building(covered walkway) was filled with people playing cards, mahjong, knitting, painting or just talking. If Dean lived here, this is where he would be all the time.

There were a group of people playing instruments and someone was singing as well as dancing in front of these others. The man in front doesn't seem to pleased with me.

This group were exercising using flags as props. They had music playing and there were certain steps that they were following. It was very interesting to watch them. They always invited us to join and try what they were doing.

This lady was teaching a group of others how to do the ribbon exercises. She was very good.

These girls are doing a form of Tai Chi with a paddle and a birdie. A couple of times we saw guards stationed around parks that we visited. There were a lot of people at this park, some young but a lot of retired people. There were grandparents who were looking after their grandchildren, people who were exercising prior to going to work and a lot of retired people who wanted to get out into nature and visit with their friends. They were very friendly for the most part.

This became a running joke for our group. The young child is wearing split pants. He has no underwear. Our guide says they wear these during training. When they have to go to the toilet, they just squat and do their business wherever they are. A bit unsanitary sometimes. We saw this happen on sidewalks and steps of buildings. Should have bought a pair to bring back to someone who will be toilet training their child.

75% of the world's cranes are in use in China. Just a few of them in this picture.

Very unique architecture.

A downtown street and office buildings.

Still building.

Note the traffic and the large buildings in the distance. Also, note the smog. the Government legislates that 240+ days per year will be smog-free. We must have been there on the other days.

More traffic and stores. We could have shopped all the time.

These cars are under a freeway entrance. It is a car park but also holds some cars which have been in accidents and need some repair.

Next stop, the Terra Cotta warriors of X'ian.