An Army trapped in time - Xi’an, China

We were picked up from the train station a little groggy from and overnight journey. We made it back to our hostel about an hour later to discover that all the lights were out. Not just in the hostel but in the entire section of the city near our hostel. Great. Luckily, it was a planned outage for works so we dropped off our bags and went searching for food. Our hostel was located on a narrow street that was lined with houses and small restaurants. The restaurants were essentially outside grills with kiddie tables and chairs lining the pavement for people to eat. There was no inside eating area or sanitary food preparation and most of the leftovers and trash from the diners was thrown into the street afterwards. Regardless, these ‘restaurants’ were packed every single day.

I would never describe myself as a picky eater but nobody could accuse me of being adventurous when it comes to my culinary choices. We realized after being in Beijing that China was going to be a bit of a challenge for me in the food department (I like to know what kind of meat I’m eating, I’m funny that way) and Xi’an was no different. We ended up at our safe spot- Mcdonalds- gross I know but desperate times..

Back at the hostel the lights had come back on and we got a chance to see how nice it was. Tons of stuff to do, lots of people hanging out to meet and best of all really cheep beer. We hung out there most of the day playing pool and ping pong, playing with the resident cats and sharing stories with fellow backpackers. We actually met a guy who is from the small town outside of London that we used to live in -small world. After more beers than I can count and some time later we headed to the Muslim Quarter to eat dinner. The Muslim Quarter is essentially a very long road that has been pedestrianized and is full of market stalls selling food and souvenirs. There’s hundreds of restaurants and even more people. It’s loud and chaotic and with every step a new smell hits you. As you walk by the vendors you can pick up kebabs freshly grilled in front of you, wraps (not the healthy kind), caramelized fruit and some local sweets that I never could identify. We settled on a restaurant that seemed pretty full of locals (always a good sign). There were about 6 of us so in true Chinese fashion we all ordered multiple dishes and everyone shared. The food was good and easily identifiable and we all had a really good time.

New friends in a game of pool

The next day Mark was feeling a little icky (surely nothing to do with the cheap beer) so we decided to venture into the city. We went searching for the bird market. What is a bird market,do you ask? Well, we can only speculate along with you because we never found it. Maps that the Chinese hand out to tourists are notoriously bad so after coming to multiple dead ends we headed instead to the Muslim Quarter to check it out in the daytime. We had missed a large covered market the previous night so we walked for what seemed like hours fighting off aggressive saleswoman (‘ooh handsome man buy this Louise Vuitton wallet for the pretty lady, I give you very good price) we wound our way through the endless supply of knock off designer gear, chopsticks and t-shirts  and finally made our way home. The rest of the day was spent in fierce competition at the ping pong table. (I won, naturally)

The never ending market

 

The “Obamao” t-shirts were everywhere

FINALLY, the Terra Cotta Army. This was the entire reason I wanted to come to China. I have wanted to see this exhibit since I read about it years ago. We booked a guided tour through our hostel and headed out bright and early with a bus full of westerners led by Ja Ja. A little Chinese ball of energy that shamelessly flirted with Mark and the other really tall white guy (who was also married), mentioning more than once that she was still single and waiting for a Western man to marry her…Luckily, she was far too adorable to get mad at so we listened to her chat about her life and even let her con us into participating in the dreaded ice breakers on the hour long journey to the excavation site.

Once we arrived we started in Pit 2 of 3. This pit is still in the process of being excavated so tons of half buried statues lay everywhere. We stood looking into the dark pits and its impossible not to be amazed already by the size and number of the broken pieces in various stages of excavation. This pit also contains the fully restored statues.

Soldiers in various stages of excavation

The first was the statue of the kneeling archer, the very first soldier to be found. Ja Ja told us that the Chinese believe this is a magic statue for  a few reasons. It was the reason the entire army was found when the local farmer came across its head while digging a well, it was one of the few that was fully intact and it was the only statue that still has some of the original paint on it.

There was also examples of the other types of soldiers, the cavalry men, the standing archer and the officers. Also included are some of the horses that were originally attached to wooden carts.

The ‘magic’ kneeling archer

You can see the original red paint on his lower back

 

Next was Pit 1, this was a relatively small pit but it is believed to be where the officers were held. You can also see the horses and the outlines in the ground from where the chariots once stood.

Some of the high ranking officials and their horses

Ja Ja saved the best for last with Pit 1. Located in an airplane hanger are more than six thousand soldiers lined in rows. You can get close enough here to really recognize that each and every face is different. Their uniforms have creases in different places, their hairstyles are not the same, some wear hats to signify their rank. Some are fat, meaning they were higher ranking officials and you can see the youth in the faces of the lower ranking soldiers.

The largest of the pits with over 6,000 soldiers

On going excavations

Next we watched a film that was completely in Mandarin so we made up what we think it was talking about and then were ushered to the Emperors Tomb. Only recently opened to the public is the tomb of the emperor that ordered the infamous army to be constructed. Unfortunately, the tomb is only a hill that can be seen in the distance so there’s not much to be seen but Ja Ja explained the reasons the public can not go close to it yet. After some preliminary research on the tomb, scientists have discovered various booby traps the emperor placed so as not to be disturbed, one of which is a mercury moat around his grave. We snapped a picture of the hill and carried on to the obligatory gift shop at the end of the tour. Once inside Ja Ja introduced us to a local celebrity, the farmer who found the first soldier while digging a well. This man has been paid very well by the Chinese government but instead of lounging on a beach somewhere he hangs out in the gift shop, signing autographs and smoking cigarettes, to each their own I guess.

The Emperors Tomb

The farmer who discovered the army

Our crazy tour guide Ja Ja doing the obligatory Asian photo pose

Xi’an as a whole is very similar to many other big Chinese cities. It’s crowded and full of pollution  but if you sneak into some of the side streets you can see more than just the ever growing capitalism and Westernization. Senior citizens sit outside their houses and shops with their traditional communist regime outfits, groups of men playing Majong or intense games of cards, families gathered at restaurants enjoying the massive amounts of food that they order.  The biggest draw for us for Xi’an was the Terra Cotta Army and we we definitely did not leave disappointed.

-H

For more pictures of Xi’an go here.