West Gate (Jane in bus)

Interior of Xian city wall

Exterior of Xian city wall

Handicraft Center (Lacquer)

 

The bus next took us to a handicraft center. We saw artisans making lacquered furniture, tie-dying silk scarves, and weaving silk carpets. We bought some silk scarves and ties, and even a 3 x 5 silk carpet. The shopping seemed to lift Jane's spirits. By the time we came outside again, our once beautiful sunny day was becoming very hazy as a dust storm blew in. 

 Our next stop was the Banpo Museum. The museum building has been erected over an archeological dig of a Neolithic village dating to 4000 B.C. The village had about 46 buildings and more than 200 inhabitants. It was a matriarchal society based on farming. There were three distinct types of houses (some round, others rectangular), using different construction methods. There was a trench around the entire complex, both for protection and for drainage. There was even a large meeting hall in the center of the village. The villagers made their own stone tools and pottery. A cemetery outside the village contained about 250 bodies, but young children were buried alongside the huts in special clay urns.

Artist's conception of Banpo village in 4000 B.C.

Reconstruction of one of Banpo's round houses

Noodle maker

Our schedule called for a visit to a noodle factory next, but we went directly to a restaurant for lunch. At a small table near us, one chef was making noodles by hand. That was the noodle factory! Still, it was fascinating to see him start with a roll of dough and wind up with a handful of noodles, just by pulling and folding.

Cart from Emperor Qin's tomb

After lunch we went to the museum built over the excavation pits where the Terra Cotta Army was discovered in 1974. This army was deployed in large subterranean trenches (15-21 feet deep) to protect the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210 B.C.), less than a mile away. He was the man who first unified China. He also built the original Great Wall. Using life-size terra cotta figures was a substitute for live burial, which was practiced earlier in China, as it has been in several other civilizations. (In live burial, the deceased's servants, wives, soldiers, etc. were killed and buried with him.)

There are three pits at the site. The soldiers in Pits #1 and #2 are in battle formation; those in Pit #3 apparently formed an army headquarters. Only a portion of the site has been excavated, so it's uncertain what may yet be found. Pit #1, the largest, contains mainly infantry. About 1,000 of an estimated 6,000 figures of infantrymen, archers, and charioteers have been unearthed there.  

The terra cotta soldiers, armed with real weapons, were placed four abreast in columns, each column in a separate trench. Wooden beams were placed over the top of each trench, cloth mats over the beams, then earth was piled on top of the mats. Once the soil was compacted and covered by crops or buildings, the army beneath was completely hidden, and remained so for the next 2,200 years.

Soldiers removed from pit

Army as originally deployed

Charioteer & his horses

Although we saw the archeologists still digging out soldiers in Pit #1, the main effort has now been shifted to Pit #2. It has approximately 1,400 soldiers (archers, charioteers and cavalrymen) plus 400 horses and 80 chariots. Pit #3 contains 68 figures of officers. The head of each of the many soldiers is unlike any of the others.  They were painted in life-like colors, though all but traces of the paint has disappeared in the ensuing 2,000 years.  Here is an example of what an archer would have looked like with the original paint.
 

Excavation in Pit #1

Archer as found in pit

Archer as painted

We had a couple of hours to rest back at the hotel before leaving at 6:30 for a Mongolian "hot pot" dinner. (Jane was so exhausted that she stayed in our room. I brought her back some fried rice and rolls.) Each person at the table had a metal bowl of boiling water heated by Sterno. We'd each put a small amount of raw food at a time into the water and let it cook before eating it. Most of the group didn't care for it very much. (I wasn't too thrilled about eating pork cooked this way.) After dinner we returned to the hotel and packed for our departure the next morning.