Beautiful Xian – Incredible Terracotta Warriors

We went to Yuanjia village to experience local customs, culture and taste local food on the second day in Xian. We happily roamed around the place witnessing the local ladies cooking the food fresh from scratch.

Arpan got his vegetarian dumpling made while we waited. We satisfied our stomach tasting different types of home cooked food soaking into this unique place experiencing local food culture. Come with an empty stomach as there are many things you wish to savour in this laid-back village. Andy recommended us to take local Chinese head and back massage. In exchange for only a few bucks, we obliged ourselves.

The Qianling Mausoleum was well-known for its carved stone statues with distinctive Tang Dynasty features and the fresco-adorned passage wall leading to the underground tomb.  We headed to the magnificent Qianling Mausoleum, where two emperors buried; Emperor Li Zhi of the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) and his wife, China’s first and only Empress Wu Zetian.

Carefully designed, the Mausoleum majestically sat on the limestone Mount Liang, 85 km northwest of Xian City. It was a long beautiful walk to the top. Having escaped from pillage and destroy for more than 1300 years, Qianling Mausoleum became one of the few intact Chinese Royal Mausoleums. The design was so secret that no one could found its entrances until at the end of the 1950s.  Several local farmers discovered this place unexpectedly when they exploded a corner of Mount Liang for stones to build the road.

Wu Zetian reigned the country as the only Empress, the mausoleum of her husband and her are still considered to be one of Emperor and his Queen according to tradition.

Our day 3 in Xian, started with an excursion to the Tang Bo Art Museum. Here we witnessed the brief history and examples of Chinese art.  They taught us how to write a couple of Chinese characters along with a short session of the calligraphy lesson.

One of my purposes for visiting China was to visit Terracotta Warrior – a collection of buried terracotta sculptures showcasing the armies accompanying Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China to his eternal rest. The Qin Tomb Terracotta Warriors and Horses was one of the most significant sites in China.

We avoided the rush hour by choosing to visit the Terracotta Warrior after lunch. If the number of visitors was an indication, visiting this place is as important as attending the Great Wall of China.

This museum was the highlight of my trip to China. The sheer achievement of building these full-scale models with so much detail and lifelike appearance was overwhelming. It was incredible to understand the story of the Terracotta army and its significance which had been standing there buried for thousands of years. 500 archaeologists are working to rebuild the shattered remains of the warriors back to original, doing an excellent job. Andy pointed to a few terracotta coloured warriors retained the original colour.