Nov 12 Xian and the Terracotta Warriors

 

 

We were met last evening at the airport by our guide, Michael.  On Wednesday our first stop was the Xian city wall.  The existing wall was started by the Ming Dynasty in 1370. It runs an 8.5 mile loop around the city, is 39 feet high, and 45-59 feet wide.    It originally had four gates, north, south, east and west.   At the top of each gate is a building seen in the second photo.   It is amazing to be on the wall and look down it and not be able to see where it turns.   They had bicycle rentals, which would have been a great loop ride, overlooking the whole city.   Down below us was a park, with individuals doing Tai Chi.

After the wall we went to see the Terracotta Warriors.  The first stop was a little shop, where we met this gentleman.   In 1974 he was a farmer and he and some other farmers were digging a well, when they uncovered some of the warriors.  They contacted the authorities, who started the investigation of the find.    The terracotta soldiers were made in about 200 BC at the same time as the great wall.  They estimate at that there are about 8000 warriors and horses, but so far, only about 2000 have been uncovered.  The warriors are decorated with colorful paint on but when exposed to air it immediately starts to deteriorate.  They are holding off on doing much more excavation until they can find a solution to ensure this does not continue to happen.

In the next photo you can see how lifelike the faces are…..    The 2nd photo shows pit 1, which is the largest pit.  It is about 750 feet by 200 feet and is estimated to contain about 6000 warriors and horses.  So far only a third of it has been uncovered, exposing 2,000 warriors and horses and about 20 chariots.  They were originally placed in rows, separated by walls you can see.   Photos two through five below are all from pit one.  Only one of the warriors was found intact, the rest were in pieces and had to be reassembled.   Photos six and seven show what it looked like when they are first uncovered.

The next two pictures are of the only warrior found intact, the kneeling archer. Note the color on the back.  

This next picture shows what it looks like before they restore the warriors.  The final picture is one of the weapons that was found with them.   They were all armed with real weapons.  One of the interesting aspects of the weapons is that the some of them had been dipped in chromium powder to help keep them sharp, a use that was lost for thousands of years..

November 11th Beijing

 

On Tuesday we were picked up by Emma and driven first to the Temple of Heaven.  This is a huge temple covering about one square mile.  It was built in the early 1400s and was originally the temple to heaven and to earth, but it was determined it should only be the temple to one, so it became the temple to heaven.  The local residents use the grounds for Tai Chi, and we saw many groups working out.

 

We then went to Tiananmen Square.

On one side of Tiananmen Square is the entrance to the Forbidden City, with the portrait of Mao on the entrance (first photo).  The Forbidden City was built between 1406 and 1420.  The map shows how massive the 180 acre complex is with 980 buildings.  You enter through the gate at the bottom of the map.  It is a block to two block walk between each successive gate as you move up through the complex. 

The first photo below the Meridian Gate, entrance to the most secure section of the Forbidden City, on the map, it is the building with the water on both sides.  It is the first building in this graphic.

 

The next photo shows Nancy and Emma, having passed through the building/gate in photo one above, with the next building/gate (Gate of Supreme Harmony) in the background.  From there, you see Nancy and I in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.  Past this building and the Hall of Middle Harmony, you come to the building in photos three and four. The fifth building shows the large stone (200 ton) carving of the nine dragons, which was carved during the Ming Dynasty.  The last photo shows the gate of heavenly purity in the foreground, with a temple outside the complex on the hill.

After the Forbidden City, Emma took us to the airport and put us on our flight to Xian.

November 10th The Great Wall

 

We arrived in China and were met at 8am by our Beijing guide, Emma.  We learned that the Asian-Pacific Economic Corporation was meeting in Beijing.  This major conference included the Presidents of China, the United States, Russia, and about 15 other countries.  To put their best foot forward, the Chinese had closed government offices and major factories during the conference.  As a result, the traffic was far less than normal and there was little air pollution.  The guide joked she wished APEC went all year.

The ride into Beijing took about 2 1/2 ours, and then we went about another hour north of the city to the great wall.  We went to a section of the wall called Mutianyu.  We rode a cable car up to the wall.  It really is one of the more incredible sights we have seen.  The wall was built in sections over hundreds of years, and repaired and improved at various times.  It really started coming together in about 200BC.   It was just amazing.  Emma, our wonderful guide, is in the third photo, with the yellow coat.

After the great wall, we went for lunch at the complex at the bottom of the cable car lift; Burger King.

We drove into Beijing via a jade factory.  Our guide arranged for us to attend a Kung Fu Show at the Red Theatre. It actually turned out to be very good, with a lot of special effects and acrobatics.   After the show, we went back to the hotel and had a great dinner at the noodle shop; more chop stick practice.

Nov 8th and 9th Busan, South Korea and sea day

 

On Saturday we arrived in Busan (also known as Pusan) South Korea, which is only 160 nautical miles from Nagasaki Japan.  We again took a ships tour.  The first stop was a fish market, with the freshest fish we had seen.  In fact most of the fish were alive in tanks and tubs, with water running to keep them alive.  Some of the fish were quite active, we passed a tub of octopuses, and one of them actually jumped out of the tub and started walking on the road as if he wanted to join the tour group.   A friend of ours said a fish jumped out of one tub and almost landed in her lap.

On the way to the next stop, we passed the new Yankee Candle in Busan.

Our next stop was a temple complex, with many different temples.  The fourth photo is the drum tower.   There would be a drum tower and a bell tower.  The bell is run at sunrise, and the drum is struck at sunset.

Sunday was a sea day.   As we approached the China coast at night we would see these bright lights.  As we got close, we could see they are fishing boats, that seemed to use the lights to attract the fish.

Tomorrow, China!!!