Today was the day most (if not all) of us were waiting for. We got an early morning start and visited Pit #1 at the Terracotta Warriors site. There are approximately 8,000 life-size figures with individualized facial features that were discovered in three pits and are believed to have depicted actual people living at the time the figures were made. Other findings at the site include jade decorated armor, bronze water birds, musician and acrobat figures and shell money. There are ongoing efforts to restore the damaged figures, but some remain headless since the original faces cannot be recreated.

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Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum

Kneeling Archer

Officer

No. 1 Bronze Chariot and Horses
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After lunch at the Qin Restaurant of Real Love, a Tang Dynasty-themed restaurant, we walked the ancient Xi’an city wall. It is the most complete ancient city wall in China and is a popular place for cycling and walking.
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Ancient City Wall in Xi’an

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See more photos:

• Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum
• Ancient Xi’an City Wall

This morning we left Beijing and flew to Xi’an. We visited the Han Yan Ling Underground Mausoleum and Museum, which in my opinion was the best visit on the tour so far as there were way fewer people and much more to see. The mausoleum/museum, the joint tomb of Emperor Liu Qi of the Han Dynasty and Empress Wang, has an amazing collection of artifacts. While some are in display cases, others have been left for viewing in the excavation site. Visitors can actually walk over the excavation site on glass floors, allowing you to see directly into it.
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Han Yan Ling Underground Mausoleum and Museum

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We stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel for the next two nights. The photos below show the view of downtown Xi’an from my room and the hotel entrance as well as a lobby poster describing the historic landmarks in Xi’an. This evening I enjoyed an American-style dinner (complete with Australian beef and wine and selections from the salad and dessert bars) in the hotel’s Yi Cafe.

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See more photos:

• Han Yang Ling Underground Mausoleum and Museum