Over the weekend we traveled to Xian for some amazing site-seeing.  Of course, the climax of the trip was the visit to the terra-cotta warriors on Sunday.  The photos hardly do the place justice!  It's just hard to convey the view of 6,000 terra-cotta soldiers that are more than 2200 years old and buried more than 15 feet underground.  Have a look, however, at our four slideshows below for a sample of our weekend adventure to Xian.

We began our journey on Saturday.  We arrived in Xian at about 1:00pm and by 2:30 we were walking around a very rainy city.  The weather was just dreadful, but that didn't stop us from visiting the ancient Bell Tower that is located in the very center of the city (and directly outside our hotel).  After browsing around the Tower for a few minutes, we went looking for the Great Mosque and the Muslim Quarter (after a brief visit to the nearby Starbucks to dry off and warm up -- it was the nicest Starbucks we have ever seen!).  For much of the evening, we ventured around the very wet alleyways of the Muslim district -- Xian is home to the largest Muslim minority in China; about 60,000 Muslims live in the Muslim area of the city.  The district is full of quaint little alleyway markets, shops, and restaurants.  It's a bustling area, but once you step inside the Great Mosque, you are in a place of peace and tranquility.  The Mosque courtyard, pavillions, and prayer house were all really lovely -- and even in the rain the walk around the grounds was very pleasant.

The next day, Sunday, we spent the entire day visiting the best sites in Xian.  First, we went to the ancient city walls.  Xian is one of the last cities in China to still be completely surrounded by its ancient city walls -- walls that cover nearly 18 square miles.  You can climb up to the top of the walls and walk around the entire circumference!  The walls are about 60 feet wide at the base, about 30-40 feet wide at the top, and approximately 30 feet high.  You can even rent bicylces on top of the wall and ride the entire wall all the way around.  After the wall, we visited the Wild Goose Pagoda, built during the Tang dynasty several hundreds of years ago.  The area is home to an active Buddhist monastery, and we even got to see a live Buddhist ceremony with lots of chanting.

After these two exciting visits, we were off for the real reason to come to Xian -- the terra-cotta soldiers.  Before going to the actual excavation site, however, we stopped at a replica-making factory for a view of how the soldiers are made (they use the same method today that was used 2200 years ago).  We were so impressed that we bought our own life-sized terra-cotta warrior -- a General that is huge!!  You can see him in the slide-show, but you will have to come visit him at our house after he arrives in 3 months (he'll be making the trip by boat).  Once we finished our business at the factory, it was off to the terra-cotta pits.  For those of you who do not know, these ancient soldiers were discovered in 1974 by a farmer who was drilling a water-well.  What he didn't know was that he had found a 2200 year old treasure.  Since 1974, the Chinese government has found about 600 pits in about a 30 square mile area that is now called the Qin Emporer tomb area.  The Qin Emporer (the first emporer of China -- the one who unified the country) planned his burial site for 15 years (although it took 40 to finish).  He is buried in a manmade mountain (what they call an earth pyramid) at one end and thousands and thousands of life-sized soldiers were made to place underground to protect him in the afterlife.  Horses, chariots, infranty soldiers, archers, officers, and all kinds of other items were made and included in the pits.  About 750,000 people worked on these projects for nearly 40 years.  There are only 3 pits that are open to the public and we visited all 3 (you can see the photos below).  Pit #1 has about 6,000 life-sized soldiers in it -- just an unbelievable site.  Pit #2 has thousands of soldiers that have not yet been fully excavated; and a few bronze horses and chariots that were also found and are on display.  And pit #3 has about 100 officers that are said to have been in position as if they were conferring or planning their attack.  Very interesting.

As if one ancient pit of soldiers isn't enough, we visited a Han dynasty burial mound that is about 2100 years old.  One of the Han Emporers wanted a similar army as the Qin Emporer for protection during the afterlife, but to save money he had small sized soldiers made.  They are about 12-18 inches in height and include both male and female soldiers.  Amazingly, however, he had about 20,000 soldiers made -- all dressed in silk clothing or leather armor!  He also had thousands of animals and other items included in the pits.  These pits were discovered in the 1990s when the Chinese were building a new highway to the airport and have excavated only a few pits.  There are thousands more that have been identified and not yet opened!

We hope you enjoy the photos below!  We sure had fun seeing these places and encourage you to come and see them as well!

Next we are headed to Hong Kong and Singapore, so we will report back soon on the next adventure.  Zai jian!