In 2000 when our family was living in Japan, Kent and I fulfilled a life-long dream to go to China. We went through a travel agency and planned our own itinerary. Besides seeing Beijing and the Great Wall of China, (of course) I wanted to go to the city of Xian to see the terra cotta army. It was one of the most fascinating sights Kent and I have seen. (Note: the warrior we're standing next to in the above photo is a reproduction.)
Ten years later a traveling exhibit of the warriors is currently on display in Washington, DC. Kent met me during his lunch hour on January 22nd and we toured the exhibit. It was extremely well done, and gave lots of history of China and the emperor who commissioned the army. We learned that in the ten years since we were at the excavation site, they have uncovered not only soldiers, but musicians and acrobats.
I think we learned more about the terra cotta figures from the Nat Geo (yea, I just think it's fun to say that) exhibit than we did in China. The website about it has lots of good information; you can click on this link to go to it: www.nationalgeographic.com/terracottawarriors/The museum exhibit showed the process of how the figures were created out of clay, which was very interesting. The coolest thing to remember is that these figures are 2,000 YEARS OLD.
Here are some pictures we took in China ten years ago.
The picture below is grainy, but I wanted to show the condition the warriors were in before they're reassembled. I learned this year that computers are used to help put the warriors back together.
Below is an overall view of what the excavation site looks like. You can see that tourists are only allowed to walk around the perimeter, which is why we don't have too many good pictures.
The terra cotta warriors have been called one of the man-made wonders of the world, and Kent and I would have to agree!!
4 comments:
That is really cool. I guess I just have to go to China myself to see them.
Also, it looks like they aren't that great of warriors because you've encountered them TWICE and you are still alive to tell about it. :P
I guess since you've seen them twice you don't have to go to the Forbidden Gardens here and see them again. :)
That is really neat. I had never heard of it before. I would love to go to China someday. Now, if I ever do, I have something else on my list of things to see!
Facinating! It is great that you are still finding ways to travel the world--even in DC!
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