Imperial China Day 12
Imperial China
OAT Day 2-07 - Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - Visit Lacquerware Factory and Herbal Market-Noodle Making Demonstration at Local Restaurant-View Terra Cotta Warriors - Xi’an, China
We received our wake up call at 7:00 - nice to have a good night’s sleep after the train ride. We had breakfast and left the hotel at 8:30. The day was a bit cooler with cloudy skies. The temperature was 66 degrees and the humidity was 66%.
Our first adventure of the day was a visit to a nearby lacquer-ware factory. Our guide, Lilly gave us the history of this fine art dating back 6000 years.
Lacquer is actually harvested from trees almost like rubber. After layers and polishing about 30 times a wood panel is almost like a mirror. Then inlaid mother of pearl, jade, or other fine woods are glued into the wood. Finally clear lacquer is applied in 20 more layers.
We watched the artists apply the fine stones and woods, had time to look around and shop, and then at 9:40 we left for our next discovery. We were scheduled to go to the herbal medicine market next, but Mr. Fan took the turn to go to the Terra Cotta Warriors so we changed our itinerary for the day. Flexibility is the key when traveling!
On the way to the Warriors, Matt told us more about the economic situations in China. Life is definitely improving! Forty years ago there were 4 Big Items a couple needed before marrying: a radio, a bicycle, a watch, and a sewing machine. Now days the Big 4 are a color TV, a washing machine, a VCR, and a DVD player!
In most parts of China there are no longer arranged marriages. Although Matt’s parent’s marriage was approved by their parents and they did not know each other, they have learned to love and cherish each other and make a good life for their three children.
We left the city of Xi’an and headed north to the site of the discovery of the Terra Cotta Warriors in 1974. We learned a little history about their discovery and also the Qin Dynasty and its first Emperor whose tomb these soldiers guard.
Our first view of the great ranks of life-sized soldiers, generals, charioteers, and horses of Xi’an's Terra Cotta Army was in Pit #1. Matt was our guide for our tour of this excavation site. He would explain and then give us time to look around and take photos.
Considered one of the foremost archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, the 2,000-year-old Terra Cotta Army was discovered by accident in 1974 by local farmers digging a well.
The 6,000-plus life-size figures are arranged in vaults at the entrance to the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Qin emperor, a major architect of the Great Wall and unifier of China. The soldiers are ranked in military order, hold actual spears and swords and, incredibly, each has a unique facial expression.
We saw a 360 degree movie portrayal of the construction of the tomb, the creation of the earthen-ware soldiers, and then the pillaging of the tomb by a peasant revolt. Our final look was at the museum where we saw the remarkable miniature model of a Qin Dynasty bronze chariot, complete with horses and coachmen.
These artifacts are over 2200 years old, the weapons and bronze decorations have survived, the originally brightly colored warriors have faded, and the tomb raiders looted and pillaged the site over the centuries, but the site remains one of the most incredible we have seen, the 8th Wonder of the World!
The bustling free market and the village where vendors sold us replicas of the warriors, t-shirts, and other essential tourist stuff in our previous visit in 2002 are all gone. The government has torn down the village and then rebuilt it with a modern shopping mall type commercial district.
We had lunch in one of these new trendy restaurants - a delicious meal at the Qin Dynasty where we had a demonstration on how to make the famous specialty noodles eaten here. It was then back to our bus, traveling through the near by city of LinTong and on to Xi’an.
Our next adventure was the Xi’an Herbal Medicine Market. Matt explained many of the herbs, roots, and animal parts we saw. I think this is the first place we have stopped where no one purchased anything!
We went out for a walk before dinner looking for an ATM machine; they are not on every street corner, so we had to really search! When we arrived back at 6:50 PM to our hotel we had just enough time to go back to the room to get my camera.
The dinner tonight was just a short walk from our hotel at the Palace Dinner Theater, a restaurant that specializes in all kinds of dumplings. We started with our usual cold plates, then vegetables and a few meats, followed by 18 different varieties of dumplings.
The cultural dinner show was interesting, some people like it better than others. We did get to see interpretive dances, some acrobatics, and elaborate costumes. We especially enjoyed the musical interludes with the traditional Chinese instruments.
Accommodations: Xi’an Garden Hotel - - - Meal: B, L, D
Picture 1 - Artist at the Lacquer-ware Factory
Picture 2 - Terra-Cotta Warriors Pit #1
Picture 3 - Terra-Cotta Warriors Pit #1
Picture 4 - Xi’an Herbal Medicine Market
Picture 5 - Cultural Dinner and Show
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