Xi'an...our last leg

The last part of our trip was a 2 night stay in Xi'an, which is in the middle of China and used to be the capital city. The main attraction here is the Terra Cotta Warriors, a famous archeological discovery. The first Emperor Qin, who unified China, ordered soldiers to create a lifesized Terra Cotta Army to protect him in the afterlife. All those who worked on this army were buried with it so that nobody could find it and it could remain a secret. We got a book signed by the farmer who was digging a well and discovered this in 1974. There are three pits of warriors, but archeologists are still working on the excavation.

This is a close-up shot of the warrios. each face is made different from the next, and Emperor Qin was careful to make sure that different ethnic Chinese groups were represented.

Part of Pit 1, and a good picture of how some of the pieces are found.

We also saw the Bell Tower and Drum tower in Xi'an.

Here's me, Sara, and Aaron in front of the Bell Tower.

On the last day, Sara and I took a bike ride around the City Wall of Xi'an. The wall is still one of the original Chinese walls that were built around many cities.