So today was our trip to see the Terracotta warriors!
You entered the museum area greeted by the statue above, so you knew you were about to see something special.
We took a golf buggy (which was the biggest I’d ever seen at 12 people to a buggy) to the pits where the statues were.
Walking in and seeing the rows and rows of thousands of soldiers was amazing. You couldn’t believe how many there were – and that they were discovered by accident!
You also got to see how they pieced the warriors back together as they had all been smashed. There was even a team of archaeologists on site.
Along the journey to the warriors we also heard from our tour guide Mary. Our original tour guide Jimmy was still with us, but its Chinese law that you have to have an additional guide from the province you are in, if the tour guide isn’t from that area. Jimmy being with us for the whole trip has been handy so far! But as we were travelling along Mary was telling us about her and her family. Interestingly, she explained how the one child law is relaxing in China now. You can get a permit to have a child, but if you don’t get a permit you cannot use your health insurance to pay for the delivery of the child in hospital. It was nice to hear her speak about her intention to have another child, as that’s a right many of us take for granted!
For lunch we went to a local factory that produces replicas of the warriors. The guide talked us through the process and then we had the chance to buy some if we liked. They weren’t as cheap as the warriors inside the museum – but they were much better quality!
Top Tip: Make sure you haggle, even if the object you want has a price on it if you are buying something in the street. Once I got over my British sense of embarrassment at haggling a few days ago I managed to get a lot of my souvenirs for half the prices on them thanks to this advice from our tour guide!
After dinner it was off to our optional excursion to the Tang Dynasty Dinner. It was a set menu with free flowing rice wine accompanied by a show which showcased the traditional music, costumes and dance performed in the Tang Dynasty to the emperor. If you wonder what the costumes looked out – check out the below!
I’d definitely recommend it if anyone else was thinking about taking this excursion – you get a real sense of the traditional culture as well of a taste of the shows that China can put on!
Next I’m off to Chongqing to board my ship, so internet will be intermittent – but I’ll post my next blog as soon as I can!
Until next time!
Rach x
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