Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor to unify China. This was not done by diplomacy. Since he was quite a guy, he decided that he needed quite a tomb. Thus the terracotta army and other attractions within a few miles.
The terracotta army is impressive to say the least. There are three excavation sites, called Pit 1, Pit 2 and Pit 3.
Pit 1 contains some 6000 terracotta soldiers. Plus 40 chariots, each with 4 horses. It is 260 meters (850 feet) long and 62 meters (200 feet) wide. That's almost 6 football fields.
Pit 2 has 350 chariot horses, 116 cavalry horses, plus 900 solders and 89 chariots.
Pit 3 has 66 solders, 4 horses and one chariot. It is the headquarters for the terracotta army.
There is also a fourth pit which was dug, but no soldiers installed. It is about the magnitude of pit one. The emperor died fairly young, and they surmise that it just wasn't finished in time. This pit would have completed a typical fighting force of the day.
The ranks of soldiers that we have all seen photos of are all reconstructed from broken pieces found in the trenches. After the emperor died, there were peasant uprisings, and the area was broken into and burned. The fires burned the wooden chariots and the ceiling beams, so the roof fell in. I think the fire just sped up the process. It is not likely that the wooden roof would have survived for 2000 years, with or without fire.
These figures have been restored and are awaiting their return the the pit. Each figure is different. Each face is unique. And they were all carved and painted in quite a bit of detail.
Henry was busy yesterday, and didn't want to take the tour One More Time, so he helped arrange for a car and driver. The car was a Jetta-like VW with 282,000 km on it. A real sports car. Actually, having an underpowered car is an advantage here. Helps to limit the terror.
Anyway, car and driver for the day was 380 Yuan (about $57). That includes driving about 90 miles, tolls, and parking.
The driver speaks no English, so Henry wrote the names of the three attractions (the terracotta soldiers, a huge tomb mound where I guess the emperor resides, and a hot springs area with baths for the royals) on a card. He also wrote "help this guy buy a ticket". So I just showed the driver the card and pointed to the next thing on the list. Worked great.
At the end of the tour, I met Henry at a hot springs resort nearby for dinner. As Henry spent the night there, we needed the driver to wait through dinner to bring me back to the hotel. The driver was not up for this until Henry offered 100 yuan to wait. The driver was more than happy to hang around an extra five hours for an amount that probably doubled his income for the day.
How did the driver know where to meet Henry? I called Henry on my cell phone and handed the phone to the driver. When the driver had a question for me (did I want to stop and shop for souvenirs?), he called someone who spoke English and handed his phone to me. I thought it was kinda funny. His phone speaks English, mine speaks Chinese!
The hot springs area had hot baths for the emperor, the empress, and the emperor's favorite concubine. (I don't think this was the same emperor.) There were several hot springs and many buildings, the uses of which I am not sure. One nice looking building had a sign out front describing the toilets of the day. I thought it was a restoration or exhibit, but it turned out to be the bathroom.
These dancers were performing at the hot springs area (which I am sure has a proper name, but the ticket is all in Chinese).
The tomb mound was good exercise. Would have been a good view, I think, except it was foggy and rainy. I now have another folding umbrella that cost 10 yuan ($1.50). Worth every penny.
While working with an emperor was probably a pretty good gig, when the emperor died, things got a little tough. All the Emperor's brothers and top advisers were buried with him. Coincidence that they all died at the same time? I think not. Sounds to me like a good way for the new emperor to ensure a clean transition of power. The dead emperor surely needs them to help him in the afterlife.
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