Highlights from Sunday, March 20

On Sunday we did sightseeing in the city of Xi'an (pronounced She-en).  Xi'an is in the center of China and is a very old city.  In fact we learned it was the capital before Beijing - back in the ancient dynasties of China.  We went to see the Terra-Cotta Warriors which date back to the Qin Dynasty around 220 BC.  It was really an amazing place to visit, not only because of how old the place really is, but also because it wasn't found until 1974.  So these clay warrior statues were buried underground for 2000 years before they were found by a farmer who was digging a well.  Once they were discovered, they began excavating, and what we saw is what they have uncovered since 1974.  One of the most fascinating things about being here is that it is an active archeological excavation site, on some days workers can actually be seen on site, although we didn't see any.  We talked about how this place would look very different if we visited it in another 20 years!

Some photos from our day...

Our hotel lobby

Driving on the streets - there are many different vehicles allowed on the roads here, including bikes of many kinds pulling carts of many kinds!

One of the most shocking things about this city so far is the amount of pollution.  This is not a photo of fog!  This is a nuclear power and coal plant emitting an unbelievable amount of pollution.  We've been saying this makes Gary Indiana look like Big Sky Montana!

The largest pit of the terra cotta warriors.  This gives a feeling of the size of this place.

Columns of troops in battle formation.

Some of the warriors close up.  Each warrior's head is different than all the rest.  There are different types of warriors: infantry, archers, officers, and generals.  There are even horses and chariots.

Most of the warriors originally had bronze weapons, but they were stolen in an uprising shortly after the warriors were buried.

This photo shows that this is still an active excavation site.  To the right, the already excavated warriors, to the left, the square pits in process of being excavated.

Many of the warriors are being reconstructed back to their original state from tiny pieces of terra cotta that they have dug up.

Warrior reconstruction is a long and tedious process.

"One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just isn't the same."  (By the way, these are model statues that are for purchase.  They really hoped we would buy a $3000 warrior statue to ship back home!  Lawn ornament anyone?)

We enjoyed tea at one of the many tea houses.

In the afternoon we also visited an art gallery where we viewed art from many different time periods of Chinese history.  We also practiced Chinese calligraphy.

It was fun learning how to make the different brush strokes.

The outside of the art gallery.

For dinner we enjoyed a meal of dumplings of all different shapes and flavors.  Pork, chicken, tofu, duck, and shrimp were all on the menu.  (Notice the duck dumpling!)

This shows a bit of the banquet hall.  We decided it was set up mostly for tourists in large tour groups to give them a "Chinese experience."  Although we weren't sure how authentic of an experience it really was.

The restaurant was part of a theater so these ladies are all in costume for the show.

Three things we are thankful for today:
1.  That jet lag subsided today and day two was much smoother than day one!

2.  For our guide, Sophia, who is very sweet and very knowledgeable.  We'd be very lost without her!

3.  For Skype so we can check in with our family back home a couple of times each day and see our beautiful daughters!

Gotta go meet our guide for another day of sightseeing in Xi'an!