Boy Horses and Girl Horses

This is Harold. He's been our guide and he's awesome.

He has been as concerned for James and his comfort and enjoyment as he has for everyone else's. He wanted a selfie with him to send to his wife.

Today, we are at Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses. We have recovered enough from our dumpling binge to be able to walk. Somehow.

In 1974, farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province were digging for a well. What they found instead was an entire army to protect Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. There are thought to be more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses.

I don't know what the camera is looking at.

 The sheer size of the place is overwhelming. There are four pits (so far) where the army has been found.  Inside each one are rammed earth walls creating corridors where the armies stand in formation.

Inside each pit it is crowded. We're almost the only white people there. Chinese tend to see China first and then travel to other countries. I like that idea. 

The pits all spell damp and earthen. Despite the crowds, it isn't very noisy. There are people trying to hustle you in to buying things at the entrances but they go away if you ignore them.  There are signs along the way talking about the history of not only the army but the archaeological dig as well.

Not even sorry, China.
 

 

Each warrior is hand carved; the bodies are all the same depending on their rank but each face is different. Theory states that the carvers started by modelling them on the guy next to him, then on family members, that one guy in town, the grocer, and so on. Many of them held wooden and metal weaponry which has since either been collected (metal) or biodegraded (wood). 

This is where science happens! In the spring and summer, archaeologists and students continue to dig and study the figures. This is very much an active site.

"There are boy horses and there are girl horses," says Sonia, mother on Team Canada, after reading a sign.

"How do you know which is which?" asks her daughter.

"Well," I reply, "Boy horses have tails. Girl horses do not."

Pits two and three are less developed than pit one. They show a better idea of the architecture of the funerary tomb and the destruction that centuries have caused to the warriors.

The site covers a very large area and is mostly undiscovered. This diorama gives an idea of what they've found and how they think the rest of it looks.

To the surprise of no one, the area is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Of the numerous UNESCO sites I've been to, a) this was the first one I've been to on purpose, and b) this one is the most done up. In this area was a museum with more artifacts and information. And western toilets! This part was very exciting. As we waited for the others, half of Team Canada gave the other half of Team Canada a lesson in squat toilets and how to use them.

We returned to Xian proper and walked around. It is a very lovely, very busy city.

We went to the Bell Tower and I can admit to losing my patience - we were on a time limit and some people didn't respect that, all in the name of getting a good picture.

Beautiful? Yes. Worth the anxiety over nearly missing our ride to the train station? Maybe.

Next: Shanghai!