March 17, 2015

Yesterday we went to see the Terracotta Warriors about 40 minutes outside of Xi’an. (Well, it SHOULD have been 40 minutes!) The day started off well…we were able to find the local bus at the train station right away, so we felt less “touristy”, (plus it saved a ton of money over the tourist buses). After that, it got a little rough when we got stuck in traffic and our 40 minute bus ride turned into an hour and a half. We did eventually get there and the place was amazing.

Terracotta Warriors

Hayden has been wanted to see the Terracotta Warriors ever since we first saw them in Epcot. He has been reading about them and has learned all about them, so this was definitely a highlight for him. They have the actual pits open where they are still digging up the warriors now. It was really neat to see all stages of the work from some pits that were still covered to pieces laying all over the ground to half put together statues all the way to the completed (and even some have been repainted) warriors. It’s really amazing to think that these were built so long ago and completely by hand.

Terracotta Warriors

Terracotta Warriors

Terracotta Warriors

No two warriors are the same. They were each individually carved by farmers/craftsmen/slaves in the local area. So far, more than 8,000 statues have been recovered. They have a very nice museum set up along with three of the pits (which are huge) where you can see the ongoing excavation. We ended up spending most of the day here and didn’t leave until about 3:00.

Terracotta Warriors

Terracotta Warriors

Terracotta Warriors

We had a bit of drama at the end of the trip. We knew we needed to use the restroom before we got back on the bus (in case it was another 90 minute bus ride), so we were on the lookout for a bathroom. Right near the buses, there was a “toilet” sign, so we stopped in really quick. Much like all of the other public toilets in the country, it was a disgusting squat toilet. (I really hate these for so many reasons.) When we finished, we were standing outside Purelling up our hands when an old lady came over and started yelling something at us. We figured out that she was telling us that we needed to pay her for the bathroom. We had read about areas where people would sit outside and tell foreigners that they needed to pay for the bathrooms and that it was a total scam and that you should not give them money (especially if the bathroom clearly said “toilet” in English with no mention of money). Out of principle, we refused to give the lady money and she grabbed on to me with a death grip and would not let us leave! Luckily, after about 5 minutes of arguing with the women (her in Chinese, us in English), a guy came over (who was a local) and told her to leave us alone. I’ll tell you what, that old lady was strong and probably could have taken me down!!

We did make it back to the hotel that night and after a good night’s sleep, spent the day today just walking around the city. We went to the top of the City Wall which would have been much nicer if it had been a clear day.  Our excitement for the day was a Tuk Tuk ride where we saw our lives flash before our eyes at least 5 times.  We spent most of the 15 minute ride either going the wrong way against traffic, sliding between cars with about an inch of space or barreling down the sidewalk honking at pedestrians.  It was quite an experience!