Exploring ancient city walls doesn't sound very exciting, but when you can do it on a bike atop the wall it improves the experience 10 fold. While cruising the wall you get an interesting view of a modern China city that is growing at an unbelievable rate. We easily saw 30 skyscrapers being built while on our 1 hour ride. The truly shocking thing is that this is what you see in every city in China. Growth at a rate you can't even imagine.
Two of the major sites in Xi'an that are a must see for any visitor would be the lovely giant wild goose and small wild goose pagodas just outside the city's ancient wall. The small goose pagoda was surrounded by a lovely garden and one of the most impressive museums we visited in China. (Interesting fact: All history museums are free because the Chinese goverment wants it's citizens to learn about their country).
An hour or so outside of Xi'an is one of the most unbelievable things I have ever seen in my life. The Terra Cotta Warriors are sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Work on the warriors began after Qin ascended the throne at the young age of 13. It is believed that the Emperor had these built to protect him in his afterlife, and to ensure that he had people to rule. I guess that makes sense when your 13.
The figures in the three completed tombs contain generals, warriors, officials, chariots and horses as well as others. Current estimates believe that there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalary horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits. We visited three rooms which were all at different stages in the process of digging and reconstruction.
When your walking around the these fascinating rooms filled with endless rows of warriors, you can't imagine what was going through the 700,000 workers heads while building these warriors for their Emperor. It's also believed that each one has a face molded after the actual workers. Our guide said that all of the people who worked on the warriors were murdered after they finished thier statue! Therefore, there are thousands of people who died while making an army for the Emperors afterlife.
