Xian and the TCW on 9/21/2013

No idea how much you know about the TCW so I'll provide a few facts courtesy of one of the many travel books I looked at in case you were as unaware as I was before I did some research.

• The Army of the TCW isn't just Xian's premier site but one of the world's most famous archaeological finds in the world. The discovery of the Army was entirely fortuitous.  In 1974, peasants dwelling for a well uncovered an underground vault that eventually yielded thousands of terracotta soldiers and horses in battle formation.
• Seeing the TCW and horses was awe inspiring and overwhelming because of he sheer size of the pits and number of both soldiers and horses.
• One of the most intriguing facts about the TCW is that no 2 of the thousands that have been found (the site is still a work in progress as not all have been unearthed yet), are the same - they vary by their hairstyle, facial expressions, uniforms, shoes worn, etc - amazing to see that up close as we did.
• There are three pits, the largest being Pit 1 which is the most imposing.  It's housed in a building the size of an aircraft hangar and contains 6000 soldiers and horses, all facing east ready for battle.  All of them are now the same rather drab, muddy beige color; when discovered they had beautiful colored uniforms, etc but all the color was lost in a very short period of time once they were exposed to fresh air.
• Pit 2 is still being excavated; it contains about 1300 warriors and horses.
• We were very fortunate going when we did because crowds were a non issue for us AND we had Bryan, our great tour guide with us every step of the way; he has read extensively about the TCW and shared so much of his knowledge with us. BUT, I just realized I lost my notes for the whole day so you are spared more info.  Onto pictures instead!

Photos of the TCW above and below!

In the background is the "hospital" where the TCW, aka Humpty Dumpty, are being put back together again!

 

Our lunch being made in the open kitchen.

Our lunch a few steps away from the TCW.

Nighttime scenes from the Muslim Quarter above and below.

Pickled eggs anyone?

Both pedestrian and car traffic was packed all the time each night.

Not sure of there are quite enough dried fruit - sorry the photo's upside down!

Loving Hands friends: thinking of you when I talked with this lady and took this photo!

Xian's Drum Tower, located in one of the main thoroughfares.