day NINE

Once arriving in Xi'an in the morning we headed to our beautiful hostel. It was the nicest one we have been to yet, it was a pity we only stayed there for one night. It reminded us all of a hotel and it was the first one we have stayed in that had wallpaper or painted walls.


In the hostel- they want to be Terra Cotta Warriors too!!

After taking a morning nap we headed out at about noon to the Terra Cotta Warriors, or the TCW's. They are pretty far out in the countryside, away from the city, considering they are a recent find.


The surrounding countryside at the Terra Cotta Warriors

Side note on the history: The TCW were found in the 70's by a farmer building a well.


The white sign is where the well was being dug.

They were build over 2,000 years ago by the emperor either to protect him in the afterlife, or it was said he would rule in the afterlife like he did here. This all makes sense since Xi'an used to be the capital of China.
Once we got to the TCW we went backwards like they suggest through the three different sites. Site number three has the generals and the high officials. This is the smallest site, and they suggest saving the biggest for last.


Part of the pit with some remains of warriors. The walls are original too- built to last.

Site number two is still under construction and has the chariots and the excavated warriors that you can see up close and personal.


This is my bragging picture- my great wall tee shirt while standing by a terra cotta warrior, yep I'm that cool!


This is the general- I liked him best and bought a little replica of him to take home.


In the pit, the wood from the original chariot has long since disintegrated.


This is a horse, up close and personal.


Pit number two is still being uncovered, so this is mostly what we saw.


Pieces and parts

The last site, number one, is the largest with the room being about the size of an airplane hangar. This is the first site found and has about 6000- 8000 warriors.


Pit number one- view front to back


The view from side to side


Some of them are missing heads, but they are lined up so nicely.

This was one of my absolute favorite parts of China! I had always been interested in the TCW and this didn't disappoint. Each and every warrior is different- even the tread on their shoes is unique. Can you even imagine the effort and time it took to make something this amazing?


Notice how each of them are different, we love their hair!

It is also so cool to think about the men these were modeled after. How amazing would it be to have a exact replica of yourself made and preserved for 2,000 years? I bet they never imagined people from all over the world coming to see these.


This is a picture that they have there of the warriors. If you look closely you can see that they have paint on them. They originally had been painted, though the paint is now mostly gone.


Look at his hand, they originally painted it blue. I can't imagine what they would all have looked like all different colors.
Can you tell I loved it?
That night we spent our time just hanging out at the hostel. They have on Saturday nights open mic night.


Andrea went up and sang Stand by Me

We had a great time singing along, and enjoying others musical talents. It was really fun and a great day.


Terra Cotta Love!