Opted to try to save some pennies with the next place and stayed in Han Tang House, a hostel but we had our own room. Let's just say the Lonely Planet were generous with their description and leave it at that. Oh, and our room was FREEZING.
On our first day we set off fairly to get to the Terracotta Warriors, took the bus, we read a tip somewhere that you shouldn't get the tourist bus as it stops at various points along the way in an attempt to make you buy a load of tat. Low season trumps came through again, zero queue. We went to the museum first which is firstly, incredibly dark, as in, walk into people dark but does provide you with some history into the discovery and the Emperor dude that built it. As per the LP tips, we did the three pits in reverse order, pit three first, saving pit one and the best for last. MIND BLOWN. So so amazing. It's incredible that some guy built all this just for his afterlife. And they have only excavated 30% of what's buried so there is so much more to discover. Always thought being an archaeologist would be so exciting, digging up treasures but in reality, it looks as if it's a pretty painfully slow process. We wondered how much of what's on display is genuine versus "heavily restored". Hot footed it back to the city and made a last minute decision to head to see the Big Goose Pagoda which was really worth it. Very peaceful, although don't think climbing up is really worth the effort. Especially as our legs are STILL aching after the Huangshan climb. And the best of the day was yet to come- Muslim Street food market! On our second day we had another stop at the food market for breakfast before we headed to the Grand Mosque of Xi'an which was another little hidden gem. A mosque but in a Chinese style which is odd but strangely worked! Another peaceful spot to get out of the hecticness of the city. Interesting to see Islamic script in such a place and most unique was that the minaret was a pagoda. Decided our next stop would be to Hanyangling Museum as it was a 'Don't Miss' in the guidebook. Emperor Jing Di and his Empress' burial site. Short bus ride away and in some ways, as equally as impressive as the Warriors. Thousands of freaky little armless (their arms were made of wood and have long since rotted away) doll sized warriors along with farms full of livestock, horses, pigs, piglets, sheep, goats, chickens. An emperor who was slightly more practically minded in his afterlife prep. And it was nice to see some ladies in this tomb too. The warriors were lacking any female presence- all about the fight, lacking the details. If anyone reading this does visit, make sure you leave time to visit the museum across the road, well worth it as you get to see the little figurines in detail and learn more about the excavation. We then decided to tackle the city wall which may have been a stretch too far considering how much walking we had already done but glad we powered through as we had lovely views as the sun was setting. Comments are closed.
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AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
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Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |