Island Time: Terracotta Warriors: a Wonder of the World

My New friends!

Up early again for our next adventure in the city. Today we are going to see a wonder of the world: the Terracotta Warriors.

Just like everywhere you go in China, there is an hour bus ride involved.

Entrance to the Park

So while on the bus ride, we got a little bit of background info on these warriors. They were discovered in 1974 by a farmer who was digging a well. Historians date the warriors around the 3rd century BC and were made for the first emperor of China (Qin Dynasty) as protection and someone to rule over in the afterlife. Every single warrior has a different face. At some point, the emperor had an estimated 700,000 people working on this army (Wow!).

Pit One

It was going to be hot today. Packing lots and lots of water is necessary. Faye informed us that we had to park the bus and walk about 20 minutes to get to the gate. Now, a twenty minute walk translates to about a mile with this crew. We arrived very early so that we could be the first to arrive through the gates, but our tour guide didn’t double check the gate openings and we had to walk another fifteen minutes to another gate. By the time we made it there, there was a crowd at the gate. We were able to make it though and hiked another half mile to the pits.

Now, our walk through the gardens to the pits was nice. There weren’t too many people out. But once we arrived there, the vendors came out in full force. Fans, umbrellas and your very own set of terra cotta warriors could be yours for anywhere from 4 dollars to $100 yuan. It just depends on the vendor and your bargaining skills.

We entered the first pits after a debriefing from Faye....and it was more than I ever expected. I didn’t understand at first that we were entering the actual archaelogical digging pit. And then there were hundreds of them!

You first see the ones they have already assembled and then the further back you go, you see ones they are still digging up. At the back there is a lab set up and several specimens that are tagged and being put together.

And that was just pit 1. But it was the biggest pit. There is also a theater showing a 15 minute film on the discovery of the warriors, and a gift shop where, if you are lucky, the actual farmer that discovered the warriors will sign your book for you. But no pictures please! Apparently, all the photos he has had taken since 1974 have damaged his eyes. He has had surgery since then, but still, no pictures. One of the girls in our group tried to take one of him on the sly, but her flash went off. She was not reprimmanded, but did get the stink eye from him.