Xi’an: the bonus city (pronounced like sshe’an – so you don’t end up making strange, guttural “x” noises that sound like you’re about to spit)
As you might recall, our original itinerary included both Beijing and Xi’an. But we were having such a nice time in Yunnan that we decided to extend our time there and skip those two famous cities. Of course, we wanted to see the Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors, but our schedule had become just too crowded. If you’re wondering how we changed the plane tickets, well, we didn’t. I hadn’t purchased them yet since short notice domestic flights are often more economical anyway.
Well, from Zhangjiajie we had a midnight flight to Xi’an and a ticket out of Xi’an that same morning at 7:25 and we still managed to see the city. So adept are we at this travel stuff that we basically created time.
At least, I would like to tell you that by our travel genius and ingenuity we were able to see those ancient warriors…but…well, the truth is that we missed our flight. I know! We slept at the airport – the ultimate early. How could we possibly be late? We found a way.
By some mischance we had camped in the wrong terminal. I feel silly but in our defense it was after midnight and there was a large sign displaying “Terminal 2” on one end of Terminal 3…with no arrow pointing to a different area. So, at 1:30 in the morning we interpreted this to mean that we were in Terminal 2.
A few hours later we stiffly pulled ourselves upright from were we had been lying and tried to recall what personal tragedy had brought us to sleeping on such uncomfortable bench seats. Ah yes, I recalled, we were English teachers on a budget (which is redundant). I glanced down at the cockroaches scurrying under the bench James was still struggling on and decided we had better find our flight.
That airport was much larger than it should have been. We sped across the airport at our quickest speed walk, following sign after sign for Terminal 2.
Over 20 minutes later we abruptly came to a halt at the end of a gigantic Check In line. Somehow, the entire nation had migrated from the Avatar park to that line. It was just after 7:00am.
Desperate, I weaved and pushed my way up to the counter and urgently said what flight we were on – a flight that was scheduled for 7:25am. The attendant shook his head and waved me away. We were too late; we had missed it. Unbelievable.
Resigned, we dragged ourselves over to the ticket counter to see what could be done. No refunds, of course. The tickets for that day were ridiculously expensive. But the same flight for the next day was less than $50 each. The prospect of sleeping at the airport another night wasn’t particularly appealing as my hair had already acquired a distinctly Street-Fighter-Blanca-esq look but, hang it all, we were going to save money so we booked a flight for the next day.
Now we were faced with a choice. We could either see how long it takes a person to go clinically insane from sitting in an airport or we could go into the city for the day.
Now, even “small” Chinese cities are gargantuan and getting from the airport into the city proper usually incurs equally sized taxi fees. Having just coughed up money for replacement tickets, I didn’t exactly feel like paying for a taxi. So I consulted the ever useful Wiki Triip.
Airport bus #2 goes to the train station and from there Tourist Bus #5 (also called 306) goes right to the Terracotta Warriors. The ride would take 2 hours and the same buses could take us back. It also said to avoid taxis because they are extra surly in Xi’an.
As expensive as seeing the warriors was ($25 each) it was not as expensive as taking a separate trip back to Xi’an. It was decided. Team Whitmore wasn’t going to sleep on airport chairs for two nights for nothing.
Were the Terracotta Warriors fantastic? An amazing feat of art and engineering? In short, inspiring?
Actually, to tell you the truth, they were exactly like the photos. They are, not surprisingly, clay statues made on an assembly line. The thing is just that there are a LOT of them.
There are 3 pits containing figures but 2 of the pits are basically empty. A building was built over the pits, by the way, so there is a roof and walls that make the place look something like a hockey stadium with the pits being the rink and the warriors being the players.
Pit #1 is the pit you’ve probably seen on National Geographic. It does have an impressive amount of statues, but not quite as impressive as the photos would lead you to believe. I’ve said before that manmade things tend to look smaller in real life and that principle held true for this relic as well.
Oh, no doubt, Emperor Qin’s order to construct huge underground rooms in which to house thousands of life sized statues was an incredible task without backhoes and dump trucks. The fact that so many have survived from 209 BC is truthfully amazing. I’ve broken plenty of ceramic bowls just washing dishes and those are a bit more resilient than terracotta.
The figures are certainly life-like but, let’s be honest, they aren’t exactly Statue of Davids. I mean, you wouldn’t wonder if a real human was hiding under the surface. I’m not degrading the work put into them by saying that. They’re stylized and there are thousands of statues. Hand carving each out of stone likely would have been impossible or undesirable. So the statues were basically done on an assembly line and then individually finished.
I’ve heard people rave about how each one is different but I wonder if that is only something post-Industrial Revolution people would say. We’re used to mass produced EVERYTHINGS that are impossible to tell apart – mugs, computers, cars, t-shirts. Variation usually doesn’t pass Quality Control these days. But not back then. As a potter (Whitmore Studio plug), I can vouch for the fact that making identical wheel thrown mugs is much harder than making unique mugs. So I’m not really awed that they’re all a little different.
However… if each statue is truly representative of the likeness of one of the emperor’s living soldiers, as has been speculated, that would make this project even more impressive. I can’t imagine thousands of soldiers waiting in line for their portrait.
Either way, they give interesting insight into the styles and features of those ancient people. It was a great feat. But I think you can imagine that discovering an underground room full of thousands of Statues of David would be slightly more impressive.
We didn’t see the Emperor’s tomb for the simple reason that no one living has. They haven’t opened the mountain sized burial mound yet, unsure of the damage it might cause. But the rumors about it are fantastic.
Did I mention that the nation of tourists had followed us from the airport to the Warrior museum? Again, I tried to avoid letting them into my photos, but I’ve never had my camera obliviously whacked so many times nor been shoved so much by a crowd – which is saying something.
After a few hours we left the Warrior Museum to find Bus #5. As we walked past stall after stall of mini Terra-cotta figurines, shop keepers spryly demonstrated the durability of their wares by whacking the stout little figurines against each other and shouting gleefully when they didn’t break. I noticed that they did not do this with with 12” and larger versions – only with the 3” sets. So I dutifully bought a 3” set.
In the end, James and I agreed that historically and culturally, it’s important and worth visiting, but that much of the appeal of the place is just being able to say that you’ve been there. After all, it is the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”
As if we were the authorities, right? Here’s another angle: the Terracotta Warriors are one of the few amazing things that look pretty much the same in pictures as when viewed in person. Just our opinion; add as much salt as desired.
Funny thing about impressive monuments – like Angkor Wat and the Pyramids: most seem to have been constructed to protect their occupant in the afterlife. They were built, primarily, to provide eternal life and eternal security while proclaiming the dead man’s greatness. Incidentally, all these projects to attain eternal life for one cost the lives of thousands of others (if I have the story right, all 700,000 of the workers were buried alive in the tomb complex).
In stark contrast, there is an ancient story about one man who was executed to make eternal life and eternal security possible for everyone. Like the sons of Korah said a few hundred years before Emperor Qin began his project:
“Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts…
…But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.”
Thank Jesus for that.
By 9:00pm James and I had dragged ourselves back into the airport, retrieved our packs from their lockers, and began the search for dinner and for a new bench to sleep on. Around 1:00am a guard woke us to inform us (using his phone to translate) that we were not allowed to sleep in the terminal and would have to go to the airport’s bus station – since people were allowed to sleep there.
For a price, people were also allowed to sleep in a “slfepbox,” as the sign read. There were about 10 of these sleepboxes that looked like something out of IKEA. I was hoping to see a “sheepbox” but no such luck. It was significantly hotter at the bus stop but at least there were some uncomfortable benches still available.
Determined not to repeat the day before’s mishap, we got up a little after 5:00 and were some of the first in line for check in. Of course we probably looked like diseased vagabonds and had scared away all the other passengers but at least we were on time. We arrived back in Jilin that afternoon and slept very well the next night.