Xi'an - China's Legacy

Since arriving in China, we've seen more than a movie or two that featured Xi'an as the backdrop. Even Hollywood movies like Mummy3 and "The Myth" feature the area's popular tourist pull - the Terracotta warriors. We wanted to hear what all the fuss was about and so headed to this inland and historical city.

We first explored the city center which featured a Chinese staple - a Bell and Drum tower. The Drum tower had the added bonus of actually allowing you (for a fee) to beat the drum as hard as possible which I was more than delighted to do.



Within the city center, we also noticed a few oddities:
1) Xi'an was the self-described Christmas capital of China. Not sure why, but I'll admit that nearly every store had either a Christmas tree or at least a picture of Santa on the door.


2) colored cabbage - yes, the city was completely decorated in the stuff pictured side.






3) Muslim district - while most of the Muslims long left the city - think cultural revolution - the people left a lasting impression with Chinese style Mosques (pictured left), ultra tasty peanut and walnut cookies and other traditional foods.



4) Lack of foreigners - actually, this is not that special, but I did notice almost a complete lack of laowai with exception of a Cuban event at our hotel that featured 4 imported Cuban musicians.

We had a very traditional Xi'an dinner featuring local dumplings, Chicken and one of the most curious looking deserts ever. I'm not sure what they're called in English, but these tasty treats pictured on left were made with black bean (sweet)and included a handle for portability

However, our real reason for visiting was to see the much older history. One that dates back 5000BC, but possibly much older. We first visited the Shaanxi History Museum that has to be one of the best Chinese Museums. Not only did it have a cross section dating back to every dynasty, a dozen Terracotta Warriors, and artifacts dating to the bronze age, the entire Museum was...Free. It might have been free due to the off season or the fact that the overwhelming scent of drying paint gave us a contact buzz. Anyhow, one of the features of the Museum was a collection of pottery that included ancient Chinese characters. The real amazing part is that we could actually pick out and see the linkage between the characters we're studying and those on the pottery which are estimated between 5000-7000 years old.

We then took an hour drive to the site of one of the most important discoveries in China. Turns out that the discovery of the Terracotta Warriors was totally by accident. Two farmers in 1974 were drilling a new well when up came a bunch of pieces of pottery. Had they drilled a few feet away, the discovery might never have been made. Years later once the site was partially excavated, they discovered that thousands of clay warriors were standing guard to protect the first emperor of China. The majority of the warriors are still buried since authorities are concerned about decay - many of the warriors once uncovered were brightly colored. In all, it was an amazing sight that I won't soon forget.