In 1974 a farmer was digging a well when he discovered some pottery fragments and some bronze weapons. Like a good citizen, he cycled all the way into Xi’an to notify the authorities, and the archaeology began. So far, three pits have been opened, yielding over 7,000 soldiers (infantrymen, archers and cavalrymen) plus hundreds of horses and chariots. This army protects the Emperor’s tomb, which is about 1km further east. The tomb itself has not yet been excavated, but it is thought that it might contain treasures to exceed those of Tutankhamen. They've also stopped excavating the soldiers for now because they have realised that they are in fact brightly painted, but the colour fades almost as son as the warriors are unearthed. Some German scientists are therefore working on a way to preserve the colours before further work is done.
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| Two views of the warriors in the main pit. |
Over 700,000 labourers were used in the construction of the
tomb and the terracotta army (each head is unique) but many died in the process
and this meant that Emperor Qin was so unpopular that within a year of his
death the farmers rebelled and smashed the terracotta army to pieces (they
could not find his tomb, which he had gone to great lengths to keep secret).
This has meant that the reassembly of the army has been the world’s largest 3D
jigsaw puzzle. Jen and I were hugely impressed by the place, which is now a
UNESCO World Heritage site and probably the eighth wonder of the world. The
farmer who made the original discovery is a bit of a hero of the people and is
now employed to sit in the museum gift shop (on those days when he can be
bothered to turn up – he’s 80 years old now) and sign copies of the official
book. We were lucky, said our guide, because he was there today. Naturally, we
couldn’t resist, but he’s a miserable old bugger who doesn’t make eye contact
with anybody and just tosses the book back across the table at you after he’s
signed it!
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| At the rear of the main hall, the warriors on the higher level are still being assembled from pieces, while the ones on the lower level, in the foreground, are ready to go to their places in the ranks |
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| As soon as the curators learned that Peter Dunk was in town, we were invited down amongst the warriors for a photoshoot. (Not really, but not a bad fake, eh?) |
Before returning to the hotel we were taken for lunch in
what amounted to a huge canteen full of tourists – many of them Chinese,
because this is a hugely popular site for them, too. The food wasn’t great, but
it was a buffet, so we didn’t have to eat much.
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| This sign is typical of the flowery BS that adorns signs everywhere here. Why they don't commission an Englishmen to write these things, I can't imagine. |
We got back to the hotel about 3pm and took the opportunity
to wander round the old town for a bit. “Old town” isn’t really an accurate
description, even though it is that small part of Xi’an which is inside the
600-year-old city walls. Most of it, sadly, consists of Soviet-style concrete
buildings of little architectural merit, but it was interesting to see
something so different from what we’re used to in Europe or North America. We
roamed through a huge shopping mall and started to get used to the locals
staring at us (and I do mean staring – it’s quite unnerving at first, but you
get used to it and we managed to stare a few of them out!)
In the evening we returned to the Sofitel bar for a couple
of sharpeners before going to another of the hotel restaurants, The Azur. This
was another buffet, but probably the best buffet in the world – really lovely! Not very adventurous of us, I admit, but we
knew our guide had another couple of Chinese meals lined up for us over the
following 48 hours, so we indulged ourselves.
Jenny’s bit: Xi’an is a mass of high rise concrete. Where are all the curly roofs? They’re in every other Chinatown I’ve ever visited!
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