Today was a fairly late start to the tour, which was fine because yesterday we did not arrive to the hotel until around 21:30. I was up late booking a trip to South Africa which includes Kruger National Park for November….
The first stop was – you guessed it a stop at the government operated store and demonstration spot. They had several people making small copies of the terra cotta warriors and even tried to sell you full size copies with your own head. Our tour group wasn’t the only to stop – Gate 1 Travel and Collette both had buses there. We had lunch above the shop in their buffet.
After lunch we arrived at the terra cotta warrior excavation site. They have 3 pits that are enclosed and partially excavated. Pit #1 is the largest and most impressive. It was very interesting to see how they were intended to be preserved (looked like they were originally inside a building). We spent 2 hours looking at the ruins and also the two bronze chariots they found 5 km away.
Below is a picture of pit #1.
Below photo of me in front of genuine fake terra cotta warriors and a picture (backdrop) of pit #1. It does look surprisingly real.
From the excavation site we continued to our optional excursion – Tang Dynasty show and dumpling dinner. The show was nice and the dinner was the best I had while visiting China (even better than McDonald’s). After the show I took a few pictures of the ancient city wall – which is very impressive. They have it all lit up at night.
Below photo is from the Tang Dynasty show.
Tomorrow we fly to Wuhan.