After just one day in Chengdu I decided that it was not a place that could hold my attention for the next 6 days so I took a look at the map and decided to head to Xi’an, only a 16 hour train ride or 1 hour flight away. I had hoped to take the train but Xi’an is a popular tourist destination and tickets for the night I wanted to depart were already booked so I settled for flying which surprisingly was only a little bit more expensive.
Xi’an is known for the Terracotta Warrior’s Museum.
Terracotta warrior
In 1974 farmers digging a well near Xi’an uncovered pieces of pottery. What they really uncovered was the underground terracotta army of the first Emperor of China, Emperor Quin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), which had been buried for over 2,000 years! Emperor Qin had countless numbers of warriors made to guard his tomb and protect him in the afterlife. To date over 7,000 life size soldiers, 1,000 horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed.
Bits and pieces of warriors before being reconstructed
It took over 70,000 people to create this army and what’s amazing is that each warrior is about 6-feet tall and no two have the same facial features. It is believe that the warriors were designed after actual people who were then killed since they knew the Emperor’s secret.
Warriors as they were found - guarding the Emperor's tomb
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