The Terracotta Warriors

The early start was certainly not fun.... but again stepped into our nice cool car. No chance of sleep this morning as we also had a tour guide pointing out sights enroute to the warriors.

About a 2 hour drive to the dig site, easily noticeable because of the mountains that surround it coming into view.

We stopped about 15mins out to see the workshop where they utilise traditional methods and clay to produce replicas for selling. It takes 6 days to fire up the kiln, with clay models inside, to temperature and then a few days to cool down. Without this process the clay would crack.

I decided to buy a set of small warriors, about 5in tall, however a lifesize replica of those in Xi'an can be bought and shipped to the UK for about £1300.

The warriors themselves are all situated in the pits where they were discovered with buildings built around them. Its an incredible site, when you consider around 7000 have been found so far and they believe there to be a lot more. Only one has been found completely intact, not surprising as they are over 2000 years old.

Each warrior is unique in his face, and representations of generals, down to front line infantry.

The most recent discovery is a terracotta opera, but that will open later this year, one thing is for certain though.... this Emperor wanted entertainment and good protection in the afterlife, but he was the first Emperor so we can allow him some ego :)

Amazing day all round as we also stopped off at the tomb of another Emperor, this the forth of the Han Dynasty (The first Emperor ruled the Qing Dynasty). Very different in its terracotta models as they are alot smaller and geared towards provisions of food and women but awesome to see just the same.

Now at Xi'an airport with an hour delay on our flight to Hong Kong :(

J