Xi'an - Day Two

On day two I woke up excited to go see the famous Terracotta Army.

The army was constructed by Qin ShiHuang, who became the first emperor of China in 221 BC (Qin dynasty) after defeating his rival states.

Shortly after becoming King of Qin, he order construction to begin on his tomb, which seems like a morbid first act. 38 years and hundreds of thousands of workers later, he had an army of about 8,000 life-size warriors to guard his tomb when he died. The tomb was only rediscovered in 1974 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

After a 10-minute, semi-treacherous walk through vendors hawking cheap miniature warriors, we arrived at the tomb. Before going in we watched a short video on the history of the tombs. It was a 360-degree movie that reminded me a lot of the 360-degree China video at Epcot.

When we finally walked into Pit 1, where most of the restored warriors are, it was very impressive. I thought of how I had seen pictures of the terracotta army in a number of books on ''world wonders'' and was now actually at the site looking at them. Each warrior was sculpted with such fine detail and supposedly no two have the same faces.

Aside from being impressed, I couldn't help but think about the wastefulness of the army. While the emperor thought the army would serve him after his death, at what cost did it come to his empire? 700,000 people worked for almost 4 decades to construct a wonder that would be buried with the emperor. The modern day idea of passing on wealth, whether to charity, family or whomever, seems to be a bit more productive than burying yourself with it. At least now, people from all over the world are able to enjoy the site and the Chinese enjoy sharing their history so maybe, 2200 years later, the army does serve a real purpose.

Of course the route back to the bus, which was different than the first route from the bus to the tomb, was full of even more vendors. Dodging calls of ''One Dollar'' and ''Hello'' we finally made it back to the relative safety of the tour bus.

After leaving the tomb and terracotta warriors, our next stop was the Huaqing Hot Springs. The springs had been enjoyed by Chinese rulers for nearly 3,000 years. During the Tang Dynasty, a palace was built here and the Emperor would enjoy the hot water during the winter months.

The springs were a fun place to walk around and the Chinese, adapting to the lessons of capitalism, are quick to let you enjoy sticking your feet in the hot water for 10 yuan or at a fountain, you can wash your hands for just 1 yuan. For those looking to spend more, you can rent your own private bathroom and bath in the hot spring water. We actually found one part where you were able to put your hands into the hot water free of charge.

Also of note at the springs, the Tang Dynasty style of architecture provided a major influence to the traditional Japanese style. So many of the buildings look like what we may associate with classical Japanese architecture and were an influence on that style.

That evening we enjoyed a meal of Xi'an-style hot pot. Hot pot is a Chinese equivalent to western fondue. We made our own sauces from a variety of ingredients and then cooked food that was brought to our tables in little pots of boiling water in front of us. After the food was done cooking, you dipped it into your sauce and then ate. My sauce was made up of oil, soy sauce, minced garlic, and a few other ingredients and ended up being really good.

That evening, we had some free time before one final busy day in Xi'an.