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.