Chinese Adventure! Xian -- Terra Cotta Warriors and Other Dynasties

After staying in Beijing for two and a half days, our stop of a day and a half in Xian seemed like a whirlwind. We began our only full day there with our usual breakfast buffet and a trip to the ATM; unlike in Beijing, we had to cross the street this time. Traffic in Xian was chaotic to say the least -- pedestrians rarely if ever have the right of way, so they simply cross the multi-lane streets whenever they can ease into a gap in traffic. Crossing the street during morning rush hour was like being Frogger (a reference that neither two of my three students nor my colleague knew) -- upon Arnie's advice, we stuck close to a local and darted into traffic as soon as she did. The first two lanes were rather empty when we first stepped out, but the car coming at us in the third lane only slowed down to save himself, I'm sure. We then waited for a moment in the space between the landscaping before traversing the next three lanes flowing in the opposite direction. Somehow we made it without a scratch, and without a panic attack from either me or my kids. On our way back to the hotel from the ATM, we stepped out again with our faith in the local we'd found, and this time one of my girls quickly commented that she thought a nearby bus was moving away from it's parking spot up the block. Without hesitation, I told her we were going to go ahead and run in front of the bus, since it would take a while to gain much speed and reach us, but to watch out for the motorcycles that were weaving in and out of the lanes at increasing speeds. My kids thought it was hilarious, and throughout the rest of the trip, they often reminded me of how I'd encouraged them to run into the street in front of a bus.

Farmers working

Arnie, giving more information

We then traveled out of the city, past farmland again, to the Terra Cotta Army Museum. Arnie told us more about the Emperor Qin, who was the first Emperor to unite all of China and who ordered the building of the Terra Cotta warriors and horses to protect him in the afterlife. Qin forced citizens to craft them, demanding that each one look identical to the man creating it and, therefore, be as unique as its creator. If the statue did not meet the Emperor's standards, the man was killed. If a man who worked the kilns made a mistake, he was skinned alive. Just recently, more statues in different poses, many acrobats meant to entertain the Emperor after death, were unearthed.

Click for full view of Pit 1 from the front door

Warriors still being put together

Archeologists piecing together more warriors

Archeologists working to unearth more pieces of the puzzle

Where the farmers were digging

Upon Qin's death, the tomb and all of the statues were sealed underground. Not long after Qin died, peasants lead and uprising, and, to show their feelings against Qin's way of ruling the country, they raged through the tomb, destroying the statues. The first piece of a Terra Cotta Warrior was discovered by four farmers in 1974 while attempting to dig a well. At the time, archeologists and government officials thought it was a Buddha head, and because religion was banned in the country then, the farmers were actually sentenced to several years of hard labor for publicly meddling with a religious statue. Later, archeologists began investigating further, and soon they realized they had found the tomb that they had previously only read about in ancient historical documents. Before their discovery, historians had records that described the Terra Cotta Army, Qin's methods during their creation, and the uprising that followed; they simply didn't know any of it remained. Today archeologists continue to study over 7,000 larger-than-life statues that they have uncovered in three different Pits, and they are still putting pieces of the statues together. Seeing Pit 1 -- the first and largest area filled with soldiers of all rankings as well as horses for chariots -- was unbelievable. To think that every single statue shows us the likeness of the man who created it blows my mind.  It's hard to imagine that each and every one was intricately painted, too; the paint cannot withstand the air once the statue is unearthed, so it peals off and disintegrates. In order to preserve statues that haven't been affected like this, archeologists have an expensive serum developed in Belgium that must be injected into the statues and painted onto them every two years; in further attempts to save them, the statues whose paint is being preserved this way aren't on display. Archeologists have also simply stopped digging in many places to preserve the statues that remain underground until technology is developed to maintain their colorful state. 

Click for full view of Pit 1

 After spending quite a while in Pit 1, Arnie led our group outside to tell us more about the farmers who discovered the first piece of the Warriors. He said that after the men served their time, the country really didn't think about them any more, and it was actually President Clinton who spurred renewed interest in the men. During his trip to China during his presidency, Clinton visited the Terra Cotta Warriors and asked about the farmers. Arnie said no one had an answer for him, so people started looking for them. Eventually the government located them, and they arranged for President Clinton to meet them. He asked if he could shake their hands and have their autograph; Arnie said that Clinton was surprised to find out that the farmers were illiterate and could not sign their names for him. "They" (whoever that is -- I assume government officials), Arnie said, made sure that the farmers were then taught how to read and write, and President Clinton was later the first person to have all four farmer's autographs. Arnie's telling of this story flowed right into his explanation that we were very lucky -- on that particular day, the only farmer of the four who is still living was at the museum, signing photo books about the Terra Cotta Warriors. For a small price, we could purchase the book, signed by the farmer while we stood there, and a set of post cards. I jumped at the chance to have the man's signature. We were only allowed to take pictures of him if we payed a larger fee, but we were able to watch him sign each of our books individually. Talk about a rare opportunity.

After purchasing the book, we watched a movie describing the history of the Terra Cotta Warriors, most of which Arnie had already told us. The theater was simply a large circular room with upside-down "u" shaped posts for people to lean on during the movie. It was projected all 360 degrees around, sometimes showing different images all around and sometimes showing the same images after 180 degrees.

We then moved on to see Pits 2 and 3, both much smaller and with far less excavated in order to preserve the statues there. A few statues were in display cases near Pit 2, which gave me a better understanding of how large and detailed they are. The soldier's role determined his pose, and they were all taller than many people standing around that day. When looking closely, you can see minute details on their faces, even lines in their hair.

Intricate details on the statues -- click to see more

Pieces of statues

 More pieces in Pit 3 remained in their original place, not pieced together in full statues like in Pit 1. One of my favorite pictures is of a hand that is simply lying there, apart from the rest of the statue.

A hand, as yet unattached

Flowers outside -- does anyone know what kind they are?

 That day we had lunch at a dumpling restaurant; we had a few appetizers of fried fish, rice, and noodles, and then the dumplings began to arrive. Waitresses brought out baskets designated by flavor -- pork, chicken, shrimp, mushroom, vegetable, and all types of combinations of all of them -- and each contained one for each of us at the table. Each dumpling was about the size of a flattened golf ball, if not a bit smaller; some were round, others elliptical, and still others just an amoeba-like shape. Most were cream-colored; some veggie ones were green, and the shrimp ones were pink. The waitresses just kept bringing them; we had so many I lost count of them, and despite their small size, no one left hungry. It was a wonderful meal.

Our next stop that afternoon was an art museum, and our tour guide gave us the historical background of the art we saw. 

Farmer Art

Shadow Art

I was born in the year of the Rat

Showing ancient symbols

The strokes that create current symbols

Our guide also gave us a Chinese calligraphy lesson; we learned ancient symbols as well as current ones and were then able to try writing with traditional ink and brushes. We then perused paintings for sale, made by local art students. I bought one with cranes flying across the page.

We finished the afternoon at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. It is a Buddhist temple, owned and operated by the government. Inside small rooms we saw several types of Buddha statues and places designated for prayer. Arnie told us more about Buddhism, and we witnessed people going about their daily worship as we passed through the monastery. I was able to take a few outside of the building and the surrounding garden with the monks' pet birds.

















Dinner that night was at a theater; we attended the Tang Dynasty Dinner & Show, which serves food and shows performances based on Imperial meals and entertainment during the dynasty that lasted from 618 AD to 907 AD. The menu is listed on the theater's website, linked above; my favorite course was the shrimp and glazed cashews.While we ate our five-course meal and drank our jasmine tea and rice wine, musicians played ancient Chinese instruments. After we finished our Orange Surprise (orange jello with several fruits inside), the show began. Dancers, singers, and instrumentalists performed together in at least a dozen different acts. One man played dozens of bird songs on an intricate flute. Towards the end of the show, the "Emperor and Empress" entered the room and walked down to the stage, joining the performers there and amplifying the imperial feel for the show. I was absolutely delighted when the traditional Chinese dragon dancers arrived; it was the perfect ending to a wonderful performance and a great day in Xian.

Music during dinner

The choir and orchestra

The Emperor and Empress

Chinese Adventure! From Beijing to Xian: Multiple Perspectives

On June 4, we woke early to travel to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. That was a significant day -- it was the thirteenth anniversary of protests and devastating military action that left many dead right there on the square. We were scheduled to fly to Xian later that day, so we reached Tiananmen Square early, maybe around 7:30 or 8. We saw the few remaining guard towers from the original city wall, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. As we walked toward the square, we passed Chairman Mao's mausoleum, where his preserved body lays on display for people to visit. Standing in the middle of the square, seeing memorials created to honor those who gave their lives for the Chinese people and culture, seeing their national museum and governmental buildings, knowing that during my life-time people lost their lives on the very place where we were standing...it was a breathtaking experience.

TV screens with videos of other Chinese cities

Chairman Mao's Mausoleum

Monument to the People's Heros

Our tour director, Yoko, told us quite a lot about the buildings and monuments and the history related to them. After a description of Chairman Mao, she encouraged us all to read more about him and the changes that surrounded his rise to power, and she emphasized reading pieces written from many vantage points and forming our own conclusions about it all. I bet my mouth dropped open when she described her understanding of their government as, "by the people and for the people," an oft-heard phrase here in the Land of Lincoln to describe our government, not one like China's. Now, I am not posting this to launch a political discussion (for those who know me, I rarely wander into such discussions, for several reasons); instead, I want to draw attention to Yoko's insistence on understanding all sides of the situation before passing judgement on it.How often have I written in this blog about how I thrive on literature that provides multiple perspectives, because it is through such stories that I can better understand what really happened? Isn't that what traveling and learning is all about? For me, the timing of her lecture was perfect; just remembering how I grappled with all of those ideas and perspectives, and grappling with them again right now, makes my head spin in a way that words fail to describe effectively.

Click for panoramic of Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Gate

From the Square, we walked through the Tiananmen Gate, under a meters-high portrait of Chairman Mao, into the Forbidden City. Surrounded by a moat and a wall, dozens of buildings make up the Forbidden City, once the location of the Emperor's home and governmental offices.

Click for full panoramic of First Gate of Forbidden City

Click for full panoramic of the Emperor's Governing Palace

The Emperor's Governing Palace

The most impressive building was the palace where the Emperor made decrees, and amid hundreds of other tourists we somehow landed in a place with a perfectly centered view of the palace and courtyard. We passed palace upon palace, each with a specific function and all with elaborate paintings and sculptures. Many of the most important palaces were recently restored in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, so we were able to see the difference between the buildings that have been restored and those that will be in the future. It helped me better understand the age of the buildings, so I was glad to visit midway through the restoration process. We ended this visit with a walk through the Imperial Garden, once again filled with ancient trees and places for prayer.

Renovated behind vs. unrenovated

Imperial Garden

Leaving the Forbidden City

Driving into Xian

 After lunch at a Chinese version of Subway, sitting on the tarmac for just over an hour, and then a nearly two hour flight, we arrived in Xian, the original capital of China. The history of the city stretches back to the first Chinese Emperor, Qin, whose dynasty lasted from 221 BC to 206 BC. Driving into the city, the view seemed drastically different from Beijing. Initially we saw more farmland, tiny fields compared to the many-acre ones at home and people working with hand tools like reap hooks instead of the huge tractors our neighbors here use. Compared to Beijing, more of the city seemed either under construction into skyscrapers or in severe poverty; there was very little in between.

Driving into Xian

 Our first stop was a bike ride on the original city wall. I'm not sure what was the better sight, the city from atop the wall or Paul and I in our helmets and on our bikes; our students took as many pictures of the former as the latter. Because our flight was delayed, we only had about a half an hour to ride along the wall. I stopped for several pictures along the way and didn't even make it to the first corner of the wall before I turned around to head back to our meeting place.

For dinner that evening, we had a traditional Chinese hot pot meal. Our tour guide, Arnie, compared it to fondue; many different foods are placed on the table, and we each cook them in our personal pots, pre-filled with what I assume was broth and seasonings like garlic and onions and set atop an open flame. Everyone walked through a buffet-style line to create our individualized dipping sauces. I made mine with sesame oil, lots of garlic, bean paste, crushed peanuts, and scallions. We could then choose to cook egg and flour noodles, wide noodles, potatoes, beef, lamb, leaks, cabbage, rice noodles, mushrooms, eggs, and rice. It was delicious and like nothing I've had before. By this time, I was getting much better at eating with chopsticks, but using them to fish floating rice noodles out of my hot pot was not easy. It took a while for everyone to finish, but it was well worth it.

We finished our day with an excursion to a reflexology parlor, where we all had reflexology foot massages. We separated into groups of two or three for each room, and the masseuses met us there with jasmine tea. After walking and walking and more walking in Beijing, the foot massage was exactly what I needed. I slept very soundly in our Xian Hotel room that night.


Just a quick FYI: Since returning home, I've found a few websites that seem to describe the cities and places we visited very well. So far I've found the official sites for both Beijing and Xian in case you're interested.