Right off I need to let you know the Terra Cotta Warriors are not really terra cotta. They are made of a completely different kind of clay called loess and are a much lighter sandy color. Apparently when they were first discovered by farmers in the mid-1970s, National Geographic identified them as terra cotta and in English, the moniker has stuck; in Chinese it’s totally different.
Seeing the warriors is definitely a highlight of the trip, and because I had read quite a bit about them, they were just as I had imagined. They are actually located about an hour outside of Xi’an in the district of Lintong, and we were on the road early in an effort to beat the crowd and have some time alone in the first and largest pit. It was in fact, excellent planning by our Tauck Director to have us there by 8:30 AM and we did, in fact have time to take in the enormity of the site, and its incredible detail and artistry. We also had ample opportunity to get some photos (even though signs say you can’t, you can). The soldiers are actually a little larger than life – averaging about 6’5” in height and definitely represent people from the northern provinces of China.
We already knew westerners were referred to as “big noses” due to the size of the bridge of our nose (considered a desirable feature here), and today we learned about the “rice face” rounder, flatter features from the southern parts of China and the “noodle face” generally belonging to the taller northern Chinese.
The clay army dates back 2,200 years to the reign of Qin Shi Huangdi. Built to guard the emperor’s tomb, the project took hundreds of thousands of workers 36 years to complete, before his death at age 49. The massive tomb complex has barely been excavated, but even so, around 8,000 figures have been found. In addition to the warriors and the famous kneeling archer (housed in the Shaanxi Museum), there are the well-known officers, fat general, horses and even entertainers and administrators.
Pit One is the largest and features 6,000 figures. Archeologists were working at the site while we were there, and we had the opportunity to speak (through a translator) with one of them. Since excavations had revealed remnants of lacquer and color that began dissolving within minutes of being exposed to air, authorities decided to stop work and wait a few years until technology allowed a way to preserve what is found. They are currently working with scientists in Germany and elsewhere to resolve these technical issues.
Pit Two is much smaller, and houses the officers who commanded the stone warriors; Pit Three has more soldiers and horses. Half-size bronze chariots that were uncovered are on display in the exhibition hall. As we progressed the crowds kept growing. It has only been in recent years that the Chinese people have been able to travel, and most of that travel is within their own country. So in a country with 1.5 billion people you can just imagine how popular the ancient and historical sites have become.
Taking in all this history worked up an appetite, and so we headed back into central Xi’an for a dumpling lunch at Dafacheng Restaurant. For the uninitiated, in the northern part of China, dumplings are made of wheat and in the south, dim sum are dumplings made of rice. Today’s dumplings were really wonderful, and my husband and I tried absolutely everything we were served. I can’t say there was anything we didn’t like and it’s hard to pick a favorite; a couple of items packed quit a punch and the sweet dumplings with chocolate and nuts and sweet flaky pastry were especially delicious.
After lunch we visited the Shaanxi History Museum where 370,000 relics from prehistoric time forward are on display. In addition to the beautiful pottery and artifacts, we had the chance to really see the detail on the warriors. Even the soles of their footwear, and lines in the palms of their hands were individually crafted. All had mustaches, headgear, and every hair on their heads was meticulously carved. It really is a marvel.
I knew Xi’an had a restored city wall dating from 1370 and wanted to see it. So after finding out we would have difficulty finding any sort of cab to bring us back to the Shangri-la Hotel where we were staying, we hired a car service to take us over and wait. You can walk, rent bikes or take a golf-cart type vehicle around the 9 mile wall. We decided to walk as much as possible for about an hour. This wall was originally around the Imperial Palace, and an even larger wall was constructed around the 30 square mile city during its heyday years in the Tang Dynasty. It was the largest city in the world, and the eastern end of the famous Silk Road, a thriving marketplace and an ancient melting pot of various cultures.
The walls were solidly built by the first Ming emperor, very wide, beautifully constructed and something I would recommend taking the time to see. I felt like we’d seen a glimpse into the soul of Xi’an-a look past all the high rise modern buildings. Known as the Xi’an City Wall Scenic Area, the area is very green and surrounded by trees and parks. You can see nice restaurants and bars nearby; the views were terrific, and the flowering trees provided a really lovely fragrance.
A little over heated, we got back into our cool, black Audi A 6L, the preferred transport of the local politicians and dignitaries, and held our breath for the wild ride back to the hotel. Our driver was great, and it was interesting to see the traffic cops magically part the masses for us. It was a great conclusion to a very interesting day. Dinner at the hotel tonight – we are up before dawn for an early flight.
Tip of the day: people who eat wheat are taller than those who eat rice. Even on a tour you can carve out time for special, unique activities.
In the underground burial complex of Emperor Jing di.
Today was pretty much a travel day – flying from Beijing to Xi’an on a China Eastern Airbus. I’ve been able to take off my jacket for the first time; it’s warm here, but not much humidity.
Tomorrow we are going to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors, but we began our visit in this former capital with a stop at the little-visited Han Yangling Museum.
This modern facility houses the results of 30+ years of excavation in and around the massive burial sites of the Han Dynasty Emperor Ling Di and his empress. The underground mausoleum complex features a portion of the 81 burial pits surrounding the central mound (there were another 8,000 satellite tombs in the surrounding area). Representations include miniatures of tools, weapons, food preparation utensils, animals and people that would be important to the afterlife of the Emperor.
The really unique feature of this museum is the transparent glass floors covering the exposed pits – so you are literally walking on top of the site. It’s a very dark place and gave me a bit of vertigo since it feels like you are standing on air. It’s hard to see in general and impossible to see my camera dials, and even more difficult to get shots that do justice to the site.
Xi’an is a big city with more than 8 million residents and what must be hundreds of multi-story (as in 20+ floors) high rise apartment buildings. It’s dusty and hazy and our hotel, the Shangri-La, seems like an oasis.
Since this is a short post, let me just comment on a few other things about China. First and foremost, the Chinese people are very friendly, welcoming and seem pleased to have us here. The working-class folks we are meeting are generally attractive and well-educated and would blend in the U.S. with no problem. The streets are very clean and we see the maintenance trucks washing them down daily. In our hotels, we have no problem with access to English language TV including CNN and ESPN – so we did get to see the Masters and are keeping up with the news out of Boston. The English language Chinese newspaper, China Daily has a nice general news roundup. We have good, free wi-fi in the hotels and the iPhone with both Verizon and Viber (free app) work well; calls sound like they are from next door. We just don’t have access to social media.
Tips of the day: 1. Chinese airlines actually serve food on short flights and Chinese airports sell lots of snacks and 2. Never plan to drive here, in fact, you may not even want to look out the window when in any moving vehicle.
Temple of Heaven
Beijing has quite literally bloomed before our eyes. As the days have gone by the magnolia blooms have fully opened and more and more tress are showing their beautiful yellow, pink and purple blossoms. The temperature is still cool (high of 60) and the sky a pastel blue-what better day to visit the Temple of Heaven and its beautiful surrounding park.
We walked through the park with expanses of bright green new grass, flowering trees, music and laughter everywhere. The park was full of people on this Sunday, and no one was lounging on the grass or picnicking-they were all actively doing something: cards, board games, dancing, playing instruments or exercising. Others were gathered around trees sharing the resumes of their eligible single offspring in a sort of parent-driven, Chinese J-date. The park was also on the route of the Beijing Marathon run earlier today.
This setting became our venue for trying a few of the more gentle “internal” martial arts. I tried my hand at Tai Chi, and really enjoyed the experience and found it very relaxing. The next thing I knew, my husband was participating in some sort of balance paddle ball game, easily flipping balls under his leg and behind his back to his Chinese instructors and game-mates. Called Taiji Bailong Ball, it is a type of Tai Chi and the object is to keep moving the wrist so the ball doesn’t ever touch the ground, but stays on the paddle until tossed. He was great. First using chopsticks and now this, what next?
After playing in the park, we visited the beautiful Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan), the round, ancient building typically used as the signature visual symbol for Beijing. Another relic of the Ming Dynasty dating from 1420, the Temple has religious and cylindrical significance, and was used for the Emperor to make sacrifices and pray for a good harvest. It’s a truly beautiful venue, even with the lights and staging being set up for the Beijing Film Festival which is just getting underway.
A few of us visited a nearby Tea Shop for a lively, rapid-fire presentation and tasting about different teas and their health benefits. The young lady who did the talking must’ve had to really practice to get it all in this fast – she was cute and funny and we felt like we were in a Saturday Night Live skit. It was effective, however, I think we all bought tea.
We took advantage of the lighter Sunday traffic to see the impressive new skyline of the business district, and then made our way to the area of town where most of the foreign embassies are located. It was a pretty area and reminded me of fraternity row. The buildings all looked pretty similar, and had Chinese guards, since the local government doesn’t allow any other country’s military to be visible. It was in this leafy neighborhood we had a light and delicious lunch at a spot called Panino Teca. You can guess from the name it was Italian and featured really good sandwiches (I had toasted prosciutto) and yummy desserts and gelato.
The afternoon was dedicated to some more exploration of the hutongs. We returned to the area we had previously visited near the northern lakes and took another trishaw ride. BTW, a trishaw is a hybrid rickshaw-bicycle. This time, we took a different route, and rode along the other side of the lake and through the hutong’s narrow streets. Ultimately, we ended up at the typical siheyuan home of a local artist who we were able to visit. The couple was probably in their mid-60s, and through a translator we were able to have a lively and candid discussion about their lives and how they live. Nothing was off limits, and it was very interesting. The wife was a retired factory worker, and the husband an artist with his own gallery. They were successful enough to have traveled to the U.S., and he had been all over China. Yet they share a bathroom with two other families now housed in their courtyard home, and live in conditions markedly different than their counterparts in the U.S. It was a highlight to have the privilege to meet them, and also to speak with our guide on a more in-depth level.
The trishaws navigated us out of the hutong and back to our bus for the trip back to the Regent.
Tomorrow we head to Xi’an, and there has been a lot of (apparently unnecessary) concern about the published weight restrictions on the Chinese airlines. Thanks to our Tauck guide Annie for today’s tip.
Tip of the day, “Don’t worry about the weight of your baggage-just worry about your weight.”
Intricate art and gorgeous colors in the Forbidden City.
Starfish are just one of the delicacies at the Wangfujing Night Market.
Today was a study in contrasts. To list just a few:
- Ancient history at the Forbidden City vs. a visit to the contemporary 2008 Olympic site;
- Massive crowds of people pressing into sites intended for peace and serenity;
- Tasty meals vs. a market featuring scorpions, snakes and worms; and
- Cool blue skies vs. a haze of pollution.
We started it all under the watchful gaze of Chairman Mao at the infamous Tiananmen Square (Tian’an Men). The Square was more modern than I expected and surrounded with large, impressive buildings. Two huge electronic video screens were playing in the middle of the Square, and the guards kept watch over the nation’s flag. No one seems to mind having their picture taken these days, including the military. The crowds were tremendous, apparently due to the fact Mao’s body was on view today. He has not been on display much recently due to some “facility” repairs. That, combined with the nice weather, made for lots of togetherness with what we estimated to be several hundred thousand comrades over the course of the three hours we were in the area.
BTW, the streets are very clean here; there is very little graffiti, no sirens and in spite of the crowds and crazy traffic you do have a sense of order.
From Tiananmen, we walked through the underground tunnel that took us across the street to the Forbidden City, or as it is known here, the Palace Museum. It is impossible to imagine how large it is but when you understand there are almost 10,000 rooms, and during the Ming dynasty 100,000 eunuchs lived here to serve the Emperor’s family and concubines (24 Emperors over the 500 year period). Completed in 1420, the complex is constantly undergoing necessary restoration, and you can see scaffolding and work-in-progress throughout. We traveled through several courtyards, including those that were used for soldiers, to reach the Halls of Middle Harmony and Supreme Harmony; the Palaces of Heavenly Purity and Earthly Tranquility and finally, the Imperial Gardens. We did not see all 9,900+ rooms. We did visit the Palace of Eternal Spring in the Western section, where the imperial concubines lived. The décor here is original, and yet to be restored, but is beautifully elegant. There are so many halls, gates and palaces, it is actually quite confusing. But we got the gist – it’s big, imposing and built to demand reverence.
I wasn’t too concerned about which part I was in, since every part had such beautiful features, such as carvings, trompe-l’oeil paintings, glazed relief art, intricate tiles, dragons, and various roof guardians. It would have been heavenly if I could have banished the throngs and been able to take photos without someone walking in front of the camera every half second. I could spend much more time wandering around just enjoying the wonderful workmanship.
During our time at the Palace, the haze moved in, masking some of the Garden’s color and beauty. Although the Gardens were pretty, they seemed cramped by comparison to the interior and were so crowded it was impossible to experience them as intended.
During lunch the winds kicked up, and our blue sky returned in time for our afternoon visit to the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics. We went inside the iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium and saw the swimming Cube, torch and other facilities used for the games. The expansive plaza outside the stadium was busy with other visitors, families and vendors. It was a lively, festive setting.
Tonight we visited the downtown Wangfujing Night Market, open from 5-9:30 pm daily, with a long block of various food vendors hawking their products. Crowds of locals were partaking. We spent enough time there looking at each booth to effectively minimize any appetite for dinner we might have had. I actually think the smells were really much worse than the sights – I shouldn’t have lingered quite so long or gotten so close taking pictures. In addition to the normal items such as squid, prawns, crab, dumplings of all sorts, fruit, fish, and noodles, there were the less appetizing snakes (skin on or off), worms, various organs, what I think were pigeons, sea serpents, beetles, large or small scorpions, starfish, sea urchins, and baby sharks, and last but not least, the items we couldn’t figure out. I always thought those pictures on the internet were made up or a joke, and when I did hear about this market I thought it might be for tourists, but it’s for real; it was 99% a local crowd and very loud and lively. Add it to your to do list for any first time visit to Beijing.
We ended up leaving the restaurant for which we had a reservation when told it was only a pre-fix tasting menu (with not one appealing item), and instead, enjoyed a light dinner of fried rice with a spicy broth and dumplings in the Wangfujing Dajie area. There are scads of restaurants in the same (6-story) building as the large Apple computer store. Our return to the local Haagen Dazs ended up costing more than our dinner.
Tip for the day: don’t look at raw snakes, worms and scorpions before dinner (maybe not after either).
