10-15-2005

It was partly cloudy with haze and about 55 degrees but warmed up quickly as we drove to the Terra cotta warriors. A bit of a breeze and being away from the city actually gave us no smog/haze – what a delight! After about an hour drive we arrived at the museum/excavation site. The first thing we encounter is of course a market. I was startled to see all sorts of critter skins for sale, fortunately they turned out to be dyed and painted sheepskins (fortunate except for the sheep of course). The prime minister of Australia was visiting so we had to make way for motorcades. Our first view of the warriors was the one we’ve all seen in photos, thousands of warriors lined up in rows ready to go to battle for the dead emperor. My biggest surprise with the warriors is that they were not found like this but in a state of broken rubble. The information we received was somewhat conflicting. On one hand they said that as soon as the army was completed the entrances were sealed and the site was covered. Another account told of a peasant uprising occurring about a year after the death of the emperor during which they broke into the “army” and ransacked it stealing all the weapons. In any case, what you see all lined up are reassembled warriors with many new replacement parts. Like restorations in Greece you can tell by the obviously different colored materials. We were not taken to the tomb site of the emperor which was quite some distance away. Apparently foreigners are not allowed there?? They said the tomb has not been excavated because they fear the deterioration of all the goodies inside. They are waiting until they have the technology to preserve the contents to do it. This area is like Egypt in that many emperors are buried in this area. When I asked about the other sites they said “they’ve all been looted”. What makes them think the biggest one of all has not escapes me. Another long wait at the airport for our flight to Beijing. The AC on the full plane was not working making it very hot and stuffy, not good for a person who has claustrophobic tendencies. Our local guide William was my favorite of the trip.