Several years ago I was watching an episode of the Amazing Race and the contestants were in China and had to find a clue at the Terra Cotta Warriors. That was the first time I saw or heard of them. Ever since then I have wanted to see them. When we decided to go to Xi' an this weekend people said there was not much to do there... I beg to differ!!!! We had a long weekend due to having Good Friday off, but I really wanted to be back for church on Easter Sunday. With the help of Sri we found a flight that left Beijing at 7:30 Am on Friday and a return to leave Xi'an at 9:30 PM on Saturday. We thought with most of two days we would have plenty of time.
We had a smooth flight and arrived in Xi'an with no problems. Our first glitch came when we tried to hire a car to go straight to the Terra Cotta Warriors. Unlike other places I have traveled where you can walk out of the airport and negotiate with any number of drivers to go places, the travel agency at the airport had some type of monopoly on this. Our only options were a one way trip to the Warriors for 300 rmb or a driver for 8 hours to the warriors and then around town for 500. So we paid the 500. I I return, I will make arrangements ahead of time for a driver to pick me up.
Anyway, we got to the site and were immediately accosted by an English speaking guide who wanted to give us a tour. She was charging 100 rmb so we decided to go for it. Her English was excellent and she did share lots of very interesting information with us. The site of the warriors was every bit as amazing as I expected it to be. I just could not get
over the power that emperor had over the people, that he command them to build all of that for his after life, and he was obeyed, this is the same guy who had forced hundreds of thousands of guys to leave everything and go build the great wall. He wanted his burial plans to be so secret that he actually had 700,000 workers buried alive after they built the warriors. It was really amazing.
After the warriors we went on a tour of a silk making factory. It was really nice and interesting. The tour was free, and they really wanted us to buy something, but all the things there were quite expensive. After the tour we had our very expensive driver take us to our hotel and got checked in. We were upgraded to a super deluxe room and ended up having a really nice view of the bell tower and drum tower outside our window.
After settling in we went exploring and looking for lunch. We first went to restaurant which proclaimed in large English words their famous dumplings. Upon arriving, we found out they did not have an English menu or pictures on their menu. So we left there and entered the Muslim district. We searched for awhile and finally found a hole in the wall restaurant where they assured us they did have an English menu. When Tiffany asked for it they said, just a minute, someone else is using it now! That gave us a good laugh. For just under 5 dollars we filled up on noodles and meat skewers. It was very yummy! After eating we meandered through the streets of the Muslim District buying a few souvenirs and enjoying the sites. Some things were very similar to Beijing, but other things were quite different. We ended our site seeing for the day with a tour of the drum tower. We got to the hotel and crashed for the rest of the evening. I did go out on the balcony and take pics of the towers lit up.
On day two we began with a tour of the bell tower and a performance there. Next we went to the City Walls were for 3 dollars you could rent a bike for 100 minutes and ride the perimeter of the city. Tiffany and I loved this, and Shawn humored us by being a very good sport about it even though biking is not her thing. After the city walls we went searching for lunch and found even more of a hole in the wall restaurant than the day before. This place had a guy pulling noodles out front. They did not have an English menu, but did have picture menu on the wall. We stood in the middle of the tiny restaurant and pointed at the picture that looked good to us :) It worked out because we got really huge portions for less than a dollar each!
After lunch we toured a display of Steles- huge plaques with writing on them. Lots of them were copies of Buddhist teachings and historical writings. They also had an interesting display of stone carvings from several ancient dynasties. We ended the day with a tour of the Small Goose Pagoda and a really nice historical museum. After a quick meal at the hotel that was much more expense, and much less tasty than our other meals on the trip, we headed back to the hotel for our trip back home.
I love history in general, so seeing things that were made by people who lived thousands of years ago was awe inspiring for me. I was amazed by the extent of Shi Huangdi's power, and also his fear of death. His belief in the after life led him to build this huge army to protect him and also caused the death of hundreds of thousands of his people. How sad that he did not understand God's truth. Even more heart breaking for me was the influence of Buddhism in this area. I see Buddhism here in Beijing often, and it makes me sad, but as I read about the history of Xi'an, I saw the rise of the religion. I also saw hundreds of statues of buddhas that have been found and preserved. Even more heartbreaking was the site of people kneeling and worshipping theses statues. If you are a believer, please join in my lifting up these individuals that they may come to an understanding of the one who can give them true peace and true salvation!
That's all for now. I have more travels coming up soon. In one more week I have a week of field trips with my class that involves a three day trip to the coastal city of Qinghuangdao. I believe I am finally going to see, for the first time, the Great Wall!! I will keep you posted!
We had a smooth flight and arrived in Xi'an with no problems. Our first glitch came when we tried to hire a car to go straight to the Terra Cotta Warriors. Unlike other places I have traveled where you can walk out of the airport and negotiate with any number of drivers to go places, the travel agency at the airport had some type of monopoly on this. Our only options were a one way trip to the Warriors for 300 rmb or a driver for 8 hours to the warriors and then around town for 500. So we paid the 500. I I return, I will make arrangements ahead of time for a driver to pick me up.
Anyway, we got to the site and were immediately accosted by an English speaking guide who wanted to give us a tour. She was charging 100 rmb so we decided to go for it. Her English was excellent and she did share lots of very interesting information with us. The site of the warriors was every bit as amazing as I expected it to be. I just could not get
over the power that emperor had over the people, that he command them to build all of that for his after life, and he was obeyed, this is the same guy who had forced hundreds of thousands of guys to leave everything and go build the great wall. He wanted his burial plans to be so secret that he actually had 700,000 workers buried alive after they built the warriors. It was really amazing.After the warriors we went on a tour of a silk making factory. It was really nice and interesting. The tour was free, and they really wanted us to buy something, but all the things there were quite expensive. After the tour we had our very expensive driver take us to our hotel and got checked in. We were upgraded to a super deluxe room and ended up having a really nice view of the bell tower and drum tower outside our window.
After settling in we went exploring and looking for lunch. We first went to restaurant which proclaimed in large English words their famous dumplings. Upon arriving, we found out they did not have an English menu or pictures on their menu. So we left there and entered the Muslim district. We searched for awhile and finally found a hole in the wall restaurant where they assured us they did have an English menu. When Tiffany asked for it they said, just a minute, someone else is using it now! That gave us a good laugh. For just under 5 dollars we filled up on noodles and meat skewers. It was very yummy! After eating we meandered through the streets of the Muslim District buying a few souvenirs and enjoying the sites. Some things were very similar to Beijing, but other things were quite different. We ended our site seeing for the day with a tour of the drum tower. We got to the hotel and crashed for the rest of the evening. I did go out on the balcony and take pics of the towers lit up.
On day two we began with a tour of the bell tower and a performance there. Next we went to the City Walls were for 3 dollars you could rent a bike for 100 minutes and ride the perimeter of the city. Tiffany and I loved this, and Shawn humored us by being a very good sport about it even though biking is not her thing. After the city walls we went searching for lunch and found even more of a hole in the wall restaurant than the day before. This place had a guy pulling noodles out front. They did not have an English menu, but did have picture menu on the wall. We stood in the middle of the tiny restaurant and pointed at the picture that looked good to us :) It worked out because we got really huge portions for less than a dollar each!
After lunch we toured a display of Steles- huge plaques with writing on them. Lots of them were copies of Buddhist teachings and historical writings. They also had an interesting display of stone carvings from several ancient dynasties. We ended the day with a tour of the Small Goose Pagoda and a really nice historical museum. After a quick meal at the hotel that was much more expense, and much less tasty than our other meals on the trip, we headed back to the hotel for our trip back home.
I love history in general, so seeing things that were made by people who lived thousands of years ago was awe inspiring for me. I was amazed by the extent of Shi Huangdi's power, and also his fear of death. His belief in the after life led him to build this huge army to protect him and also caused the death of hundreds of thousands of his people. How sad that he did not understand God's truth. Even more heart breaking for me was the influence of Buddhism in this area. I see Buddhism here in Beijing often, and it makes me sad, but as I read about the history of Xi'an, I saw the rise of the religion. I also saw hundreds of statues of buddhas that have been found and preserved. Even more heartbreaking was the site of people kneeling and worshipping theses statues. If you are a believer, please join in my lifting up these individuals that they may come to an understanding of the one who can give them true peace and true salvation!
That's all for now. I have more travels coming up soon. In one more week I have a week of field trips with my class that involves a three day trip to the coastal city of Qinghuangdao. I believe I am finally going to see, for the first time, the Great Wall!! I will keep you posted!
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