西安: Part 3 (Terracotta Army!)

Like most other tourists who come to Xi'an, I primarily came to see the Terracotta Army.

7/16/11, Saturday:
So our friend who was able to hook us up with free lodging also got all of us a pretty decent deal on a tour package of sites around Xi'an. Although we were a bit restricted on the tour, it definitely gave some insight into Chinese tourism. I figured Asian tour groups in the States (e.g. at Yale) would make some sense, but I didn't realize that even within China, tour groups are really popular.

[Asian tour group! (on the bus that morning)]

Around 8 am, we headed out on our tour. Adhering to PiB's language pledge, we chose a tour completely conducted in Mandarin. Although at each stop we tended not to stay with the tour group, on the bus, the tour guide (导游,dǎoyóu) certainly had some interesting things to say. For the most part, I was able to get the general gist of what the tour guide was saying, but there were instances when I had no clue. One example in particular was when the tour guide kept saying "wenzi." Now, when pronounced "wénzi," this actually means mosquito (蚊子). I'm actually still unsure of what the tour guide was saying at that time, but I'm fairly sure she wasn't talking about nasty blood-sucking insects which happen to coexist with us in Xinsong Gongyu.

Before we actually made it to the Terracotta Army, there were a few stops on the way, a sort of tour group pre-game if you will. We first stopped by the 6,000 year old Banpo Village Ruins (半坡遗址博物馆). It's interesting to note that both at Banpo and the Terracotta Army, infrastructure was built over these excavation sites. Because Banpo is so old, not very much remains; having a good imagination seems to be key while visiting the ruins.

[part of the Banpo Village Ruins]

We then dropped by the Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Museum (秦始皇陵的缩影), which had a miniature replica of the mausoleum . I'm not sure if it was the lighting, the fact that everything was miniature, or both, but the display was slightly reminiscent of Disney's "It's a small world."

[replica of Qinshihuang's Mausoleum]

The next part of the tour was probably one of the most characteristic of Asian tour groups. On the bus, the tour guide first gave us some tips on bargaining in shopping in Beijing, and she also talked about the history surrounding jade. The bus then proceeded to take us to a store that sold jewelry and art pieces made with authentic jade.

[one year's worth of Yale tuition (actual price unknown)]

After the stop at the store, we were then also taken to a relatively expensive restaurant to try Xi'an specialties (being the frugal college students we are, we decided to bring lunch and eat outside). Having the authentic Asian tour group experience aside, I wouldn't have minded not having the built-in tourist traps. I was a bit surprised that our fellow Chinese tourists didn't seem to mind these extra stops too much. Admittedly I've also been under the impression that the Chinese are always pretty thrifty, but going on this tour was certainly a reminder that China's economic boom still has to rely on massive consumption.

After lunch, we took a cable car up Mount Li (骊山); besides the mountain itself, the view was pretty amazing.

[view from Mount Li]

At the foot of the mountain, we walked over to Huaqing Palace (华清池), which was also very pleasant.

[sign on the way to the palace]

[at Huaqing Palace]

And FINALLY, just when I thought we actual might not make it, we arrived at Army of Terracotta Warriors and Horses (兵马俑).

Admittedly, at first I was slightly concerned. (The site has several pits, and Pits 2 and 3 was the first ones we entered.) The pits were relatively bare, and many of the soldiers had already broken into pieces.

   
[left: Pit 2; right: Pit 3]

But then we entered Pit 1. And it was amazing, just like how you would expect the Terracotta Army to look like from all those travel guide pictures.

[Terracotta Army, Pit 1]

Quite honestly, I'm not sure what I expected to see. On the surface, just the sheer size of the Terracotta Army was overwhelming. If I had only gone into to see Pit 1, I think I would have been pretty satisfied. But seeing Pits 2 and 3 made me realize that the Pit 1 in its current condition probably required a lot of manpower, and there's still so much within Pit 1 that remains to be excavated. Moreover, it's so crazy that an emperor would be crazy enough to construct something of this size more than 2,000 years ago.

[soldiers in Pit 1, still in the process of being repaired]

Seeing the Terracotta Army was definitely one of the highlights of trip, so much that I'd say seeing the real thing in person was worth 26-hour round-trip train ride.