Leisurely start. Huge bowls of muesli yoghurt and fresh fruit. Public bus into the foothills to the Terracotta Warriors site. The pollution is no better out here. Fracas with shrill locals who have taken it upon themselves to extort entrance fees from patrons frequenting public toilets. Only 16c but hell.
Our first stop was the interesting museum with lots of information and artefacts including some warriors and 2 fantastic bronze chariots with 4 horses which were uncovered about 20 metres from Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s tomb. Just a little history. He became ruler at the age of 13 and ruled for 36 years. He standardised measurement, currency and writing, built 6400kms of roads and canals, and conquered 6 major kingdoms thus unifying all of China. He also built sections of the Great Wall as a line of defence, all before he turned 40. The construction of his tomb area began as soon as he became ruler and it covers 56 sq km. Seven hundred thousand people were involved in its construction. We watched a short movie on Qin, the construction of the warriors and the destruction of the tombs which happened during a peasant uprising 1 year after Qin died. Pit 1 is the largest (260x95m)and contains hundreds of warriors and horses, with many more still being excavated. Pit 2 is L shaped and only partially excavated, containing mostly archers. Pit 3 is quite small in comparison and contains the more senior military warriors and horses. The destruction included smashing warriors and setting fire to the wooden wall and roof supports, thus causing cave in. Pit 2 clearly shows the roof caved in on what is underneath. The smashed pieces that are being uncovered is one huge jigsaw puzzle and these 3 pits are only such a small area compared to what is underneath the surrounding countryside. The site was discovered by farmers digging a well in 1974.
Long but pleasant stroll back from the site to the bus stop through a gauntlet of stalls selling plastic warriors etc etc. Fridge magnet . . [tick]. Very enjoyable to watch locals cooking stuff in very hot oil and buying it fresh from them. Watched and filmed a couple of men with wooden mallets on 4’ handles pounding a lump of toffee on a bed of nuts while the old lady rolled and folded it between blows. Had some of that too.
I'm amazed you find the time to write so much, it makes me look positively idle. Good work keep it up.
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