Terracotta Warriors

Xian is the capital of Shanxi province, also known as the heart of china. It was the cultural and political center of china from about 1000 BCE-100CE. The first unified empire, the Qin dynasty, was localed here. In Xian, the must see sight is the famed Army of Terracotta Warriors. Naively, we expected, that paying for an english guide, 310 RMB per person, would get us an english guide. As it turned out, a woman who only spoke Chinese said the english guide wasn't there and that she would be our guide.

After much haggling, we managed to switch buses at the first museum to a guide who spoke some english. We were adopted by the other chinese people on our tour and it actually worked out better than if we had taken an all foreigner (waiguoren) tour. The Chinese like to stop at lots of little trinket places and small museums, most of which were unimpressive. They like dioramas and reconstructions, sort of like american funhouses. One of the better sites was a mountain behind which Chang Kai Shek was captured during the Xian incident. You can also have a picture with a Chang look alike for only 10 yuan.

The first emporer, Chin, a crazed paranoid megalomaniac originally wanted to bury live soldiers to protect his tomb- the pottery garrison was a compromise. Despite his wrathfulness, the empire progressed amazingly during his reign--due to standardization of weights and measures, the Chinese alphabet, money, as well as the size of the chariots on the road. The terracotta warriors are truly a sight to behold. The soldiers are aligned in rows with channels of dirt separating the different groups. They were standing in actual military formation with generals, infanty, etc. in their respective places. They are life-size and individualized. It's hard to believe that they were crafted in the second century B.C.E. The Qin Empire also mastered metalworks and there are two beautiful copper chariots that are well preserved. One of the highlights of our trip was getting the signature of the old farmer who found the warriors back in the 1970s. He's become a self-stylized icon.