Xi`an, Part 1

Alright, it took me another two days to find some time again, but here it goes. In this blog I will try to describe all my travels in and around Xi'an so far. We have seen so many wonderful sights, it is really hard to decide where to begin. I guess it is probably best to start at the beginning :)

So on Sunday we flew from Beijing to Xi'an. Whereas Beijing is current capital of China, Xi'an is undoubtedly the historic capital. Many great Emperors resided in this area, and left many cultural treasures in their reign. On our way back from the Airport, we got to visit one of these sights. We visited the surroundings of the 4th Emperor in the Han Dynasty. By now all the dates have started to mix up in my mind, so I had to look it up, but this Dynasty took place between 206 BC and AD 220. From what I have seen, each of these emperors, would usually be in control for about 10-15 years, but their tombs and monuments often took longer to complete.This example was not different. The emperor has been in control for 17 years, until his death, but his tomb took about 27 years to complete. So many resources we used in the process, it pretty much made me wonder if it was worth it all, but of course these people were pretty much considered to be Gods in their time, so who am I to argue :) They did create some overwhelming monuments of their existence, which I am happy to show to you.

This first emperor we visited left behind a huge tomb and a large collection of object he wanted to accompany him to the afterlife. I could go into great detail, but I think I will just show you the pictures instead. If you really want to know more, I'm sure Wikipedia has all the answers :P

One of the many faces of the miniature figures placed near the Emperors tomb

This is the way in which most of the warriors were found. Many were damaged because of robbers and collapsing roofs. Apart from human sculptures, they also buried many pottery animal and other resources like grain, currency and various tools

Whereas these grounds were filled with thousands and thousands of miniatures statues, the next one we would visit would be quite the opposite. I will tell you more about this in the next Blog: Xi`an, Part 2. After our first afternoon, we were taken to our hotel where we found out to our great surprise that Linzhen's Uncle had booked us individual rooms. Not only did we get to stay in our own rooms, but the hotel itself was also magnificent. Here's a picture of my room, which comes fully equipped with shower and bath, as well as a desk and lounge area.

I would have never dreamed of staying in such nice hotels during this trip! Linzhen and her family really have been spoiling us!

At night we met up with the man who has made this all possible. He is a family friend of Linzhen's and apparently runs a large oil company in China. Those are some good connections to have! We had dinner in a great restaurant, where we some delicious food and lots of Bajo again (the 42% alcohol I was taking about earlier). We then called it a night, but not before a nice after-dinner walk around the old cities South Gate, and a cultural park, which were all beautifully light up at night, as the following pictures shows:

The South Gate Toward on the old city wall

Another beautiful section of the city which displays many statues in memory of the old Emperors that lead this country

After that walk we got back to the hotel. It had been another long day! The next day were would get up early again to go and visit the Terracotta Army, which is also located near this city. I will be happy to tell (and show) you more about this soon. But I will need to get some sleep again. As you may have noticed, I am working "in the past" now, as I am desperately trying to keep up with the events. Lately, I have not been succeeding, but that is only due to the vast amount of sightseeing that we have been doing. So the benefit of falling behind right now, is that I will get to tell and show you even more later. I hope to get back to you again tomorrow!

Take good care,
Jeff