Xian Attractions

Shaanxi History Museum

April 22, 2014 by Terracotta Warriors Tour Leave a Comment

Shaanxi History Museum is the largest ccomprehensive in the province and also deemed as one of the best museums in China. Opened in 1991, the museum exhibits over 3,000 thousands historical relics, which is just a fraction of their collection which span the entirery of Shaanxi’s history from the Neolithic Age through the Qing Dynasty.

The museum is modern and well designed although built in a traditional Tang Dynasty architectural style. The main attraction of the museum is the magnificent collection of Tagn dynasty artifacts, originally used by the royal family. Of special sighnificance are teh bronze pieces adn the tang gold and silver ware, the terra cotta pieces adn murals from teh Tang Dynasty tombs.

The museum is free. But it requires tickets, one per passport or ID card. There is a daily cap of 4,000 tickets, 2,500 before 14:00 and 1,500 for afternoon. It’s closed on mondays.

Hanyangling

April 21, 2014 by Terracotta Warriors Tour Leave a Comment

The site wows you with a different army of terra cotta warriors from the Han Dynasty displayed in a different way.

Hanyangling is also known as The Mausoleum of the Emperor Jing Di, the fourth emperor of Han Dynasty, who enjoyed a nice reputation of tax cuts, imposing less harsh punishment on his people, living a simpler life which laid foundation for the empire’s fast grwoing wealth and his son’s great achievement in war against the Huns.

Built from 153BC and finished 126BC, Hanyangling covers over 20 square kilometers and is only 20 kilometers from Xian Xianyang International Airport. It comproses the Emperor’s tomb and the Empress’s tomb, a ceremonial site and a massive prison labors’ graveyard.

The Emperor’s tomb is a large mound like a topless pryamid with 81 radial auxiliary burial pits on its four sides. Each of these pits acts as a major department serving the Emperor’s daily life. 10 excavated burial pits are displayed under insulated glass underground. Excavated seals such as The Seal of Cheif of Royal Kitchen, The Seal of Minister of Royal Affairs and The Seal of the Supervisor of the Emperor’s Disfavored Concubines prove the emperor’s wish to live his afterlife exactly the way he lived. There are over 50,000 doll-sized terra cotta figures and countless terra cotta livestocks unearthed. These armless and naked figures originally had wooden arms attached and worn clothes which had rotten away over the years. There is also a holographic movie telling the story of the emperor and his empress.

To the south of the Emperor’s tomb lies remains of the original surrounding walls and its south gate.

The Empress’s tomb which sits about 500 meters northeast away is smaller in size with 28 auxiliary burial pits.

There is also an exhibition hall housing unearthed artifacts from the tomb compound and it can be reached by a trolly shuttling between.

Xian City Wall

March 31, 2014 by Terracotta Warriors Tour Leave a Comment

Almost every city in China had a city wall. Now there are only a few left today. Xi’an City Wall is the best preserved and the largest city wall in China and world. Construction of the city wall began in 1370 in the Ming Dynasty. The massive wall is 12 meter high, 15-18 meter wide at the base, 15 meter wide on the top, 13.7 kilometer long in circumference.

There are bicycles for renting on all four main gates. The fee is 40RMB for one-person bicycles and 80RMB for two-person bicycles for 100 minutes. 300RMB refundabledeposit per bicycle will be collected in advance. Riding it through costs about 2 hours. A trolley ride around on top of the wall is 80RMB-120RMB per person which is less exhaustive and less fun.

The city wall will be lit up at night and the illumistrated wall is less massive but more beautiful than in daylight.

There will be a show demonstrating the Opening Gate Ceremony of Tang Dynasty everyday at 09:30am at suspension bridge square outside of the South Gate. A Warrior Parade show will be on display at 10:30 and 16:30 everyday inside the inner city of South Gate.

There is a small museum inside the city walls at Hanguang Gate, about halfway between the southwest corner and the South Gate, accessible from the top of the city wall itself. Look for a staircase down inside a covered structure. Inside are the unrestored remains of a gatehouse from the Tang Dynasty.

Walking aroud the landscaped parks around the base of the exterior walls and moat and watching local people doing Taichi, singing local opera is also amusing. You can also enjoy a different perspective on the battlements and towers up there.

Terracotta Warriors

March 31, 2014 by Terracotta Warriors Tour Leave a Comment

The Terracotta Warriors is an auxiliary burial site of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, was discovered in March 1974 during the sinking of wells for farmland irrigation construction near Xi’an, Shaanxi province, People’s Republic of China. In 1987, The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was inscribed to the list of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

Professional excavation of the vaults started soon thereafter.

The army consists of more than 7,000 life-size tomb terra cotta figures of warriors and horses buried with the self-proclaimed first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang) in 210-209 BC.

With their burial it was believed that the Emperor would still have troops at his command. The Terracotta Warriors was buried in battle formation in many vaults, 1.5 kilometres east of the tomb of the Emperor, which is 33km east of Xi’an. Three vaults, measuring about 4-8 metres deep, have been excavated and a museum set up on the ruins, now called Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum. Vault One, the largest one, was opened to the public in 1979, and the whole museum was completed in 1994. There is a fourth vault which was found empty.

The figures were painted before being placed into the vault. The original colors were visible when the pieces were first unearthed. However exposure to air caused the pigments to fade so today the unearthed figures appear terracotta in color.

The figures are in several poses including standing infantry and kneeling archers as well as charioteers with horses. Each figure’s head appears to be unique showing a variety of facial features and expressions as well as hair styles.

In 1980 two painted bronze chariots were discovered 20 metres west of the tomb of the Emperor. Consisting of 3000 parts, each of the chariots is driven by an imperial charioteer and drawn by 4 horses. According to the Han Dynasty scholar Cai Yong, the first chariot was for clearing the road for the Emperor’s entourage, and the second was his sleeping chariot. The bridles and saddles of the horses are inlaid with gold and silver designs and the body of the number 2 chariot has its sliding windows hollow cut. Both are half life size and are now displayed in a large exhibition hall with other artifacts found within the Mausoleum.