The pace of this trip is very rapid and there is very little time for reflection built-in. Another fourteen hour day yesterday and today was no different. Up and out early in the morning as we headed out to the Terracotta Warriors. The story as I gathered it is that the first emperor, Qin (Chin) created the army to follow him into the afterlife. Emperor Qin was very busy have created not only Terracotta Army but also the Great Wall and the first unification of provincial China. He was also a cruel ruler and ordered that all of his children and 
concubine be killed so that they could accompany him to the afterlife as well. The first warriors were found in 1974 by three well diggers who pulled a head up from deep underground. He was afraid that this was a bad omen and word spread from the countryside of the find. A journalist heard of the story and reported on it which caught the attention of the government. Archeologists were brought in and excavation work began on what is now pit one. There are three pits in all with the majority of the warriors in pit one. Approximately 1600 of the 6000 warriors have been exhumed and repaired.
When you first walk-in to pit one you get the enormity of the task the archeologist face in restoring this incredible relics. The soldiers come in many forms. There are kneeling archers, chariot riders, soldiers, standing archers, officer (marked by flat head dress) and 7 generals. On this day we were very fortunate as there were archeologists working in pit one.As you make your way through the pit you start at the end 
where are all the soldiers are in formation. You then work your way back to areas that were not yet excavated and then to an area where the soldiers are restored. From there we explored the other two pits and were able to see some of the more pristine examples encased in glass. The soldiers stand about six feet tall and no one soldier’s face is like another. Something I had never known before was that each one was hand painted. Only fragments of the painted ones exist but it must have been spectacular. There is a man made hill to the west of the exhibit where Emperor Qui is entombed. Surveys have shown that there have been some robber tunnels built but none are believed to have made it to the main chamber. No one knows what treasures they may find there.
After lunch we headed off to a Matriarchal Village, Banpo Village, located back in Xian. The people here descend from an ancient indigenous people who lived along the river. We walked the exhibit and the kids learned about the neolithic age through the culture of these 
people. There was a gift shop here and I had to ask how much the life size terracotta warriors were.(After all the same thing is sold just about everywhere here). The prices here was 12000 Yuan shipped and insured to the U.S. At the warrior museum gift shop the prices were 42000 Yuan exclusive of shipping. ($1850 vs $6500) I gave some thought to picking one up for my mom but learned that we might be able to find one in the states and could save on shipping. The village was interesting but was overshadowed by the warriors. We stayed for about an hour and then took off for our dumpling dinner and theater show.
The dumplings were amazing and shaped like the food they had in them. The pork ones were shaped like pigs, the spinach ones like spinach, etcetera, you get the idea. The company was great and the kids just tore through the food. Afterwards we went to the show which was the story of the Tan Dynasty. This was a off-Vegas style show but the kids enjoyed it. Back to the hotel and our last night in Xian.
