Xian

                                                        A very serious warrior!


After the colorful music production that I wrote about in my last blog, I realized that this post will be all one color. But it is still one of the most impressive sites in all of China - the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an. The construction of this army was begun when Qin Shi Huang became the first emperor of China at age 13, and the construction continued until his death at age 34, around 210 b.c. An army of 700,00 workers are estimated to have been needed for this work. Qin wanted these warriors to accompany him into the afterlife to protect him. Many of his concubines were buried alive with him in his mausoleum.
The statues are life-sized and each one is unique. They estimate that there are ~8,000 statues, but many are still buried under mounds of dirt. Once unearthed, the air caused the paint to fade and peel within 4 minutes. They are experimenting with ways to protect more recent excavations. So here they are:

I bought a book about the warriors, and actually had it signed by the man who discovered the site on his farm in 1974, while digging a well. He is quite old now. It was all so fascinating! So amazing to actually be there and see it!