Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

Terracota

I think my expectations were too high.

I went to see the Terracota Warriors today, boarding a bus, and heading to the outskirts of Xi'an. They've been called the eighth wonder of the world, touted as one of the greatest archeological finds during the 20th century, and been featured in different movies, both Hollywood and Chinese. No doubt there the must-see attraction in Xi'an.

What's unique about seeing the ancient statutes is that most of them still stand in the excavation sites where they were found. The government instead decided to build a museum around each of the three major sites. So while a few of the statutes are behind glass exhibits, most stand upright beneath the ground in long dug-up trenches.

My thoughts: It's hard to imagine, that you're looking at something more than 2,000 years old. An entire army, sculpted with armor, swords, bows, even horses. But looking down at them from the museum walkways it was hard to appreciate them. Just stone figurines, though all built supposedly built uniquely different, from my distance the sight of them seemed plain and monotonous.

I was told in the past, visitors could actually walk down into the trenches, and stand inches away from the statutes. I wish I could have gone then.

I thought to myself, China's first emperor, the man who ordered their construction, must have been bat-shit insane. Such an undertaking. And yet I could look down into the trenches and see piles of broken remains of statutes, pots, and other artifacts. Crumpled dirt.

What I enjoyed the most about the attraction was not actually in the museum. Outside the area are a range of beautiful hills. Though it was cold, the sky was nearly clear. Living in Xi’an I hardly ever get a chance to see nature. So yes, looking at hills is more interesting an army of ancient statutes built 2,000 years ago.