Harry Potter Soldiers

The first time Leo referred to the famed Terra-cotta Soldiers, I wasn’t fully listening, and I got confused.  It sounded like “Harry Potter soldiers” and I was wondering why he brought up Dumbledore’s Army!  Then I realized what he was saying, but after that, I couldn’t help think of the phrase “Harry Potter soldiers.”

This is why tourists flock to Xi’an. . .to see the 2240 year old Terra-cotta soldiers.  There are an estimate 8,000 soldiers, along with horses, that were buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum.  Discovered in 1974, the museum first opened in 1979 with 1,000 soldiers on display. 

Now there are around 3,000 on display, and they are amazing.  We took the hour bus ride to Lintong (it takes a while to get out of the center of a 10 million person city, even at 7:10 am on a Saturday morning!)

The place gives off a bit of Disney feel to it, and as it was a holiday weekend in China, the place was already hopping when we pulled up around 8 am.  It’s a good thing we got there early, as when we were leaving around 10:30 or so, the lines to get into the various building/pits was much longer.

Emperor Qin is famous for two reasons.  First, he conquered and united the Seven Nations into China (I wonder if it was hard to meld a Seven Nation Army?! Editor’s Note: You keep referencing that earworm!  Please stop.  Blogger: I promise to try.).  Second, he stopped the practice of burying staff, concubines, eunuchs, and others alive with him at his funeral. 

Since I’m a pollster, I have no doubt that policy caused his approval rating to skyrocket!

We went into Pit #1 first.  It’s the most dramatic of the three pits (see the photos) with many columns of soldiers and horses lined up.  The long pit has two high viewing areas at either end, and a lower viewing area along the sides.  There were a lot of people there already, but we just had to wait a little bit to move to the half-wall and take pictures/have better views. 

Pit #1 was discovered in 1974 by farmers digging a water well.  The soldiers are not in one piece, but have been carefully reconstructed by archaeologists.  The first thousand were rushed to monetize the discovery, but since then the work has proceeded more slowly and carefully.  With another 5,000 or so to uncover and reconstruct, it is going to be a while.  On the other hand, the soldiers are not going anywhere!

Toward the back of Pit #1 is the soldier hospital, where we saw recently uncovered soldiers in various states of reconstruction.  It’s painstaking work, but it also has to be breath-taking to get to do your life’s work on something that is more than 2,200 years old.

The amount of detail on the soldiers is incredible.  Many are missing their heads, but even those are amazing for the detail on the bodies/uniforms, etc.   

There was a scary twenty minutes or so when one woman got separated from the group.  She thought we were ahead of her, so she shot out the back door, down a set of stairs.  We looked all over and around the outside of the building.  The doubly scary part is that she has had a series of strokes since age 12, so walking is not easy.   She’s been a gamer, keeping up with the group thanks in part to her will and in part to her devoted husband’s help.  Carol suggested to her husband that he text her, and we finally found her, but not without a lot of concern.

We then went into Pits two and three.  Those were mildly interesting, but Pit #1 is the thrill.  Pit #1 has the main army of more than 6,000 figures (that includes horses, etc.).  Pit #2 has cavalry and infantry units, as well as war chariots.  The terra-cotta weapons have largely been looted. 

The last building we went into was the museum.  That was a zoo.  (Editor’s Note: Wait, I thought you said it was a museum?  Blogger: By “zoo” I meant crazy.)  

The place was so packed we could hardly walk.  We went through one exhibition room with several chariots on display, and then bailed on going anywhere else because it was so hard to move.  Everyone else in the group felt the same way, so Leo led us back outside where we had actual personal space!

After a stop at the gift building (much bigger than a shop), we walked back through the gift shops, street food, and general Universal Park vibe to the bus.  I only note that because it underscores that China has this weird capitalism-communism thing going on. 

So far on the trip, we’ve been to the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall, and now the Terra-cotta Soldiers!  Wow. . .Nat Geo puts on an expedition!