Terracotta Warriors

4/1/2018

Our main excursion bringing us to Xian and one for us all to tick off our China bucket list: the Terracotta Warriors!

Living in China we have the Didi app (China's version of Uber) which was useful for getting places and worked out cheaper than letting the hotel organise it. Saying that if you are visiting, our hotel charged 600RMB (around £70) to take the 4 of us to the site which was about an hour outside of the city and wait until you are finished and take you home. So still a reasonable way to do it. We have found that admission fees are quite reasonable in comparison to things back in the UK and with this in mind we paid for a guide (200 RMB), Sindy, who spoke to us by the ticket office. It was well worth getting a guide as she was so knowledgeable (as one would hope!) about the Terracotta warriors, the site and importantly the history behind it all. As well as showing us where to get cash out and things to make the process a lot smoother. For a country so advanced and looking to go cashless in the next few years it was a surprise at the number of places which you would have to pay cash for to get into the attractions, so bear this in mind!

The site itself is situated in lovely fields, farmed on for many years before a farmer discovered parts of the warriors before it was dug up. The best pit to see the expanse and awe of the excavation is Pit 1, the largest of the 3 pits and has the most soldiers and horses in. When they were first dug up it was a massive jigsaw as they were all in pieces and needed to be reconstructed, which is crazy!! The only one found whole so far is the kneeling archer, known as 'the lucky one'. They are still piecing some bits together and have a 'hospital' section where the archaeologists are working on warriors or soldiers. Emperor Qin really did build himself a huge army ready for the after life. As well as building the Great Wall, making everyone speak the same language in China and many more things...
This place is well worth a visit and notice all the warriors are so different, even down to the detail in their faces. I am sure google can offer a much better explanation of it all than me, so I will let my attempt at photography depict the rest of the story... enjoy and if you come to China this is a must see to appreciate the extent of the work and the history here.