Xi'an is where China began. It is an ancient city, with huge city walls, numerous tombs and atmospheric streets. Sitting at the end of the Silk road and in the centre of modern China, it is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the country, typified by the wonderful sights and smells of the muslim quarter.
Even though this was Chris' third visit, it was probably, outside of Beijing, our favourite city in China, and should be on everyone's agenda... if only to see its most famous sight - the Terrcotta Warriors... but more on that later.
 |
| Getting up close and personal with a warrior |
As we raced through the Chinese countryside, we saw a mixture of large towns, power stations and rice terraces - quite a mix of old, new and tradition. It probably sums up rural modern China. The train was very comfortable and a nice smooth ride.
 |
| A rather fast train! |
The Chinese are a little over the top with safety - even more so than the UK, especially with trains. Maybe its because they can't trust their people to have common sense, or do not trust them to know what to do. In any case and for whatever reason, Chris found this out for himself...
They make you stand behind a line about 5m away from the platform edge, which to us seemed a bit excessive. As Chris was trying to take pictures and film the train come in, he wanted to get closer to the platform edge. As he stepped over the threshold, a loud fast Chinese lady was barking over the tannoy, with what we could only assume was "get back"! It made for much hilarity as he learnt (after edging over the line a few times) that this was clearly not the done thing. Even when another guard had given him permission to step over the line she barked an order - getting a good chuckle from the Chinese waiting on the platform (...all behind the line of course!)
 |
| Don't step over the line! |
We arrived into Xi'an right on time and proceeded through the huge train station (34 platforms and the largest station in north China) to the metro/subway (there were signs for each but it seemed to be the same thing). We think they are building for expansion, as only a few platforms were actually in use.
As per usual, when travelling on the metro in China we proceeded though the security checks (which were a little pointless) and wait for a ticket from the machines. This took a bit of time, but we were soon on our way and headed into the city to our rather posh hostel - Han Tang House.
The rooms at Han Tang House are more like a hotel with a very comfy bed and excellent shower - even if the beer and food in the bar was rather expensive. We picked up one of their excellent maps that shows useful bus routes (603 to station and 601 to the fountains) and information, including free coffee from various outlets around the city (note the one by the fountains has closed down).
 |
| Writing in the hostel |
They also have two other sister hostels, one of which is just down the road and serves cheaper beer and food (but randomly the toast is more expensive...?!?!). There is a good supermarket right across the road which sells snacks, breakfast snacks and hot dogs, which we found useful for lunches and quick, cheap breakfasts.
On our first night, as we were figuring out what to do, we got chatting to some nice Brazilian guys and a couple from the UK and went for hot pot dinner (there is also a very cheap one next door to the hostel). It was very reasonable and scrummy (beer only 6 CNY!). You selected your sticks of food - meat, seafood, vegetables etc - put them in either the hot or not so hot broths and tuck in! It was very nice and a great thing to do with a group of friends, as you are charged by the number of sticks you have. All the sticks are the same price, so all you do at the end is split the cost of the broth and pay for your beer and the number of sticks you had!
 |
| Hot pot! |
We came to Xi'an to see ancient China, as it is here where it really all began - the Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shi Huang - the first Qin emperor, the tomb of Emperor Jingdi (also known as Han Jing Mausoleum/Liu Qi Mausoleum or even the Yangling Mausoleum) from the Han dynasty, the Muslim quarter which sprung up due to the Silk Road, the rather large Ming City Wall and the world's largest free public fountain display (circa 2003). This was the third time Chis had been here, but he was just as excited to see everything again.
We ended up rather liking Xi'an as a city, even if there are nearly 9 million people living there - as Julia put it - larger than London, but only 2 subway lines... what are they thinking (they are building 4 more!!!).
The Terracotta Warriors
Up there with the Great Wall and Forbidden City as must see sites in China, the Terracotta Warriors are known to the Chinese as the eighth wonder of the world.
The warriors were found as recently as 1977 by farmers digging a well so they are a comparatively recent archeological find. That day changed the face of tourism in Xi'an and the surrounding area forever and now more than 1 million tourists visit every year.
 |
| The army |
The warriors were part of Qin Shi Huang emperor's mausoleum complex, so heaven knows what else is out there. It must have been one of the most spectacular mausoleums in the world!
The tomb reportedly took 38 years to build and involved 700,000 people, all of which were said to have been burnt alive inside to keep the Mausoleum's secrets.
 |
| Line up |
It is rumoured that there are priceless jewels and an underground map made with rivers of mercury under the tomb mound itself. The Chinese have not excavated the burial mound itself to find out, but they have sent down probes which indicate a 100x level of mercury than what would be expected. Only time will tell if the Chinese do excavate, but since Chris' first trip some 10 years ago nothing has happened to date.
We travelled to the warriors by public bus with a nice Chinese chap called Kai Liu, who was also staying at our hostel. With three of us and a native Chinese speaker, the public bus was a no brainer. And in any case, tours are expensive and in our opinion, unnecessary. The buses were all lined up by the station ready to go. Either the 306 (7 CNY) or the 916 (10 CNY) take you there in about an hour (facing the railway station head right - you can't miss them, or the ticket agents shouting - get a ticket on the bus (cash only).
 |
| The bus station near the train station - very well signposted |
The journey was fairly uneventful, but we got chatting with our new found friend Kai Liu who and it feels like you don't leave the city as it is built up along the entire route - Xi'an is a big place!
Arriving at the warriors, you have to walk a little way to the ticket booth - just follow the locals through the car park. Once at the ticket booth there is a line for discount tickets (65 CNY) and normal tickets (130 CNY). The discount student ticket only works for Chinese students. Luckily my Chinese student ID worked, but Julia was turned away. Kai then came up with a great idea, as he had a proper student ID! He got his ticket first and then lined up again at a different counter to get one for Julia!
 |
| Kai Liu, Julia and Chris |
Pit 3 the smallest pit out of the three and was for high ranking officers. There was about 72 warriors and horses in the pit - many in pieces - but still rather impressive. It gives you a taster of what is to come.
 |
| Pit 3 |
There were less warriors to visibly see in pit 2, as it is fairly un-excavated. But we got a good view of the roof trusses and to get a greater understanding of the shear scale, which has an estimated 1,300 warriors - mainly horses, infantry and archers hidden from view.
To the side there are several warriors in glass cabinets, which gave us the opportunity to get a close up view. It really allowed us to see the amazing detail and thought that had been given to each and every warrior, even down to the grooves in their shoes. Originally they would have been painted, and some paint is still visible on the archer. There were also some of the estimated 40,000 metal weapons on show - this was a real sized army in more ways than one.
 |
| Pit 2 |
 |
| Detail on the foot and colour on the tunic |
 |
| A warrior |
 |
| Some of the weapons found |
As we reached the final pit or pit number 1, we really hit that "wow" moment. After discovering just how intricately each warrior had been designed, to then go in the largest and most excavated of the pits was phenomenal. Mind-boggling in fact!
Pit 1 holds an estimated 6,000 warriors (2,000 of which are on display) all lined up in rows ready for battle. You cannot see all of them as even still much is unexcavated, or in bits, but the scale is immense. Quite understandably this was the most popular pit, so we sharpened our elbows ready to fight for a space at the front for the views and photos (no fancy photos here).
 |
| Just in case you missed the view... here is another photo |
 |
| All unique soldiers |
 |
| Horses and more soldiers |
Archers are followed by the main army, all of which were originally painted and held weapons... real weapons. The infantry were accompanied by 35 chariots, but these can no longer be seen as they were made of wood - but we did manage to sometimes spot an imprint on the ground.
Towards the back and sides, you get an insight into the excavations and the painstaking work of putting the statues back together, as they were destroyed in a peasant uprising just after the tomb was finished (many of whom probably helped build it!). Again we were able to get close to a number of warriors, see their faces and see just how unique they each are.
 |
| Putting the the soldiers back together piece by piece |
In all the photo-snapping chaos, the one thing we took away from this was to make sure we took our time to spend a moment looking and taking it all in. Our eyes were in awe of the detail which you just can't take in though the lens, and in any case, this was a memory we wanted to take home with us, not through a viewfinder.
 |
| A handful of warriors... with one missing his head |
There were other things to see on the site. Outside near the entrance there is an exhibition hall containing some fascinating bronze chariots which were worth a look. There is also an exhibit about a water town and the exhibition site itself, but we skimmed through these.
 |
| The bronze chariot |
We finally at the end of our visit made it to the cinema (on the opposite side, to the left of the main pit if you are facing it). It was rather dated and definitely needed a revamp. However, the movie gave us a good interpretation of the events leading up to the construction of the mausoleum and the terracotta warriors. We hope they invest more in this as there is so much potential to really demonstrate the history and how/why they were made. There is also more information about the Qin dynasty in the Shannxi History Museum in the centre of Xi'an.
The exit from the terracotta warrior site, we found all a bit over the top, with 100s of shops and craft stalls - not just the little gift shop you get in the UK! We have noticed that at many sites in China, they have built huge shopping complexes on the exit, but most of the time the majority of the shops are actually temporary stalls, and the purpose built shops are abandoned. This makes for a rather strange exit. In any case, it took us about 10-15 minutes to walk back to the entrance gate, via the car park, where we picked up a free bus (only a few kms away) to see the mausoleum hill itself.
 |
| The full mausoleum complex (the terracotta warriors are the buildings on the left) |
 |
| Chris and Kai Liu in front of the burial mound |
There isn't much there, and it wasn't possible to climb the burial mound (Chris had climbed it previously) so we concluded it probably wasn't worth the stop. We also had a little trouble convincing the ticket guy that Julia was a Chinese student (I wonder why), as she had a student ticket from the terracotta warriors, but we managed it in the end... or he just gave up, knowing there wasn't much to see.
After a long day on our feet, battling the crowds, we headed back to Xi'an from the mausoleum hill on one of the blue 915 buses, which run regularly waiting by the entrance (10 CNY) - it was good to sit down!
 |
| Resting our weary feet |
Overall the terracotta warriors are an amazing site, and a must see in China, if not the world. Some are disappointed that many warriors are covered up, it isn't as large as they are lead to believe or that the entire site has not been excavated. But if you focus on the concept and the mastery of the work and time spent creating this mysterious site, you can't help but be blown away.
Tomb of Emperor Jingdi, Shannxi History Museum, Big Goose Pagoda and fountains.
We woke early, and with our new found friend and Chinese interpreter Kai Liu set off having grabbed some food from the local supermarket to Jindi's tomb which is known to have some quite excellent excavations of small figures.
Tomb of Emperor Jingdi
It was relatively easy to reach the tomb, heading up metro line 2 (the red one) to City Library Station, otherwise known as Shitushuhuan and take exit D. From there we had read about catching the number 4 bus to the mausoleum which takes about 30-45 minutes. Though the times we found to be a little different from what we read. As of April 2016 the bus times are: 8:30, 10:20, 12:00, 13:40, 15:20 and 17:00. Alternatively, there are tours, but it is easy to go by public transport - and much much cheaper.
The bus drove up a long driveway and dropped us right outside the entrance. The entrance itself was a little underwhelming compared to other sites, but there were hardly any people (Chinese tourists!) - which was great. After getting our tickets (both student and YHA worked for the discount 40 CNY down from the full price of 80 CNY), we headed to the underground museum.
 |
| You lookin at me? |
There were two main museums at the mausoleum to explore - the underground museum, where we were able to walk over the pits, and the exhibition - which allowed us to get up closer. Both were well worth it, just make sure you remember the exhibition museum, as we nearly forgot about it as it is a short 10 minute walk away from the underground museum!
 |
| Our fetching blue show covers |
The underground museum was very good indeed. We put on our extremely fetching plastic shoe covers (with flip-flops) before entering the low lit room. We walked over the pits on a glass floor about 5-10ft, and got great views down into the pits to see the smaller yet still fascinating sculpted characters and animals found. For ones there was good English explanations throughout, which helped make it even more enjoyable for us!
 |
| The glass walkways in the museum |
We walked past a nice model of the mausoleum site before entering the actual display museum, which shows the layout of the pits, and where the museum is.
 |
| A plan of the mausoleum with the pits |
The first glass covered area gives you a good understanding of what they've uncovered, and it is quite amazing. Over 50,000 figures were found here, all about 30cm in height. There were also many animals - chickens, pigs, horses, dogs etc. as well as figures from every day life back in the Han dynasty - fascinating.
 |
| Lots of little soldiers |
We thought it was great to be able to walk over the pits, getting really close to the figures and seeing how they were found. In fact much better than the Terracotta Warriors!
 |
| Originally the soldiers were lined up in rows |
We spent quite some time looking around this area as it was totally fascinating.
After the glass walkway you get to walk down and right next to one of the pits, giving you an excellent and detailed view of how they lay in the pit - we were impressed.
All the figures were originally clothed and had movable wooden arms - something the terracotta warriors didn't - there is a small exhibition showing the type of dress they would have worn.
 |
| The figures even wore clothes |
Overall the underground museum was fantastic, and one of the best, if not the best museum we have been to in China.
After wandering around the grounds, burial mound and over to the gate, we headed back to the bus. We realised just in time however we had forgotten the other museum, so we walked down the road, taking the first right, under the main road and to the exhibition museum.
The contents of this museum was again fantastic. You could get up really close to many of the figurines and relics found in the tombs (behind glass) and also understand more about the site and dynasty and the people.
 |
| Nice tash |
 |
| Look... no arms! |
 |
| Animal figures were also buried |
 |
| Mini arrow heads |
The detail on their faces was incredible. For the human figures there were warriors, cavalry, maids, dancers and archers. Their expressions were all different and you could still see some colour on their clothing - quite amazing.
 |
| Big cheeks |
We loved the animals - goats, dogs, oxen, sheep, pigs, chickens and even camels - wow!
Finally we went into a small room, which had ceramic figures from a nearby tomb of a nobleman associated with the emperor - these were incredibly detailed!
 |
| Ceramic figure |
We walked the 10 minute or so back to the bus stop, bumping into a family we had met on the Great Wall a week before - very random. Note that that bus returns at random times, but the times are well printed and it took about 45 minutes to get back.
Shaanxi History Museum museum
We had some time to kill before we saw the fountains down at the Big Goose Pagoda, so headed to the Shaanxi History Museum museum. Even though it is said numbers are limited, we had no problem getting in at 15:00 - just show your passport.
The museum was surprisingly well put together, with nice well laid out exhibitions with English captions. The museum went through the different dynasties in the Xi'an area. The highlight, and a top tip actually, is to go there to see the terracotta worriers close up NOT behind glass. This allowed us to really see the detail and take some great photos.
 |
| Getting up close |
 |
| The detail is incredible |
 |
| Smile! |
 |
| Making use of our umbrella |
The top two areas were dry so we decided to take some photos in front of the pagoda, but just as we lined up, the fountains decided to spring into life and we got very wet!
The Fountains of Xi'an
The fountains in Xi'an must be one of the largest free (yes free!) public fountain shows in the world. The area is huge! The show starts at 20:30 every day and lasts for about 20 minutes. There is ample space around the area to stand, but it is probably best along the sides, as at the ends you either need to pay (at the top by the pagoda) or your view of the scale of the spectacle is blocked by other fountains.
It is truly spectacular, and a must see in Xi'an.
 |
| Just before we got wet |
 |
| You have to see it to believe it - amazing show |
After the show we headed to the bus back to the hostel. As they are building 4... yes 4 subway (or is it metro?) lines simultaneously, a lot of the roads are being dug up, so after navigating the crazy traffic and building site, we got the 601 (2 CNY) back.
The Walls and the Muslim quarter
Our final day in Xi'an was fairly relaxed. We met up with Kai Liu again and after checking out, we headed to the famous city walls. The walls are 6km long and encircle the centre of Xi'an. Originally there was a second set of walls that encircled an area seven times the size of the current area!
The walls were built during the Ming dynasty and are some of the best preserved in China. You can walk or cycle along the entire length so after paying our entrance fee (54 CNY, student discount 27 - our IDs worked), we headed up the wall to rent some bikes.
 |
| Having a great time in the sun on the wall |
There is also a show held in the south gate Thursday - Monday, which looked spectacular, but as it was out last day and a Wednesday we were unable to go (plus it cost 260 CNY pp!).
The bikes were in good enough condition, and there were helmets - not that many people were wearing them. We rented the bikes for 45 CNY for 120 minutes, plus a 200 CNY deposit per bike. There was a choice of single or tandems (tandems double the price of a single bike) but we hired single bikes for our exploration. We soon found out that you had to return the bike to where you rented it which was a slight pain, but we had 2 hours, so we had a good amount of time to circle the walls.
 |
| Ready for a ride? |
 |
| This is one big wall! |
The weather was fantastic and actually a bit hot, but it made for a fabulous day. The cycle ride was very easy and allowed to take some great photos and see the city from a different angle. We highly recommend it!
After a lovely cycle, we headed to the Muslim quarter. This is probably the best area of the city for a wander and food. The streets are packed with food vendors, shops and people. There are also some beautiful mosques to discover - go and find the smaller ones as they are free.
 |
| Buzzing Muslim quarter |
 |
| Waiting for a Chinese burger |
 |
| BBQ anyone? |
 |
| Bread as big as your face |
 |
| Now that is tasty |
It made for a fantastic end to our Xi'an adventure.
Our next stop was Chengdu, but first we had to navigate a 16 hour overnight train journey!
 |
| ...its been a busy few days |
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete