Xian (Jan 22-23)

We left our Shanghai hotel at 5am to take the Maglev (magnetic high speed train) to the airport. We then left Xian around 10am and arrived in Xian about two hours later. Once in Xian, we toured the Wild Goose Pagoda. This Pagoda is also a Buddhist temple, built by a monk who went on a pilgramige to India. On his way home, he saw a goose flying in its echelon fall from the sky. He recovered the goose, believing it to be a reincarnation of the Buddha, and took it back to Xian to build a temple for it.

Both the Pagoda and the Temple were intriguing because of the story behind them. The monk that went to India was gone for over sixteen years. When he returned, the town built this temple to hold the relics (including the dead goose). The pagoda is one of the tallest structures in the city, and one of the oldest as well.

Xian is the ancient capital of China. The city wall dates back to the Qin Dynasty (about 200BC) along with the unification of the Great Wall, and the Teracotta Warriors. It is an incredible town because it is filled with so much history. So much of what China is today was shaped by this dynasty that made its home here in Xian.

After visiting the Pagoda, we went to the Xian museum. It was filled with a lot of teh artifacts that have been found in the area from the Qin Dynasty. There were also a few of the Teracotta Warriors, so we got a taste of what we would see the next day!

That evening, we walked from our hotel to a local restaurant. The menu was entirely in Chinese, so we pointed at a few things to try. We had some delicious noodle dishes with egg and pork.

The next day was the Teracotta Warrior day. We left early in the morning to take the half hour bus ride to the mounds. The warriors only comprise five of the over one hundred recorded mounds that were built for the first Qin emporer's tomb. So far only sixteen of these mounds have been opened. I was blown away be the enormity of this tomb. It is the largest tomb complex in the world.

I guess this kind of tomb represents the man who initiated its creation. The first Qin Emporer was the man who united most of modern day China, united the Great Wall, and brought about a lot of other large infrastructure projects. He ordered the building of the wall and his tomb at the same time, so at that time, over half of the people in his kingdom were enlisted to help build one of these two projects. It doesn't surprise me that during his son's reign, the dynasty was overthrown. The two Qin Emporers were always looking to create something bigger and better, but failed to see their people as more than a vehicle to reach that end.

The warriors were everything I think we were expecting and more. The detail of each warriors face was unbelievable. We learned that the artisans that created these warriors used live models, so each of these statues represent a persone who lived two thousand years ago and served in the emporers army. What was really interesting was that the army at that time comprised of several of the ethnic groups of China, since it was recently united. The artisans used models from most of those groups. There are taller warriors from the northern area, shorter men from the south, higher cheekbone warriors from the east, and warriors with long noses and larger eyes from the west.

After exploring the warrior chambers, we went back to the city. We climbed the city wall and walked a ways around the old part of the city. It was a great way to end the day, watching the sunset on a wall built two thousand years ago.