Wandering Heels: China Trip Leg 5: 西安 Xi'an 上

We took the fast train from LuoYang to Xi'an and the journey took just over an hour. Once again, there were dodgy people that snuck up from coach class to sit in business class. The lady even shamelessly accepted the free drink from the train hostess. Tsk tsk tsk. How did we know she was a free-loader? Dad's allocated seat was next to this guy but we changed seats. The lady came along and sat next to the dude after Dad vacated the seat. They knew each other. Logic tells me that she must be a freeloader, maybe him too. If she had paid for the seat, wouldn't they have been allocated seats next to each other?

Xi'an was the most expensive city out of all the ones we visited due to it being mainly a tourism city. The hotel suite was also the most expensive but it was the first city with air conditioning switched on so we all breathed a sigh of relief. Dad was ready to book the first tickets out of Zheng Zhou hehe.

Control area...

We got a spare bed in the living room and Dad slept there happily.

Loccitane toiletries!!!! I came home with 5 kgs worth of shampoos and what not. Heheheh.

Most of the hotels we stayed at (except for last stop in Shanghai) had rain showers equipped in the bathrooms. Happy happy joy joy joy. Xi'an's even had a sauna feature... woot!

I watched TV while taking a bath.... wohoooo.

The hotel was very central. We were only a few blocks away from city central so we went for a looksie. Xi'an is one of the four great ancient capitals of China. The other 3 are Beijing, Nanjing and LuoYang. We visited all of them on this trip. Xi'an used to be known as Chang'an and this is a name us Hii girls know very well as we are all tv addicts!

钟楼 Bell tower was right in front of the big shopping complexes so we took photos from the steps of the mall instead of visiting the tower. Obviously, it got its name from the bells within the building.

鼓楼 Drum tower could be seen in the distance and again, got its name from the huge drum found in the building.

Mum and Dad looooooooooooove talking to strangers, a trait none of the Hii girls inherited. While I was busy snapping photos of the towers, they struck up a conversation with a local lady. She gave us some information on where to visit. None of which we followed haha. But she did help take a group photo of us.

Bell tower with drum tower in the horizon....

We wandered along the streets and saw a bit of the street life.

Seamstresses working under dim lights...

China people loooooooove their skewered meat. Everywhere we went, we saw this.

Young people dancing in public. Sigh, yes I said YOUNG PEOPLE. Damn it.

Pedestrian mall

Even Walmart is here which is proof that Xi'an is a happening city.

But the pathway was pretty atrocious at times...

I was getting quite tired of breakfast buffets by now. But the buns were still cute. This was a red bean bun masquerading as a pumpkin. I was also still not tired of pilfering buns and croissants for later consumption. heheh. More often than not, they were binned but that was not the point.

We checked the one day tours available at the hotel but none of them looked too attractive so the parents decided to hire a private car and driver for the day. This turned out to be a very expensive option because Xi'an's tourist attractions were all ridiculously expensive. To put it into perspective, Forbidden City which gave me 5 hours of joy was RMB60. Terracotta Warriors which was packed with people and really only gave me 30 minutes of wonder and amazement, costed RMB150!!!!!!

First stop for the day was 華清池 Huaqing Hot Springs. This was RMB100.

We had to walk down quite a steep set of staircase, which meant we had to walk back up. Heheh.. poor Mum.

Huaqing Hot Springs are a complex of hot springs at the foot of Mount Li. It was built in the Tang Dynasty as part of 華清宮 Huaqing Palace. These springs are so famous because 楊貴妃 Yang Gui Fei, the beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong used to come here to bathe. More on this later.

This site was the scene of the Xi'an Incident in 1936, when Chiang Kai-Shek was kidnapped by former warlord Zhang Xueliang and forced to join the Chinese Communist Party to oppose Japanese encroachment on China.

Tourists could take cable cars to the summit of Mount Li. It was a very overcast day so we didn't bother.

Chiang Kai-Shek's reception room

Some other crappy room used by him heheh.

Hehe wo shou zai Chiang Kai-Shek.

Packed as usual with annoying people.

Statue of Yang Gui Fei. She was very ummmm voluptuous, like Ah Here.

Entrance to 貴妃湯 Gui Fei Pond.

It was very tiny, especially since she was such a voluptuous lady hehe.

The pond was colloquially known as Gui Fei Pond. Its actual name was Crabapple Pool as it was meant to look like a crabapple flower in full bloom.

The king had his own separate pond.

There were painted along the walls, depicting the love story between Yang Gui Fei and the Emperor. She was known as one of the four great beauties of China and became the favourite consort of the Emperor. She would get very angry and jealous whenever the Emperor favoured other consorts. The Emperor would punish her by banishing her away but then he would miss her and keep bringing her back. Basically, he was whipped. Towards the end, the country was in upheaval and the public felt that she was distracting the Emperor and needed to be killed. The Emperor refused but Yang Gui Fei pleaded to be allowed to die in order to restore peace. So she was strangled to death on the orders of the reluctant Emperor. Poor pretty fattie.

We spied a few "old" buildings being constructed. More fakeness.

This was an inscription of a poem written by a famous poet Bai Ju Yi, which detailed the events surrounding Yang Gui Fei's death - 長恨歌 Song of Everlasting Regret. The most famous lines were the last few lines - 在天願作比翼鳥，在地願為連理枝，天長地久有時盡，此恨綿綿無絕期。This translated to - In heavens, we vow to be two birds flying wingtip to wingtip, On earth, we vow to be two intertwined branches of a tree, Even heaven and earth have their ending times, The regret of our parting will last forever and never end.

There was actually a stage just underneath the water level and there were nightly shows based on the poem.

Mum and Dad sneakily listened in on some other group's tour guide explaining about the place.

Next up, Terracotta Warriors!!!!! As you can see, the place was very commercialised. KFC had a huge restaurant there.

As mentioned, the entrance ticket was RMB150 each. Our driver advised that we got a tour guide so that was another RMB90. As usual the entrance was a long way away from the actual place so add another RMB10 for electrical cart tickets. Tsk tsk tsk.

First stop - Museum of Bronze Works.

This was how the area looked like before the accidental finding of the terracotta army.

It was too loud in the room so i couldn't really hear what our tour guide told us... so unsure whether these were real or reproductions.

The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Their purpose were was to protect the emperor in his afterlife, and to make sure that he had people to rule over. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits. Other terracotta non-military figures were also found in other pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

Qin Shi Huang's masoluem was also nearby but this remained unexcavated and closed to the public due to the area being riddled by underground springs and watercourses. The necropolis complex was constructed as a microcosm of his imperial palace or compound. It consists of several offices, halls, stables and other structures placed around the tomb mound. Work on this mausoleum began in 246 BC soon after he ascended the throne (then aged 13), and the full construction later involved 700,000 workers!!!

We visited Pit 1 first. It is the largest pit, 230 metres long and 62 metres wide, and contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures.

You can imagine how huge the place is when compared to the ant-like humans. I was blown away by the sight.

Wish that lady would go away!

Each warrior had individual facial expressions. How amazing is that!!!

This is how they looked when excavated. Each figurine had to painstakingly reconstructed. Most originally held real weapons such as spears, swords, or crossbows. The figures were also originally painted with bright pigments, variously coloured in pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac. The coloured lacquer finish, individual facial features, and actual weapons used in producing these figures created a realistic appearance. Most of the original weapons were thought to have been looted shortly after the creation of the army, or have rotted away, and the colour coating has flaked off or greatly faded.

Our tour guide said that they've stopped excavating because current technology is not adequate in preserving the colors of the figurines. So there are actually more figurines under these areas but they've stopped work on untouched areas. Apparently the figurines have colors when first unearthed but the colours oxidise very quickly, leaving behind that "dirt" look we all know so well.

Assembly area for unfinished figurines...

It's like the world's hardest 3D puzzle.

Mum and Dad decided that the souvenir shop was a great place for a photo instead of Pit 1...

Pit 2 is teeny tiny. It has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots and is thought to represent a military guard.

Pit 3 was heavily destroyed in history. Even though it was huge, only 68 figurines, 1 chariot and 34 bronze weapons were unearthed from this pit. It is known as the command centre of Pit 1 and 2.

Check out the black soot marks in the background - evidence of the areas being set on fire by looters.

The most complete and perfect figurines when excavated were placed on display.

Kneeling archer - This was unearthed from Pit 2. The pose of both hands evidences that it held a crossbow originally. 160 kneeling archers were found in Pit 2.

The details on each figurine are mind-boggling... down to the threads on the soles of the shoes.

Faint colors can still be seen on the back of the armor.

Middle- ranking Officer - He wears a double-layered flat hat and square-toed shoes. A robe under the armour extends below the knees. There are 2 armor styles for middle-ranking officers. A chest armor only and another which is both chest and back armors.

High-ranking Officer - He is one of seven generals found. His height, clothing and headgear all indicated his high rank. He wears double-layered robes under a colourful fish-scaled armour and a high heagear tied with ribbons underneath the chin. His shoes are square with upward-bending tips.

Cavalryman with saddled war-horse - 116 similar cavalryman with their horses were found in Pit 2. The figure wears a knee-length robe, an armoured vest and tight-fitting trousers. He holds the reins in one hand and a crossbow in the other.