Part of my trip to China included a trip to Xi'an with Em and family, a two hour flight west of Beijing. Xi'an is the city where the Terracotta Warriors began to be unearthed in 1974. It was a complete fluke really. A farmer needed to dig a well. So he dug, and had he been 5 cm in another direction they would never have been found. As it was, he dug down and caught just the front edge of a tomb that covers the same area as three airplane hangers. I can remember reading an article about this way back in the late 70s and thinking I'd really like to see this terracotta army some day.
It was the middle of January so it was winter and in my 16 days in China, this was the only one on which it snowed.
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| paper lanterns in the trees (though actually plastic not paper) |
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| Park near the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an. |
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| One of the favoured generals from Qin Shi Huang's army |
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| Statues along the way were highlighted by the falling snow. |
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| Emperor Mike |
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| Imperial Prince Yvan (and Chuck) |
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| The tomb with the warriors was covered by a roof before excavation began. |
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| Everything found was in pieces, making for one amazingly huge jig-saw puzzle. |
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| Piece by piece they were put together again. Some parts needing to be remade. |
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| These guys looked like they were waiting for assignment. |
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| A little bit, but not a lot of snow. By the time we left the necropolis area in the late afternoon it had stopped. |
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| This is the only terracotta warrior that was found intact. He is a kneeling archer. |
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| Chuck Chicken with one of the dragons along the bridge crossing the moat to the walled city of Xi'an. |
