We started the day with a bike ride around the top of the city wall. (This was actually more what I expected the Great Wall to be like.) Xian is supposedly the only city with its entire stone wall still standing and enclosing the old section of the city. The bikes were so old they were practically falling apart, but what do you expect for 20 yuan (about $3).
Our next stop was the Terracotta Soldiers. The story is that a group of farmers were digging a well, but dug up one of the ancient statues instead. I’ve seen elaborate Egyptian tombs, but this emperor was buried with an entire army of life-size figures, including infantry, cavalry, and their horses (around 8,000 statues in all). Most of the figures were made from the yellow clay soil of the area, which fired into a light brown terracotta color; but then they were painted in vivid colors to match the soldiers’ uniforms. The bodies of the figures were identical depending on the soldier’s rank, but each head was unique and carved to match the real person.
