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Ni Hao!

We got up real early, like 6:30 am, and went to the airport to go to Xi’an. Aunt Carolyn’s flight seat was 23 (LOST). The flight took about an hour and a half. I played on my PSP on the way there. I sat next to Maddy, and we had an empty seat next to us.

When we got there, we had a driver waiting for us with a van. He didn’t speak any English! Bu hao! (not good!) We first went to the Terra Cotta Soldier Factory, where me and Maddy, and Melissa and Mia made our own Terra Cotta Soldiers. They tried to sell everybody a lot of stuff but we didn’t buy anything.  Tai gui le!  (Too expensive)

Then we went to the Terra Cotta soldier museum. We hired a guide to show us around. And we got drinks and went on a little bus to take us to where the pits were. It was sweltering. (That was Maddy’s word - she’s listening as I write this.)

Before we went in the pits, we saw a movie about the emperor and how they created the soldiers, and how they were destroyed. Then in the souvenir area we bought a book about the place, and the little old man who discovered it signed the book. Aunt Carolyn believes there are lots of little old men, they are pretending are all the same one who discovered the soldiers. You are not allowed to take pictures of him. So here’s a picture:

Then we went to the first big building. It’s called Pit #1. It was pretty big and hot, and they had long, long rows of soldiers and horses. There were broken soldiers and horses, in the back. The first pit had more than 6000 soldiers. Only a few hundred have been restored. Some of the heads were cut off. Of all of the statues, not one was found whole. The emperors enemies broke the statues, and burned the place they were after he died.

The soldiers were made with local clay. They made the bodies first. The legs are solid and the upper body is hollow. Then they would make a head, that could be attached separately, and you could take it off. All the heads are different. They originally were all painted, but as soon as they were uncovered, the paint was destroyed. They are still repairing lots of the soldiers all the time. When they repair them, they keep them in the very back to the big building. We took pictures with them.

The second pit was the officer’s pit. It was very small and had 4 horses at the front. There were only like 60 soldiers in this pit, and they were mostly officers. You can tell the different types of soldier by the hat and hair, and their uniform. I like the calvary man best. He has a flat hat, and is unusual.

The third pit, was kind of boring. They have done almost nothing with it. They say there are almost 2000 soldiers in there, but almost none was uncovered. It had smallish walls. It did have examples of the different soldiers behind glass. We also found 2 very unusual Terra-Cotta soldiers in this room.  I’ll upload there pictures later.

The final room was a museum, and the main thing there was 2 chariots with horses. These were half-sized and made of bronze. They were found in a different place. There was some other stuff there, but I really don’t remember much about it. It was cool, the air-conditioning was working. That’s good because it was the hottest day of the year in Xi’an.

After that we were finished with the Terra-Cotta soldiers. We drove back to town. It took about an hour. We stopped at the ancient city walls that were really big, and surrounded the whole downtown. But we didn’t climb them, we were getting tired.

From there we went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. We toured the grounds, and then mom, dad and Melissa hiked to the top and took pictures. It was a big building and there were lots of Buddha’s and monks everywhere. For 10 RMB (about $1.25) you could get candles and incense and pray to Buddha. We didn’t. But we did buy lots to drinks because we were thirsty. A lot of places you are not supposed to take pictures. We met a man and woman who are traveling around the world for two years and writing a book about it. A lot of the people here were pushy and wanted to touch me and Mia on the hair and face and stuff. Bu Yao!! No pictures for you!!

We finally went to our hotel. They had overbooked the hotel we were at so they put us in an even nicer hotel. It was the Grand Mercure Hotel in downtown Xi’an. It was really nice and we got three rooms. All four of us girls got our own room. It was a 5 star hotel, and it only cost us like $35 each room. It was supposed to cost at least $70, but because they moved us from the other building they gave us the same price. This is a good price even in China!!

We went to dinner at a 5 star hotel, at a really fancy buffet. It was called Azur. I ordered noodles with butter. I finished the first big bowl, and they gave me a second bowl for free. Melissa had grilled cheese and french fries. Everyone else ate the buffet. I’ll let dad talk about the buffet.

Dad: The buffet cost about $20 a person, which is pricey for China. But we had prime rib, steaks(australian beef), seafood, sushi, and about a dozen more entrees. Steak, pork and fish could be cooked to order. Dinner also came with a drink, beer or soda, and a large dessert bar. We all got our money’s worth, even if it did cost about 4 times as much as most dinners here. We hadn’t eaten all day, we skipped lunch planning to eat in town after the Terra Cotta warriors, but we changed our plans and never took a break. Nobody walked away from that place hungry, and the service was pretty good and friendly. They didn’t even mind sharing the buffet desserts with the two girls who didn’t get the buffet.

One of the coolest things was the 5 star bathroom in the hotel near the restaurant. The nicest bathroom in China so far!! This is probably a 12 star.

After dinner we even went for a swim at the hotel pool, and used the hot-tub. There was only like one other family there at the pool. It was a really fancy place, with lockers, and women with towels, and an inground bar by the pool, and fancy chairs.

Then back to the room to watch TV until everyone fell asleep. It was a full day - and now we’re all full. So ”Wan An” to everyone from Xi’an, China!!! Zai Jian!