Terracotta day today – lots and lots of it ….. In fact, according to some estimates more than 8,000 terracotta warriors, 130 chariots and over 600 horses. The terracotta army is about an hour’s bus ride outside Xian. We started early – about 8am and in the way were dropped at a terracotta warriors workshop. Actually, drop the first four letters and it would have been much more appropriate. It was a scarcely disguised attempt to sell us anything – even a terracotta warrior made with your own face on it! Needless to say, not wanting to scare the neighbours, we decided not to do this.
Once we got to the site, it was about 15 minutes walk to the site through some nice gardens. Once at the site, there are three pits. The first, imaginatively called Pit 1, is the largest by far. It is 230m by 62m and all covered by an extensive building, giving the feeling of being in an aircraft hangar. The warriors are lined up in rows with rammed earth walls between them. Each row is about 3 metres wide and paved with bricks. The whole thing was then originally covered with reed matting, then a layer of clay to waterproof it and then the soil was built up several metres to protect them
The terracotta warriors are part of the mausoleum of the first emperor of China – Qin Shi Huang. His mausoleum has not yet been excavated and is in nearby Mount Li, but it is likely to prove difficult to dig due to mercury poisoning in the soil. Accounts from the time suggest they created rivers of mercury to protect his body, so this gives some credence to these stories. Many of the warriors are also thought to be located nearer his tomb. However, the scale of the site, even as it is now is very impressive.
Following a very nice lunch at a restaurant on the way back to Xian, we then headed for the city walls. The old city walls date from 1370 and were built under the Ming Dynasty. They remain complete to this day and give a very interesting perspective on the city.
The evening was then taken up with a show about the Tang Dynasty. Very entertaining and professionally done, albeit a Hollywood take on the story of the Tang Dynasty!