The Terracotta Army in Xi’an ~ what words can we use to describe it? MASSIVE, for one. And as we learned from our guide, Arnie, even more massive than anyone realizes.

The first soldier head was discovered by a farmer in 1974 during his attempt to dig a well. It was a very oppressive time in China then, which was in the midst of the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. He hid the head in fear of being punished, but it eventually was discovered and he was “punished” by the government. Of course, the government confiscated the land and continued digging. Since then, 3 pits have been revealed with over 10,000 clay figures of soldiers, officers, horses, and chariots. These 3 pits are what we experienced at the PACKED museum. Due to pollution and exposure issues, there is a 20 minute walk from the parking lot to the actual entrance to the museum area. Over 50,000 people per day (18,250,000 each year) visit this UNESCO site, which consists of 16,300 square meters.

We had our first real “Chinese Crunch” while going downstairs to view the bronze horse and chariot exhibit. A large group of Chinese tourists came rushing towards the exhibit and I was still at the railing. Dennis had to literally drag me out of there… pushing through the throng of Chinese tourists.

We learned that what has been found to date is most likely just scratching the surface of what is still to be discovered. It is now believed that there are over 300 pits which could potentially cover an area as large as Washington DC.   The problem is money, of course. It costs a great deal to make the digs and then to put the army back together again (sounds like Humpty Dumpty, doesn’t it?). Because Emperor Qin enslaved over 700,000 laborers, they eventually did up rise against him and smashed many of the soldiers. So much money is being spent to put it all back together again. I love to do puzzles, but I just can’t fathom the organizational prowess it takes to manage it all.

Take note: Emperor Qin is the same man who forced over ONE million laborers to start the process of combining all of the pieces of the feudal walls into one Great Wall.   So to think that he did BOTH projects at once is unimaginable.

We were told that when this exhibit went on tour around the world, they only took ONE real soldier on the tour. The rest have been perfectly duplicated using the same materials and hand process as the originals. Whether an original or a hand-crafted duplicate, it is amazing all the same.

And of course ~ what we have been told ~ needs some Google web search time to ensure the accuracy of what we have received.  We’re working with information provided by the guides and data provided on printed sheets.  WOW… we’re having an A-MAZ-ING trip to China!  We HIGHLY recommend that each of you consider taking a “package / group tour” to China.  Watch for great deals on Travelzoo and other websites.

We haven’t had ANY Internet service for days… we don’t know exactly when the next blog will be successful.  Diana joined a tour on Saturday morning.  Dennis has been working for hours to upload the pics and getting this blog post onto the Internet.  Fingers crossed!  Thanks for following our adventures in China.  Love to all!