China - Xi’an - Day 12

Every visit to Xi’an starts with a visit to the Terracotta Army. Today was no exception, and it was as amazing as ever. This time, there were a lot more warriors at visitor level, so you could really look at the details.

China’s first emperor constructed this underground, life-size terracotta army, Qin Shi Huang, in the 3rd century BCE to serve as his guardian during the afterlife. The buried army remained undisturbed underground until its accidental discovery in 1974 by a local farmer. Since then, it has become known as one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

For lunch, we had the biang biang noodles. They were outstanding.

We spent the afternoon walking around the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the streets nearby.

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda, also called Great Wild Goose Pagoda, is one of the most famous Buddhist structures in China due to its religious and historical relevance. First built over a millennium ago, it is one of Xi’an s most ancient and iconic landmarks and was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list as a part of the ancient Silk Road. The pagoda is remarkably well preserved given its age, other than a slight lean to one side. Originally built in 652 CE as a five-story brick structure, about 53 meters high, the pagoda is said to be where the Tang dynasty monk Xuan Zang translated the Buddhist scriptures he brought back from his journey to India, which is described in the 16th-century novel Journey to the West.

In the evening, we saw a Tang Dynasty play about an empress.

Finally, we ended the night by walking through the giant lantern illuminations on top of the city wall. It was a great day.

• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›
• 
  ‹ ›