May 21, 2005 Xi'an: Terro Cotta Warriors, Huaqing Hot Spring

We woke up with train still a few hours from Xi'an and we had daylight so that we could see all the details of the loess countryside.

We arrived at our new hotel which was better than the one in Beijing, we cleaned up and had breakfast.

Then we left for our first trip to visit the famous terra cotta warriors .we were met as VIP's again and given an introduction by the director. Then we were given a complete VIP tour of all the terra cotta warriors sites. In the notes to prepare for the tour I learned that Sun Tzu's "the Art of War" is called "Bing Fa" in China. I got lot of video and pictures trying to catch all the military detail. Then we were given another "state like" dinner at the museum.

The Terro Cotta Warriors in Xi'an

The Terro Cotta Horses

We boarded the bus to visit the Huaqing Hot Spring which was a major center of the Tang Dynasty and the site of romance in the emperor's home. The site is filled with more beautiful building, gardens and lots of water. I got part of the regular play that is put on to tell the romantic story of the Emperor and his wife. The costumes were very beautiful.

L: The Huaqing Hot Spring R: A "Tang San Cai" statue of camel The "Tang San Cai", or "Tang tri-color kilns", is a unique ancient art form created in China during the Tang Dynasty.

The "Dream Back to the Tang Dynasty" show

We arrived back at our hotel and to find another "state dinner" with the head of CRI and local political leaders awarding us presents. Gao Huiying and I then made an effort to catch up on recording our experiences for CRI radio.

Previous　Next