The Terra Cotta warriors and horses supposedly guard the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. It is amazing to see the Warriors standing in battle like formation and each one of them is a unique life like figurine. Just like in ancient Egypt, death was a powerful phenomenon and the Emperor has to protect himself during the journey to the nether world.
After visiting the different chambers and seeing the museum artifacts one gets inspired to become a warrior! So the quick way is to get behind a life size Terra Cotta Queen! There is also a modern pottery barn where they make the life size warriors and horses just like the ancients did. We all can be an Emperor and Queen and can buy our own Warrior and Horse to guard us!
Xian is also a major city on the ancient Silk Road trading route and once textile industry flourished here when merchants from Asia and Middle East brought silk and woollen goods like carpets. They traded and also settled down and integrated with the Han people, the original inhabitants. Today the Muslims form the large majority of the Hui ethnic group. There is a mosque built in typical Chinese architecture style in the Muslim quarter.I was thinking about the ancient marvels and the ethnic groups that passed through this land who brought ideas, art, culture, invented, created, worshipped, lived and left behind the artifacts. I was trying to search a Qin, Zhou, Tang, Han, or Hui among the crowd all I could find is only a smiling proud Chinese proving the amalgamation. Having tasted a nice Sichuan cuisine for lunch - vegetarian dumpling and hot pot I have reached a Zen state which will certainly drive me to the next stop, the Wild Goose Pagoda!
China Chronicles will be continued....
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