Terracotta Army – Xi’an, China

With less than 48 hours on our stopover in Xi’an it’s pretty transparent that our only reason for traveling to this city was to see one of China’s most popular and revered cultural attractions, the Terracotta Army.

While Wikipedia can certainly do a much better job of telling you all the “cool” history about the Army, here is the cliff notes version: (i) The Army was commissioned by the first Emperor of China around 200 BC; (ii) Similar to the Pharohs of Egypt, the Emperor believed that these terracotta statues would come to life during his afterlife and protect him; (iii) Around 10,000 figures have been discovered to date. They include everything from soldiers to chariots, horses, generals, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians; (iv) The burial site was discovered by a local farmer in 1974 when he was hand digging a water well for his rice fields. Oddly enough we actually met this farmer on the day of our visit. He was there signing autographs, something he does about once a week we were told.

For the longest time, I had (wrongfully) assumed that the Terracotta Army had been unearthed and repaired in its entirety and was nicely displayed somewhere. Not so – my first surprise was that only a fraction (about 1/5^th) of this amazing discovery is now on display. Having only been discovered in 1974, most of the army is still sitting underneath the ground never having been unearthed. They quickly figured out that once the terracotta figures hit the open air, the intricate colors on the figures quickly oxidized completely losing their pigment. In order to ensure maximum preservation, the site curators and archeologists now painstakingly unearth only one or two figures at a time – a process that will keep them busy until around 2030.

My second surprise was that I thought I would be more impressed. In fact, I came away from our journey to the Terracotta Warriors a bit underwhelmed. Maybe I had seen too many Discovery Channel specials or maybe it was something else. Nonetheless, I was simply not as enamored or interested with the history and mystique of this iconic site as I usually am with things of similar cultural significance. Maybe I was just a bit overly travel weary that day or maybe I’m being overly cynical but in Twitter terms, I give it a “Meh”.

My favorite part about our journey to Xi’an surprisingly was the food. Well, the Peking Duck at Larry’s Kitchen to be exact. First of all, I didn’t expect one of the nicest and most respected Chinese restaurants in all of Xi’an to be called “Larry’s Kitchen.” Located on the ground floor of the Citadines Hotel in Xi’an, Larry serves up the meanest, most amazing Peking Duck I’ve ever had. It is absolutely incredible. The skin is crispy and delightful, the meat is juicy and delectable. A must stop for any journey into the city.

Telling anyone NOT to see the Terracotta Army feels sacrilegious or counterproductive to the educational development of people everywhere. But if given strict time constraints, I might put this one on the “to do only if you have time” list.

Tags: China, Featured Posts, full-image, peking duck, Terracotta Army, UNESCO, Xi'An

Category: Blog, China, Destinations, Featured Posts, Pat's Blog