Xi'an

Hello all, Emma speaking here.  So far it is fair to say that my role in the blogs has been a very key editorial one, so Bill thought it was about time I put down on paper some of my thoughts and words about our trip. I hope you are all well and all is good back in Blighty. Anyway that's it from me.....back to Bill for more tales and jokes. Only kidding!

 

I have been assigned the Xi'an blog so what can I tell you about the place. Well, firstly what I want to talk about is bread!  I had the best round of toast this morning since leaving home. Now to you this may sound unimportant but as you will probably know from holidays abroad the bread is just not the same (the only exception being France who do great bread).  Bread abroad is just so sweet, however this morning the bread served in the hostel was just like mama used to make.....and proper butter!  Heaven.  It is amazing that only after 6 weeks little things like this can be such a highlight to ones day.

 

So back to the trip.  To anyone who has been to Xi'an, I think it is fair to say that you would not come to this place were it not the springboard to the Terracotta Army.  Its not that the place is horrible but it is really just another huge city with a handful of historical relics none of which surpass those to be found in Beijing.  We decided to get to the Terracotta Army via a trip organised by the hostel.  We could have made our own way there but both felt that the convenience of being taken there and shown round far outweighed the hastle of local bus and touts.

 

Our guide, a lovely Chinese lady called Jai Jai (who was not annoying like the Star Wars character) who spoke at the speed of light, seemed to take a instant shine to Bill or should I say "Biwl" and he became the partner of a great double act routine that provided much amusement to the rest of the bus.  So we could follow Jai Jai in the crowded halls she carried a material flower which she waved above her head.  At one point Biwl was asked to hold the flower whilst she got the tickets....hence the photo of Bill looking very uncomfortable with said flower.  By the way Helen...good comment...I couldn't tell which the pansy was either!

 

The Terracotta Army was first discovered in 1976 by a farmer who found one of the heads.  He was given 10 Yuan for this find (1 pound to you and me).  Since then they have gone on to find over 8,000 statues and we were told that just one of the paving stones alone (that the army just stands upon) are worth millions of Yuan.  The army figures themselves are priceless.  I bet that the poor farmer wished he had held out for a bit more, although he now has a permanent job at the site signing books and shaking the hands of tourists.  We both shook his hand and I have to say that it was rather lack lustre but I'll give the guy a break seeing as he has been doing it for over 30 years and he is now in his 80's!!!

 

At the site you visit 3 pits.  The first shows more of the site as it has been found.  Massive channels were built and paved on which the army were stood and then wooden roofs were put over before they were covered in with soil to keep them hidden.  The most interesting and saddening fact for me was that because the Emperor didn't want his enemies to find out about the Army he was building (which was to protect him in the afterlife) any worker who made the statues were killed to protect the secret.  Therefore they have also found mass graves buried along with his army.  Also, the faces of each soldier is actually modelled on the people who made them (each face is unique) a fitting epitaph considering they died for their art.  I found this quite poignant....like a very personal memorial to the dead.

 

The other thing that you cannot fail to be impressed by is the detail on them, right down to folds in the cloth of their clothes, studs on their shoes, rivets in their armour, braids in their hair.  They also were originally in colour but the paint just fades when brought into the light.  It is just completely amazing that again this is over 2000 years old.....not surprisingly the Emperor who ordered this to be built is the same one who built the Great Wall.  He clearly had a thing for doing things big!!!

 

The final part of our day was a trip to a Xi'an temple.  Now this wasn't anymore spectacular than the ones we have already seen but more interesting because Jai Jai was able to tell us about it.  One of the displays talks of Chinese prophecies based on the year you were born.  Everyone went through their years and were told various good news stories.  We get to mine and she checked with me twice that I was showing her the right year before telling me that I need to be really careful as 2010 is a very bad year for me!  Great....not only do I have limited good fortune but now I am going to be away from home for 8 months in a year that is bad news!!!!

 

We also learnt that as part of a Chinese religious ritual, the Chinese burn fake paper money to send up to dead relations for wealth in the afterlife.  Jai Jai said that they burn everything from paper money to paper houses and paper BMW's!!!  I have to say that I wondered whether you were actually supposed to burn the real McCoy to send it up properly and that all those Chinese ancestors were up there with loads of completely useless paper objects!!!

 

We are off to Guilin next in the south of china and managed to get a flight for 60 quid. Yes it is more expensive than the train but neither of us could face the 27 hours it would take.  So in case I don't get to speak to you for a while (Bill is rather good at this blogging malarkey)....keep safe, be happy and really enjoy your toast!