Day 7
Xi'an hotel was one of my favorite hotels we had stayed in. We left early in the morning to the ancient city wall, which was constructed about 600 years ago during Ming dynasty. It is the most completed city wall that has survived in China and the largest military defensive in the world. There are four gates, North, South, East and West. One of the most memorable moments on the trip was riding the bike on the city wall. It was a quiet morning, there was almost only just us on the wall before the crowd. I felt like I had some freedom to ride anywhere on the wall, but our time was limited and we had to get back. One thing I had noticed while I was riding the bike was that it was harder for me breathe then it would have been normally maybe because the air quality around that area was bad that day.
We headed to the Terracotta Warriors and Horse museum. It about a 20 minute walk from the entrance to the museum, but I enjoyed the walk very much because the walk path has trees and birds, and a beautiful view of mountains. The Terracotta Warriors was built to protect the first Emperor of China in the afterlife. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor about 2,200 years ago. It was discovered by the farmer on March 29, 1974. An estimate of 8000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 500 horse and 150 cavalry horses. There are four main pits. The Terracotta army figure was manufactured in a workshop by government laborers and local craftsmen using local material. The figure is life sized, and they were pretty tall. They vary in height, uniform and hairstyles in accordance with rank. Originally figures were painted with bright pigment. All of the soldiers are all facing to the east. The first emperor wad similar to Chairman Mao except the emperor was crueler.
Outside the train station was the first time we saw the sunset.