Xi'an page 3 of Carter's China Trip
  Sunday was our day to visit the site of the terra cotta warriors.  On the way to there we stopped at a shop where they made souvenir warriors for tourists like us.  John advised us that we would see many places selling warriors that day but that many of them might not last until we got home.  Supposedly the shop we visited used the same techniques to make their terra cotta as was done more than two thousand years ago.   
   We got to watch them process the clay and press it into molds.  We also saw how they fired the models in the ovens outside.  You could buy warriors of many sizes, including life-size as found at the site.  I bought a mid-size model of a general for my grandson.    
  Next we stopped at Hauquig Palace, a place with hot springs at the foot of an extinct volcano.  This place has played a role in Chinese history for more than two millennia.  It was given this name when Emperor Li Longji (about 750AD) built a new palace for his favorite concubine Lady Yang.   
  Here is an artist's interpretation of Lady Yang.  On the mountain behind you can see the steep faces of the loess soils.  And, there is a gondola going up the mountain.  In many ways this looks like an American tourist site.

 

  
  This site has been restored many times over the years and today you can see the old baths and a revealing statue of Lady Yang.  In the 1930’s the Nationalists and Communists clashed here as they were avoiding the decision to combine forces against the invading Japanese.  I wish I had a better knowledge of history before I visited this place.  There is much to see.

Many of the buildings at this site go back to the Tang Dynasty, making them much older than many that we saw elsewhere.  Someone pointed out that the roof lines are not as complex as in the newer structures, and they are gray, not colorful like those of the newer structures.  Here was a large carving in stone of a court scene with the Emperor and his many concubines. 

 
  If there were any active concubines here, I missed them.  But the local staff and some tourists dressed up in period costumes and marched around the place.   Note the roof lines.  
  Then another lunch at an approved restaurant.  But, here they were greatly concerned about our opinions of their food and service.  They kept asking about this.  At the end they gave me a survey form to fill out about their food and service.  We wondered why they had this need to get feedback.  But, no one got sick from eating the food so we quit worrying about it.  

Finally, we got to the Museum of the terra cotta warriors and horses.  This is next to the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), alias Ying Zheng, the first Emperor of China.  We did not go to the mausoleum, which is a large conical mound of dirt a half mile in diameter at the base. Getting from the bus terminal to the Museum site was work because you had to walk past many vendors in shops and persons on the street trying to sell you any and everything.  I was surprised to find the site is a large museum under state control.  There are now four large buildings covering the finds.  A couple of the buildings are like aircraft hangers, very large and open.

I first saw these warriors in the Chinese Pavilion at the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville.  At that time they brought three warriors and a horse displayed in a glass case.  I was able to stand next to the box, only two or three feet away from the statues.  You cannot get close to the warriors and horses in the Museum.  They have the statues on display as they were originally stationed and you get to see them in place.  

More than 2,000 years ago the Emperor had more than 7,000 warriors created to protect him after he died.  The warriors are life-size and were placed underground in columns, ready to march off to war. 

The Emperor then had them covered with beams and soil.  However, about four years after being buried invading forces smashed all of the warriors and horses and stole most of the weapons in the hands of the warriors.  The invaders then burned the overlying timbers. 

 
  Here are the warriors restored in their original positions.  Note the wooden beams, recreated to show the original construction of the site.

 

  
 

In 1974 a farmer drilling a well discovered some pieces and set off the great archaeological search.  Today, that farmer is at the Museum ready to sign your tour books for a fee.

As you wander through the Museum you get to see a large area of restored warriors and horses, all put back in their original places.  

  
  At this end of this structure you can see warriors and horses under repair.  It looks like a significant part of the rebuilt warriors are made of plaster, because they cannot find many of the parts.   
 

In another place they have excavated the finds but have left them in their broken state.  In another large building no one was working because they found mold and no one is permitted to work there until they get rid of the mold.  They said Johnson and Johnson have been brought in to help with this.  Perhaps they are putting Band Aids on the warriors.

  Another exhibit hall in the Museum complex is has a multi-screen theatre where you stand to watch a dynamic portrayal of the invading armies all around you.  This films goes on for about 20 minutes.  

  
  Here we see two terra-cotta warriors and one live warrior with color on their faces.  They now think all of the statues were painted originally.  

This is the only place where you can get near a warrior and then there is a real warrior nearby.

This view of three warriors is in the very modern museum.  This is not a hanger type building.  Nearby they show many precious items, including the two half-size bronze chariots and horses.

 

  
 

If you want to see and touch warriors and horses, go with the reproductions such as those I saw at the hotel in Wuhan or at the shops in Beijing.  The Museum with the real warriors is an archaeological site and tourists get to view the work of the scientists in progress.

The signs within the Museum say no photos, but that stops no one.  I would have appreciated this visit more if I could have seen workers carrying out their many tasks, but it was Sunday and no one was working anywhere except for the many people hawking their wares outside the gates.  For a good overview of the site see National Geographic, October 1996.  In that article it is noted “More than 700,000 laborers toiled 36 years building this monument.”  A follow-up article in the October 2001 issue of National Geographic gives the broader perspective of this site and surrounding areas near Xi'an.

On the way back to Xi’an we stopped at a farming village to see what life was like in such a place.  This village was along the highway so it was probably not the typical rural village.  There were a number of brick buildings, but not the quality brick we in the west think of.  I saw one tractor in the place.  Probably more than a hundred people live in this complex of small, attached buildings.  The produce in the gardens, or small fields, looked good.  Hanging from trellises were great numbers of Kiwis, what they know as Chinese Gooseberries.  An older woman was shelling corn ear by ear with a hand operated machine.  We took her photo and gave her a tip.  I asked how many people from here work in the city and was told that probably no one does, unless they live in the city.  These folks do not have cars to zip around from job to job. 

Next we stopped at Banpo Village, a typical Neolithic village of 6,000 years ago.  By the time we stopped here we were wearing out and had our fill of museums.  The village is very primitive compared to what we had already seen, but it is an impressive considering its age.  The archaeological site is covered with a permanent structure and you walk along the sides overlooking the excavated site.  They have good displays showing you what you are looking at.  One web site calls this “an authentic matriarchal clan community… the most complete example of an agricultural Neolithic settlement in the world.”

Bordering the Village is an attempt to commercialize on tourists visiting Banpo Village.  Some years ago an investor from Hong Kong came here and built a “Disney-like” tourist trap emphasizing the matriarchal society.  You enter the site by walking through a recumbent female body. 

 
  I did not see what I was passing through until someone pointed it out.  The matriarchal society lives.  
 

Inside I could only think of a poor rendition of the Flintstones.  The place has not been maintained and I could not figure out why we stopped here.  But, it is another dimension of my visit to China.  

Our dinner that evening was one of the poorer ones.  At dinner I asked for water.  I assume I would get a bottle of water but instead I got a glass of boiling water.  They brought the chicken dish just before desert.  But, desert was watermelon so all was forgiven.

Later that evening many of us paid 120¥ extra to go to a performance of Tang Dynasty Music.  It was a good show but I had to strain to see the performers on the stage.  Here we saw colleagues on the Lhasa trip for the last time.

After I got back to the hotel I went off to the Internet café with the 60 computers.  It was hot and the connection was terrible, or my computer was not working.  It was a short visit that evening.

The next morning we visited the Shaanxi Bureau of Surveying and Mapping.  This Provincial organization is one of the bigger mapping agencies in China, with about 2,000 employees.  Somehow Wuhan University came up and we found that about 80% of the employees had been educated or had been trained at Wuhan University.  And, much of the software used at the agency had been developed at Wuhan University.  This gave us the feeling that we were seeing the inside of the mapping industry in China.

At the agency we heard a welcome address written by the Director (but he was called away so it was presented by the Deputy Director).  Then many unit managers told about their units.  Alan MacEachren gave a response on our behalf, telling them how pleased we were to see their organization.  This meeting was in a very attractive room with a great projector system.  They used the projector to show us a 20-minute video of their activities.  We then visited the many departments and looked over the shoulders of workers carrying out their jobs.  It is an impressive organization employing the most modern of hardware and software.

Looking out one of the windows I asked a question about the tall apartment building nearby.  It turns out this apartment building is the home of the employees of the agency.  Once again, I learned something about this country.  In the U.S. most of the employees of a similar mapping agency would not live nearby—rather they would live miles away and have to deal with a daily commute.  Then we wonder why we consume so much petroleum.  Because in most cases Chinese workers live next to their employer the country will never have the per capita consumption of energy we have in the U.S.  For the sake of the world, I am happy that their billion plus population will not try to emulate our bad habits.

We bid our hosts farewell and headed to a restaurant just north of the Wall.  Here we were joined by our colleagues from Montreal.  Rather than visit the mapping agency they rented bicycles and toured the city of their own.  This was a very classy restaurant and we appreciated the quality.  I organized a collection of tips to give to John for the time and attention he had given us over the past two days.  Then we went to the airport and queued up to board the flight to Guilin.  Once we were in line John bid us adieu.

Today we flew Wuhan Airlines—not one of the larger airlines.  While waiting to board I decided it was time to get to know my fellow travelers.  So, I went around and introduced myself and got everyone to tell me their names and write them down.  I was the only person who did this and so I became the source for names, for the few who cared.  In our group were nine of us from the U.S., two from Mexico, four from Montreal including a father and son, three from Germany, five from the Ukraine and Chen, our Chinese coordinator from Beijing.  Indeed, it was a diverse group.

Once again not everyone got window seats.  But, when we got on the plane that proved to be no problem.  In addition to our group there were four other passengers.  Everyone dispersed and grabbed their favorite window seat.  Of course, because everyone was able to look out the window it was very cloudy and there was little to see.  Life works that way.

But, there were breaks in the clouds and I got to see some interesting pieces of the landscape.  In one small break I saw this winding river.  Then I realized it was the Yangzte.  I was too late to grab a photo of it but I got to see it.  A little to the south was a landscape of horizontal rocks with steep bluffs.  This area was heavily forested.  I would love to know more about this area and perhaps return to explore the bigger area.  Then the clouds took over and there was little to see.

As we approached Guilin I saw a number of terraced fields.  Unlike the forested areas, this land has been highly modified by humans.  I got a few photos but when I looked at some photo books later I see there are far more elaborate hillsides with terraces than what I saw.  But, this photo says a lot about this area.

The airport at Guilin seemed to be empty, or at least that was our impression.  We saw no other planes on the ground.  But, this was a matter of when we arrived for when we departed the place was packed.

Guilin was wet when we arrived but the Sun was shining.  It had rained earlier in the day.  We had moved back into the warmer and more humid part of China.

 
 

Continue to the next page in the sequence

Return to the beginning of Carter's China travels

Dr. James R. Carter, Geography-Geology Department,  Illinois State University,  jrcarter@ilstu.edu