Terracotta Warriors, Xi'an, China

Ever since we saw that episode of the Amazing Race, we just had to make a dash to Xi'an to see the terracotta warriors for ourselves. We took an overnight train from Shanghai to Xi'an, the first in our long series of train journeys all the way into Russia. Right before we boarded the train, the ticketing lady told Nagesh that there were no trains from Xi'an to Beijing. Complete nonsense!

As we neared Xi'an next morning, a lady came around selling local maps, train schedules, and accomodation information that was extremely useful. Our plan was to make a beeline to see the warriors and then get on a train to Beijing that same evening. Working with clockwork precision, we deposited our bags at the station storage and caught a bus from right across the station. Overly proud of being such clever travellers, we hopped off at another tourist site, a few kilometers before the actual museum. It's fun to receive a reality slap like that every once in a while. No worries, we caught the next bus that came along.



The terracotta warriors were built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty, 221-206 B.C. during his lifetime to guard his tomb after death. The tomb took 39 years and 700,000 workers to build. An accidental find by some local peasants triggered off archaelogical activity. Four pits full of lifesize soldiers are housed inside huge halls in the museum complex. The soldiers are sometimes accompanied by horses and chariots. Once painted brightly, the soldiers stand today bearing a colorless testimony to royal eccentricities.