The Warriors of Xi'an

A couple of months before I was born (March 1974) a Chinese farmer Yang was drilling a water hole in the middle of a field 1 hr east of Xi'an. Little did he know that he was about to stumble on arguably the biggest archeological find since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb some 50 years earlier!

Once uncovered the total site composed of a mausoleum for the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, complete with 3 pits containing the terra-cotta warriors.

Due to the elaborate plans he had for this site Emperor Qin Shi Huang had ordered construction of his final resting place many years before he died in 209-210 BC. As well as sheer number, all of warriors required different facial characteristics. The warriors were then buried nearby to watch over him in his afterlife. Now some 36 years after the discovery and still a work in progress, estimates suggest some 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots & 520 horses are contained in the pits.

As you can imagine the whole site has now been transformed into an attraction resembling Alton Towers complete with golf buggy's that drive you from the entrance to the exhibition site and the exit routes guiding you through the numerous souvenir shops. Our tour guide for the day 'Sally' ensured we visited the relatively untouched pits 2 & 3 first so as to gain the full impact of pit 1. It was a wise move as pit 1 was quite simply breathtaking. It is essentially a huge well lit room with thousands of clay soldiers lined up in earthen trenches a few meters below but the sheer history and size of the place stuns you for a moment and produces the inevitable exclamation of 'Wow'. Again difficult to put into words but a simple must see and well worth the 7 hr train ride from Beijing.

The tour agencies all offer the same standard trips- Terra-cotta warriors and tombs for £35 or just the warriors for £23. We discovered we could take the same 603 bus we had already caught to the station and then get a 306 bus from there the final 1hr trip to the warriors. Including entrance fee it would only cost £13 (buses totaling £1.80 each). Ok we weren't dropped at the entrance but the 100m walk from the nearby bus station seemed a decent exchange for 20 notes.

The bus ride there also brought out some of the best and worst of China. A young girl sat opposite us, told us this was her first time speaking to English people and she wanted to practice. We conversed for the 30 minute drive to the Xi'an Polytechnic University where we think she was studying Fashion design. In all honesty It was probably more like Charades than conversation as it became evident her English wasn't as good as we first thought. Miming a plane was fairly easy if not a little foolish but how do you mime a train? We had to resort to photos! She kept telling us how she couldn't wait to tell her friends as they would be so impressed with her bravery.

As mentioned previously, big cities on the China tourist route make you inevitably suspicious of anyone who talks to you. We were stood outside the only Christian church in Beijing and a chap introduced himself as the preacher telling us about the church and asking where we were from etc- he then pulled out a card for a local tour agency and told us to give him a call! We had also heard stories of elaborate scams involving people pretending to be students practicing English leading you to a tea room only to be presented with a bill for £400! We weren't going to fall for any if this so we found ourselves sat on the bus chatting to a jolly and excited 20 year old university student waiting to see what surprise she may spring. I can honestly say it was not until she bounced off the bus such was her excitement when we arrived at her Uni and turned with a big smile to wave goodbye that I believed she was genuine. Sad I admit, but a reflection on the need to take a tourist for every Chinese yuan, in any way possible.

Xi'an is an old city with a modern vibe, located 560m South West of Beijing comprised of a central old town surrounded by a large city wall and expansive outskirts. A Bell and Drum Tower are a prominent feature (which are pretty much what they say on the tin) offering decent views of the old city. In contrast to the parts of Beijing we visited there is a lot of new development across the city. The new houses seemingly modeled on San Francisco's Pacific Heights type dwellings. There are also numerous tranquil parks offering welcome relief from the madness and noise of city streets. Something we are both ready to get away from in the next week or so. The cities of Beijing and Xi'an are indeed full of wonderful sights but after the hustle and bustle of the past 2 weeks being a small town lad I am eagerly awaiting what we hope to be the peacefulness of Tibet- this of course remains to be seen!

In order to get to Tibet we must wave goodbye to Xi'an and fly 450m inland to central China and a city named Xining. Standing at 2300m above sea level Xining is the starting point of the China Tibet railroad- The 23hr 1300m train journey that will take us across the Gobi desert and Tibetan plains to the spiritual place of Lhasa, home to the Dalai Lama. We are naturally very excited at this next stage of our adventure although a little apprehensive of how our physiology will cope with the thin air!