Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors

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We flew one of China's regional airlines from Beijing to Xi'an.  Suffice it to say that it was a "little different" than flying an airline back home.


We went through the mother of all thunder storms and the aircraft got knocked all over the skies.  Having flown helicopters in the Navy, I was ok but looking around the plane there were a lot of green faces.

Xi'an

We spent three days in Xi'an, a city of 12 million people located to the west and between Beijing and Shanghai.


Being such a large city, there were times when it felt more chaotic than New York City and yet, at the micro level, the people going through their everyday lives brought smiles to your face.













My favorite photo of the entire trip!

We stayed at a very nice hotel complete with a funny name and with the funny little guys running around in the bellhop uniforms.




A Little Side Note

In China, every hotel you stay at offers services such as room service, maid service and massages.  Although we didn't see it, apparently our hotel also offered a brothel.  Sonja and I wanted to get massages so I called down to the front desk and asked for massages for her and I.  A few minutes later, a knock on our door and two young ladies came into our room.  We layed down on the bed, expecting them to stand next to the bed and give us the massages.  Oh no.  They both hopped right into the bed with us and began rubbing our backs.  Sonja looked over at me and very forcefully said... "don't even #$^$&* think about it William!"  I went back to my massage.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

"You have never visited Xian without a visit to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda".  That's how the local saying goes.  For hundreds of years, this great pagoda has always been the symbol of Xian.  



And, of course, having never seen a set of stairs she wouldn't walk up...  we had to climb to the top.  








And the view was well worth it.





Did Someone Say Shopping?

We toured a factory near the pagoda that specialized in the carving (by hand) of small statues and also the making of beautiful Chinese furniture.  The time consuming process of laying the artwork piece by piece was incredible to see.















Huaqing Pool (or Huaqing Palace)

Located 30km from Xian City and adjacent to the Terracotta Warriors, Huaqing Pool was a resort palace for many emporers.  And, I know you're wondering...  yes, this is where the romance between emporor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty and his consort, Yang Guifei the beloved concubine, took place.









The Terracotta Warriors

The Terracotta Warriors and Horses is famed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World".  It was a funeral project of China's first imperial king, Qin Shi Huang.  It's purpose was to protect his afterlife.  In 246 BC, Huang commanded craftsmen to build his mausoleum and the Warriors was part of that mausoleum project.  It was discovered in 1974 and is one of the greatest archeological finds of the 20th century.

As we were driving out to the site, the realities of life hit us as we saw dozens of women, children and families alongside the road selling pomegranates.





The Museum










And we leave Xi'an with a few more shots of the people of this city.











This old woman wasn't too happy with me taking her picture and she let me know it very loudly.


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