Got the bus from outside Xi'an train station today. First we went to Hua Qing Springs or something like that - Hot springs that the old Chinese Emperors used to bathe in. There were lots of relics and that sort of thing and we had a poke about some of the old buildings.
Then in the afternoon, we went on to the Terracotta Warriors. Billed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and they definitely didn't disappoint! I couldn't believe I was actually there.
So far, since their initial discovery in March 1974 they have excavated about 1,000 warriors, but they think there are about 6,000 in total, so there's a long way to go yet. One interesting thing we learnt is that they were colourful when they were first dug out, but the air quickly dulled them into their uniform terracotta colour.
It's difficult to describe the scale, the biggest pit is enormous and the warriors are arranged in rows. They all seem to have a different face. It's hard to imagine the man power it must have taken to make them all.
No comments:
Post a Comment