Xinzheng to Xi'an

Location:
China

terra-cotta soliders, Xi'an

By Kim Orendor

Sept. 29

After my first month of teaching at SIAS International University in Xinzheng, China, I decided I needed a break.

On cue, China has a work stoppage for the National Holiday. Our students boarded buses and headed for train. Xinzheng (pronounced: Shin-jung) became a ghost town. Well, as much of a ghost town as a town with more than a million people can be.

Sept. 30

The day is spent packing for my trip to Xi’an in the Shaanxi Province. Xi’an is home to the famous tomb of Qin Shihuang (Chin Sure-wong). He had his people make thousands of terra-cotta soldiers to be buried with him, so he could have an army in the afterlife. I’m traveling with 35 other foreign teachers. (It’s still strange to think of myself as foreign.)

Oct. 1

We board the bus at 7:30 a.m.

The roads are crowded because it is the first day of the National Holiday week. Today is China’s birthday (like the United State’s 4th of July). Central China is very green. People farm corn, peanuts, lotus, dates and various other vegetables. As we travel away from the flat land around Xinzheng, we enter the rolling mountains and terrace farming.

Near the Shaanxi Province, the mountains grow. People here used to (and some still do) live in homes carved in the mountains. They are like hobbit houses. Some people just leave the front plain, but others carve door arches and eves and window boxes. It’s like a mini-Petra, a very mini-Petra. Ok, not really even close, but it’s a visual.

We arrive in Xi’an after 10 (TEN) HOURS on the bus and head for dinner and a show at the opera house. I’m starving and this place is famous for its dumplings (in the US they’re called pot stickers). We had all kinds: pork, chicken, shrimp, vegetable, walnut (my favorite), and beef. Some boiled, some steamed, some friend. One was really spicy. It made my tongue feel like it was on fire. This also led to the drinking of rice wine as I wildly grabbed anything liquid in front of me: tea, rice wine, water, … I would have chugged the soy sauce had it been in a bowl.

Oct. 2

Finally, we arrive at the tomb. We see a quick movie on the history of the area and Qin Shihuang. His tomb is bigger than those in Egypt, and according to historical documents, it’s guarded by several booby-traps. One of the legends is that he’s buried on a “map” of the world, with liquid mercury for rivers and oceans.

The terra-cotta warriors were found in 1974 by a farmer, who was digging a well. For a small price, you can buy a guide book and have it autographed by “the” farmer. Yeah, I’m cynical. We went to several different shops and saw two different farmers. (If you ever visit, save some money and don’t get that book for 120rmb, get the new little one for 40rmb. It’s in English and full of all sorts of info and maps.)

There are three different pit areas to see: the biggest and most photographed; the headquarters and the last where work stopped.

China stopped uncovering the Warriors when it realized it didn’t know how to preserve the color.

In pit 1, there are so many of the warriors standing at attention. It’s kind of creepy the way they all stare straight ahead. There are cavalry, archers, foot soldiers, generals, low-ranking officers and many more. There are several different faces, all with mustaches, which is ironic because few Chinese men have facial hair nowadays.

Some of the soldiers are just halfway out of the ground, so it looks like they are being swallowed whole. It was strange in one pit, they started to free a horse. They’re only halfway done, so there is just this big horse rear end sticking out of a wall of mud.

After looking around, it’s back on the bus. Yeah. (Insert sarcasm here)

It’s time to explore the Xi’an museum. However, I’m more thirsty than excited about seeing more soldiers, so I find a coffee shop and sit and chat with some fellow travelers. We sit and sip our generic macchiatos (coffee with cocoa – please, Starbucks, my kingdom for a caramel macchiato.) Despite the lack of overall taste, it’s a nice break. We stop near the city wall and watch the 20-minute dancing water show. The fountain area is more than three football fields long. It really puts the Disney dancing waters to shame.

Oct. 3

We are up early and headed for the city wall. The city wall was rebuilt 600 years ago during the Ming Dynasty. The wall is 14-kilometers long – it would take an hour and a half to ride around it on a bike.

Some guys dress like the soldiers did back then and walk around. You can get your picture taken with them. Oddly, all the foreigners were stopping the soldiers to have pictures taken with them, but when we’d get done, the Chinese people would ask to have their pictures taken WITH US. We are quite the celebrities here.

We then traveled inside the walls to the Muslim Market. It’s a large shopping area where you can buy all sorts of things – and you get to bargain. It’s a game, and if you play it well they’ll tell you. You ask how much something costs, they tell you, and then you say, “too much” and start to walk away. The shop owner then asks you what you want to pay – you say something really low, and they tell you how they’ll starve. Then they say their price again, but 20 or so. This goes back and forth until either the shop owner gets to a price that’s ok or you get tired.

After some dinner it’s back on the bus and nine hours later, we are back at Xinzheng. Yeah!

Oct. 4

Oh, sleeping is very good, very good indeed.

Further Information

Travel tips: Don't buy the first thing you see. Most shops carry similar things. Wear comfortable shoes, there's a lot of walking.

Must see/do at this place: Terra-cotta soldiers, a walk along the city wall, and the fountains

You should avoid here: Paying more than 10 RMB for a small box of soldiers. I was able to bargain down to 5 RMB.