Giving Stone-Faced a whole new meaning

What’s that they say? They only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys? Well, The first Emperor of China must have been some big kid. Either that or he must have been one egotistical bastard. Or maybe just super insecure. It’s really hard to  know. 

Of course, the terra cotta warriors were started soon after he ascended to the throne at the age of 13 so my guess is the warriors were more like toys for him.  

Yup, it was the first Emperor decided that he needed an entire terra cotta army - complete with horses and chariots and the like - to guard him in the afterlife. Yea, yea, I’ve seen the pictures, but I had NO clue just how massive this army really is. I mean - it’s like putting maybe three, maybe four football fields together and filling it with an army of life-size terra cotta statues. And that’s just the big pit! There are two other pits - one with the horses and one with the command center. Most are still buried, but there are probably 8000 warriors and more than 700 horses.

In actuality, the army is just part of his burial area. There is an entire necropolis that is supposed to replicate his actual palace. The tomb is still hermetically sealed because they can’t figure out how to open it and protect everything inside. The warriors were once painted, but the paint flaked off after only 4 minutes of exposure to the air! I keep thinking how stunning it must have been to have seen them all painted and new - and to look at the entire city meant for death before it was buried.

It’s called The Eighth Wonder of the World - rightly so I think. It's been there for 2200 years, but a group of farmers found it in 1974 when they were drilling a well. Imagine.

Shui Jing Zhu was quite the guy. He not only had this city built for himself, but he unified China, built many of the roads here and had The Great Wall constructed al by the time he died at age 49.

We actually started the day at Xi’an’s bell tower and then went walking in an area called Muslim Street which I just loved. The street was bustling with all sorts of people selling fruits, weird foods, typical tourist stuff and silver jewelry from Chinese local tribes. Our guide just rushed us along, but I would have liked to have stayed a while longer soaking up the atmosphere.

On this street is an amazing, 400-year-old house fairly giant in size ccalled Gao's Courtyard. We wandered about looking at the house for a bit and then were treated to a hand puppet show. The puppets are made of THIN, painted leather. The puppeteer stood behind a back-lit screen and manipulated all the puppets while a man banged on drums and gongs to help her out. Together, they were telling a story neither Tom nor I got at all. Still, it was fun watching the artistry and the kids loved it. 

We stopped at the only state-run factory that manufactures the warriors and learned how it’s done. We bought one and then were shocked to see SO many at the site. We had no idea (nor did our guide tell us). I guess most of them are not made out of terra cotta and so they break more easily etc. I don’t care. I actually liked the ones better there and they were far cheaper. Oh well. Live and learn.

Getting up to see the warriors is quite an effort. We had to stand in line, then take an open-air bus and then walk from pit to pit, each inside a state-of-the-art building. Complicating things was that the driver absolutely didn’t want anything valuable left in the van. Since we had all of our luggage, we also had to carry our computers, jewelry and the like. Most of the area was child-friendly and, once again, most folks were VERY friendly to our kids, giving the fruit and toys. Hudson is a God here. Maisie is about the same.

Sadly, our kids weren’t too friendly. Today was their rough day. I’ve been waiting for it and it hit today. Maisie was cranky all morning. Hudson was cranky all afternoon. We just couldn’t win. 

For lunch and dinner, we had this food from the region called “pulled noodles” - skinny, fat noodles that are kind of pulled like taffy. They were pretty yummy. Maisie ate some for lunch, too - after her 11 chicken nuggets! Hudson gobbled down a ham and cheese at the airport after wailing because he woke up hungry. 

Oh the airport. The good news is Xi’an has a BRAND new, gorgeous airport. It just opened. The bad news is that they made us check our stroller, a first EVER in all the airports we’ve traveled the past four years. Making things worse, the flight was VERY delayed. Hudson screamed before we got on the plane. Maisie WAILED and WAILED when we woke her up to get off the plane. Tom had to carry her. I carried Hudson. We each had a carseat, a giant bag and backpacks. The kids got to bed - are you ready for this - at 12:30!!! OH MY GOD! The latest they’ve ever stayed up is 10! 12:30!

I was so ready to say goodbye to our guide Jessica. Yes, while she knew her stuff, her English only went one way: she could lecture us, but could not have a conversation. She was bossy, too. I wanted cold water for dinner and she refused to order it for me saying it’s bad for digestion. Hello? Are you kidding me? She tried to help with the kids, but kept getting in the way and telling me how to parent. So far, our three guides haven’t impressed me.