Storage: tables? Jacket/coat?
Costco: add to list, avocados...?
Sprouts / Smith’s for groceries
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Terracotta Army
The Army of the Terracotta Warriors is easily reached by public bus. From Xī'ān train station take one of the air-conditioned buses, either 914 or 915 (¥8, one hour), which depart every four minutes from 6am to 7pm. Take the bus to the last stop; the buses also travel via the Huáqīng Hot Springs and the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang. The car park for the vehicles is a 15-minute walk from the site, but you can take an electric buggy (¥5) instead if you want. If you want to eat here, there's a good cafe in the theatre building and after you exit to walk back to the car and bus park, you will take another route past a whole assortment of restaurants and fast food, including a McDonald's. Buses head back to town from the parking lot.
The Terracotta Army isn't just Xī'ān's premier site, it's one of the most famous archaeological finds in the world. This subterranean life-size army of thousands has silently stood guard over the soul of China's first unifier for more than two millennia. Either Qin Shi Huang was terrified of the vanquished spirits awaiting him in the afterlife, or as most archaeologists believe, he expected his rule to continue in death as it had in life.
Whatever the case, the guardians of his tomb today offer some of the greatest insights we have into the world of ancient China.
The discovery of the army of warriors was entirely fortuitous. In 1974, peasants drilling a well uncovered an underground vault that eventually yielded thousands of terracotta soldiers and horses in battle formation. Throughout the years the site became so famous that many of its unusual attributes are now well known, in particular the fact that no two soldier's faces are alike.
The on-site wrap-around theatre gives a useful primer on how the figures were sculpted. You can also employ a guide (low/high season ¥150/200) or try the audio-guide (¥40, plus ¥200 deposit), although the latter is somewhat useless, being difficult to understand and not very compelling.
Then visit the site in reverse, which enables you to build up to the most impressive pit for a fitting finale.
Start with the smallest pit, Pit 3 , containing 72 warriors and horses; it's believed to be the army headquarters due to the number of high-ranking officers unearthed here. It's interesting to note that the northern room would have been used to make sacrificial offerings before battle. In the next pit, Pit 2 , containing around 1300 warriors and horses, you can examine five of the soldiers up close: a kneeling archer, a standing archer, a cavalryman and his horse, a mid-ranking officer and a general. The level of detail is extraordinary: the expressions, hairstyles, armour and even the tread on the footwear are all unique.
The largest pit, Pit 1 , is the most imposing. Housed in a building the size of an aircraft hangar, it is believed to contain 6000 warriors (only 2000 are on display) and horses, all facing east and ready for battle. The vanguard of three rows of archers (both crossbow and longbow) is followed by the main force of soldiers, who originally held spears, swords, dagger-axes and other long-shaft weapons. The infantry were accompanied by 35 chariots, though these, made of wood, have long since disintegrated.
Almost as extraordinary as the soldiers is a pair of bronze chariots and horses unearthed just 20m west of the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang. These are now on display, together with some of the original weaponry and a mid-ranking officer you can see up close in a huge modern museum called the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Tomb Artefact Exhibition Hall (秦始皇帝陵文物陈列厅; Qǐnshǐhuángdìlíng Chénliètīng).
You can take photographs, although signs forbid using flash photography (widely ignored) or tripods (also ignored by some).
Among rather tacky souvenir offerings, you can get your own warrior statue personalised with your own face (¥100) or have a photo taken next to a fake warrior (¥10). You can also pick up all manner of Terracotta ornamentation – from warrior paperweights to life-size statues – from the souvenir shop in the theatre building. There's also a Friendship Store for jade, jewellery and so forth.
Tomb of Emperor Jingdi
To get here, take Xī’ān metro Line 2 to the station Shitushuguan. Outside exit D take bus 4 (¥1) to the tomb, which leaves at 8.30am, 9.30am, 10.30am, noon, 1.30pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm, returning to the Xī’ān metro station at 9am, noon, 4pm and 5pm.
Alternatively, tours (around ¥160 per person) are usually arranged by guesthouses. The tomb is 20 minutes from the airport, so makes an easy stop-off by taxi.
This tomb, also referred to as the Han Jing Mausoleum, Liu Qi Mausoleum and Yangling Mausoleum, is the burial place of the Han-dynasty emperor Jingdi (188–141 BC) and is quite possibly Xī’ān’s most underrated highlight. If you only have time for two sights outside Xī'ān, make it the Army of Terracotta Warriors and this impressive museum and tomb. Unlike the warriors, though, it's not inundated with visitors so you'll have elbow room to fully appreciate what you’re seeing.
Much influenced by Taoist precepts, emperor Jingdi based his rule upon the concept of wúwéi (无为; nonaction or noninterference) and did much to improve the life of his subjects: he lowered taxes greatly, used diplomacy to cut back on unnecessary military expeditions and even ameliorated punishments meted out to criminals. The contents of his tomb are particularly interesting, as they reveal more about daily life than martial preoccupations – a total contrast with the Terracotta Army.
The site has been divided into two sections: the museum and the excavation area. The museum holds a large display of expressive terracotta figurines (more than 50,000 were buried here), including eunuchs, servants, domesticated animals and even female cavalry on horseback. The figurines originally had movable wooden arms (now gone) and were dressed in colourful silk robes.
Inside the tomb are 21 narrow pits, some of which have been covered by a glass floor, allowing you to walk over the top of ongoing excavations and get a great view of the relics. In all, 81 burial pits are believed to be here.
Big Goose Pagoda
This pagoda, Xī’ān’s most famous landmark, 4km southeast of the South Gate and formerly within the old (and huge) Tang dynasty city wall, dominates the surrounding modern buildings. One of China’s best examples of a Tang-style pagoda (squarish rather than round), it was completed in AD 652 to house Buddhist sutras brought back from India by the monk Xuan Zang. His travels inspired one of the best-known works of Chinese literature, Journey to the West.
Xuan spent the last 19 years of his life translating scriptures with a crack team of linguist monks; many of these translations are still used today.
The brick Tang pagoda style is not seen in many parts of China, although other examples do exist, in Héběi province's Zhèngdìng, for example. Surrounding the Big Goose Pagoda is Dà Cí’ēn Temple (大慈恩寺, Dàcí’ēn Sì), one of the largest temples in Tang dynasty Cháng’ān. The buildings today date from the Qing dynasty. To the south of the pagoda is an open-air mall of shops, galleries, restaurants and public art; well worth a wander.
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