The main reason for our visit to Xi'an was something we knew relatively little about, but what we had read and seen before organising the trip left little doubt that this was something we needed to witness.
Basically, the story goes like this:
The first emperor of China dies, the man who unified the country over 2,000 years ago and ordered the construction of the Great Wall, having already put into action the creation of his tomb, and a full sized stone army to guard it.
Shortly after his death, a peasant uprising overthrew the empire, and his tomb, along with other relics of his reign, was ransacked, burnt and destroyed.
In 1976, a man digging a well around 30km outside of Xi'an discovers a small piece of terracotta pottery...and then another...and then a terracotta head.
Almost 40 years later, and having discovered approximately 8,000 life-sized terracotta soldiers, archers, officers and horses lined up in full battle formation, excavations continue to this very day, with new relics appearing frequently. Each face, each item of clothing and armour, all completely unique - right down to the treads on their boots.
It truly is an amazing sight and is quite rightly referred to as the eighth wonder of the world. The hanger constructed over "Pit 1", the largest, could easily house a jumbo jet, or two, and protects dozens of lines of soldiers, in long corridors, as they would have stood beneath the earth. It was hard to get ones head around it - the age, the size, the importance of this incredible discovery. It was a sight that will not easily be forgotten and was well worth the two lost nights of sleep aboard a rattling, smokey and really rather grubby train!
Hopefully the pictures give some sense of it...
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