Living History in Xi'An

Now, if you want to learn more about China’s history, Xi’An is the city to do it. It was the home of China’s first dynasty and was the capital of many after that. For starters it has an ancient wall that was built ~ 600 years ago during the Tang dynasty to protect the gridded city inside. Now the city has stretched out but the wall still there and open to visitors. We went for a great bike ride around the entire city.

                                                                 

 The City of Xi’An also has a Bell Tower and a Drum Tower, both which date back ~700 years to the Ming Dynasty. They are and were public infrastructure used to signal to the city both time and events.


Not far away, the Terracotta soldiers and horses were unearthed and are still chilling. All 8,000 of them site in 3 sites discovered in 1974 by farmers. They were made in 210 BC to protect the Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. There were soldiers, generals, archers, horses and chariots. Every face is different and the details were striking. When they were first unearthed they had pigments that quickly faded due to exposure. More are still being dug out and reconstructed.

The rich culture continues on today. We got the chance to visit a market area where tasty food of every sort was made. Xi’An is known for it’s spicier dishes. We had the wonderful dinner with Hanzi’s family. Dinner tradition here reminds me of big dinners in Germany, food and a good amount of wine.

 There is a water show that happens daily in a public plaza in front of the Goose Pagoda. The temple was built to house Buddhist text during the Tang Dynasty. It leans slightly. The water show is supposedly the largest in Asia and even with the bad weather, was fun to see and even get wet in.