Having long desired to see the famous Terracotta Warriors we headed to historical Xi’An, one of the four ancient capitals of China, it embodies more 3,100 years of history. After a 17 hour train ride toward the center of China we were met with some cold, crisp, and clear autumn days. Perfect for some bike rides around 700 year old walls and wandering the single best “street food” neighborhood of our entire trip.
The Wall runs through and around the modern day city, encompassing some 14 kilometers.
Riding bikes on top of the wall with great views of the city.
An hour long bus ride out of the city brought us to the “Eighth Wonder of the World” (according to the Chinese government anyway….)
The warrior statues were buried in 210-209BC with Qin Shi Huang, the first Emporer of China, in order to protect him in the afterlife. Perhaps even more amazing is that the army remained undiscovered until 1974 when some farmers stumbled upon it while digging for a well.
There are currently 3 pits in various stages of the pain staking slow excavation.
The level of detail was extraordinary, with individual facial features given to most of the warriors and even the smallest details, like soles on the shoes, carved on figures representing generals.
The three pits contain an estimated 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. Quite an impressive sight.
The “Muslim Quarter” in Xi’An home to a fantastic range of street food. We literally spent a whole day wandering the back alley ways and snacking.
The soup pots steaming in front of our favorite noodle shop.
Perfectly spiced Kebabs, fresh off the grill.
What might not have been so fresh was the meat….spotted this a few kebabs too late. I’m sure it was a refrigerated minivan, haha. Fortunately our stomachs seem to have developed a healthy resistance to the abuses we subject them to.
In the words of Sue “’It’s like a fried sweet potato cookie!” Precisely.
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