This Weekend

I just wanted to leave a quick entry to let everybody know that we will be heading for Xi'an this weekend.

Xi'an was the first capital of a united China under the Qin Empire. After nearly two centuries of what was known as the "warring states period," seven major kingdoms emerged in ancient China. The King of Qin gradually overpowered his neighbors and united China under one empire in 221 BC. This is a very famous period in China and is often depicted in martial arts movies such as Hero and The Emperor and the Assassin. While there had previously been other Chinese dynasties, this was considered to be the first major Chinese empire. Unfortunately for the Qin, they had exhausted most of their resources in building their empire and their reign was ended just 15 years later by the Han, who established the Han dynasty and would control China for the next 400 years.

Tomorrow morning at 6AM, we'll be leaving to catch a flight out of the Tianjin airport to the first imperial capital of China. The weekend should be an exciting one as we will see the famous terracotta warriors and a number of other culturally important sites around the city.

After we return, I'll try and upload some new pictures and add a new blog entry to share our trip with everyone back home.