Discovering China's Ancient Past

The Terracotta Warriors

Like all places in the world, China has some incredible historical wonders that you simply can't miss. If you have the opportunity to visit Xi'an the Terracotta Warriors are a must see. I have a few recommendations to make your visit the best it can be.

We visited on a Tuesday morning because this day and time has fewer visitors than in the afternoon or weekends. Tens of thousands of tourists visit the warriors every day, so take your time and plan your visit accordingly.

The second thing I highly recommend is to go as a group and pitch it for a tour guide. It only costs around 150 RM which is approx $30 US. Our guide made ALL the difference. It was so informative to listen to the stories and history from a well trained guide. 

It was also great to be able to ask all the questions we wanted and make connections between the various exhibits.

Here is Rachel with our sweet guide. She spent extra time with us and was so patient when we would get distracted by one thing or another. 

Here is one of the "Gifts" you can purchase in the gift shop. I think it would set you back around $3,000 USD plus shipping.

The Terracotta Warriors weren't even discovered and excavated until 1974! 

They date back to the first Emperor of China; Qin Shi Huang.

Emperor Qin ruled from 260-210 BC

There are actually 3 different sites that have been uncovered so far. Each site represents different flanks of Emperor Qin's army. The one below was for the Captains. Many of the captains were never completed because Emperor Qin died.

Almost all of the warriors on display have had to be pieced back together. At some point there was a fire that burned the wooden roof that covered the army and later a flood. Both destroyed many of the pieces. Each one is carefully reassembled to the best possible condition. The process is long and tedious. You can see the warrior on the bottom left is wrapped in plastic wrap. This helps hold the piece together while the adhesive dries and also keeps everything in place so the archaeologists and restoration workers can catalog each piece.

This is the most common area photographed. No picture captures how cool it is to be in the vicinity of such ancient relics. It is truly a miracle that these artifacts have remained as well as they did. Most, if not all, of the warriors would have once had swords and other weapons but due to theft any metal has long since been removed.

After our trip back in time, we opted to stop for a tea break. I'm not a huge fan of unsweetened bland tea, but it was cool learning about all the different teas that are popular in China. Tea in China is made by taking dried leaves of various plants or flowers, pouring hot water over it and drinking it. It was surprising how big a difference there was in flavor between different flowers and leaves. We tried Jasmine, ginseng, green tea, Lychee (a fruit sort of like a grape inside the skin of a kiwi) and another one I can't remember the name. It was fascinating to watch and to learn.

We had a great time and afterward grabbed some food at one of the shops nearby. There were plenty of souvenirs to keep you shopping for days but we kept it simple with my go-to-souvenir a magnet.