Xi'an - Home of the Terra-Cotta Warriors

Xi’an – October 2- October 5

Upon arriving in Xi’an, we were struck by two things. The first was how cold it was. Beijing was somewhat chilly, but Xi’an was much colder. It probably doesn’t help that we have acclimated to the tropical temperatures of Southern China. The other thing we noticed was how much smog there was. Every city we’ve been to in China has a noticeable amount of pollution, however, Xi’an put them all to shame. Xi’an’s pollution was so dense that the air was yellow.

The Bell Tower of Xi'an

That evening, we checked into our hostel, the Han Tang Inn. It was noisy, as most hostels are, but was fairly clean. We shared a VERY small room with four other people. The absolute best part of the hostel was all of the animals. Yes, Han Tang Inn has a house cat and a housedog. The dog was huge, and super fluffy. He seemed rather sweet, but it was hard to snuggle him, because he always had a muzzle on. I honestly felt bad for the dog. He never had the muzzle off- even when I went down to the lobby at 3 a.m. Still, I loved that dog. Sadly, I never learned the dog’s name. The cat, on the other hand, was well cared for. His name was Sheldon, and he was one of the fattest, laziest cats I’ve ever seen. As an added bonus, he looked like a beautiful snow leopard. Sheldon was an awesome cat, but I was unable to get that dang cat to love me, which was somewhat disappointing. I just want all of the animals to love me, because I love all of them.

After getting settled at our hostel, we went in search of noodles. If you haven’t read my post from a few weeks about Chinese food, you don’t understand how important noodles are. Noodles are the only things keeping us alive in China. We found a hole-in-the-wall noodle shop, and ordered some dinner. The food, and the restaurant’s sanitation looked a bit concerning, but we were starving, so we ate it anyway. Keep these noodles in mind, as they play a role later.

The next day, Jordan and I left early in the morning with a tour group, to go see the Terra-cotta Warriors. Our tour guide was a girl named JaJa. She called herself Lady JaJa (like Lady Gaga – don’t worry, didn’t get the joke either when she said it). Lady JaJa was very smart, and well intentioned, but she was a mess of a tour guide. It made us miss Tour Guide Chen from the Great Wall.

On the way to see the warriors, JaJa gave us a fascinating history lesson about the Terra-cotta Warriors. Fun fact: there are 8,000 warriors. Each warrior has the face of the person who made the statue. That artist was then executed after making his warrior. This means that 8,000 or more men were murdered during the project. Additionally, the emperor had over 3,000 concubines buried with him (most likely buried alive). Yes, the emperor was a nice fellow. The emperor’s tomb hasn’t been opened yet, due to the high levels of mercury that surround his tomb. Supposedly, the Chinese people will open the tomb in 20 years. We’ll see if that happens. Nothing in China happens on time. So if the emperor’s tomb hasn’t been opened by 2037, they are behind schedule.

It was a very cold, rainy day. We all walked through the freezing rain to get to the pits of the warriors. The place was SO crowded. Keep in mind, that we were traveling during China’s biggest holiday week. The next day (October 4^th) would start China’s lunar festival.  The pits of the Terra-cotta Warriors were the most crowded place I’ve ever been. It was more crowded than the Great Wall. The pits felt more crowded than at a  concert.

Pit 3

Pit 1

Warriors of Pit 2

Initially, we were so excited to see the warriors. It was a thrilling experience. However, the longer we were there, the less we liked it. It was amazing to witness such a fascinating part of history, but we were disappointed to see how poorly the Chinese people were handling the excavation of such an important project. The Terra-cotta Warrior Pits are an active dig site, yet they have turned it into a tourist trap. If something of such historical significance were discovered in America or Europe, the artifacts would be handled with extreme care, and the entire process would be protected to ensure the survival of the artifacts. While looking around, we saw garbage lying in the pits next to crumbling warriors that hadn’t been reconstructed yet. The warriors are left out on display without concern of preserving the artifacts. Another disappointment was that all of the warriors we had seen pictures of, had been reconstructed. Very few of the warriors were found intact. I think we were primarily disappointed by the touristy nature of it all. Overall, it was absolutely amazing to see the Terra-cotta Warriors. I have wanted to see them since I was a child. I simply wish that they were better cared for.

Pit 2

Trash in Pit 2

Crumbling warriors

The man who discovered the Terra-cotta Warriors
Yang Jide

After spending the day at the pits of the Terra-cotta Warriors, Jordan and I were starving. Desperate for some western food, we ate at Pizza Hut. We ordered a delicious looking Hawaiian pizza. The pineapple on our pizza tasted a little funny, but we ate it anyway; after all, how bad can pineapple be, right? The cheesy deliciousness of our pizza was a short-lived enjoyment. While eating, Jordan started to feel sick, so we hurried back to the hostel. For the rest of the night, Jordan was horribly sick with food poisoning. He was miserable. He was feverish with cold sweats, was vomiting, everything that comes with food poisoning. Although we can’t be certain, we were fairly sure that he got sick from a combination of the sketchy noodle shop from the night before, and the poisoned pineapple pizza. To add to this experience, we were both stressed, as we were going to take a 14-hour train ride at 4 a.m. the next morning (October 4^th). We got the impression that food poisoning and a long train ride wouldn’t mix well together.

Late that night, after seeing that Jordan had made no improvement, we started looking into the process of cancelling our train tickets, and booking a new one for the following day. Luckily, we were able to cancel our tickets, getting the majority of our money back. We also were able to book another train for the following day (October 5^th). Feeling relieved that Jordan had another day to recover, we went back to bed for a few hours.

Later that morning, we checked out of our hostel, crossed the street, and checked into the Han Tang House, the sister hostel of the hostel we stayed at before. Upon checking in, we found ourselves enjoying the quiet, peaceful nature of the hostel. It was far cleaner, and quieter than the hostel we had stayed at before. As an added bonus, the rooms were larger, and the bathroom better. Throughout the day of October 4^th, we relaxed, and took care of Jordan’s health. Although most of his symptoms had subsided, he still felt miserable.

The next morning, we embarked on our 16-hour train ride from Xi’an to Chengdu. We honestly were terrified for this trip. Jordan still felt horrible. The last thing we wanted was for him to get sick during that time. Upon boarding the train, we scoped out the bathroom situation, which was pretty grim. One bathroom was a squatter toilet, and the other was a disgusting western toilet. It was particularly nasty because all of the Chinese people squat on the seat of the toilet, spraying their urine and feces everywhere. Seeing how dire the toilet situation would be; we kept Jordan on a steady cycle of Pepto Bismol and Imodium. Luckily, we were on a sleeper train, which made the time pass more quickly. We were able to stretch out, nap, read, write, color, and play Sudoku. At midnight, we arrived in Chengdu, and went to sleep at our hostel. I am so incredibly thankful that Jordan and I were able to make it to Chengdu without any problems. Additionally, I am thankful that we were able to prolong our time in Xi’an, in order to help Jordan recover from food poisoning.

Our bunks

Overall, Xi’an had some highlights, but the circumstances we faced in Xi’an, made our experience less than ideal. Still, we loved getting to see the Terra-cotta Warriors, and the Wall of Xi’an.

Our next post about Chengdu should be up soon!

As an off-topic side note:
I finished my GoodReads reading goal while in Xi'an!