Our fifth tour day was spent in Xi'an, which is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Despite spending the night in a train instead of in a hotel room, I felt fully energized and excited to see the Terracotta Army.
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| Terracotta Army |
Before that, we visited Banpo Village. This is an archaeological site located near the Yellow River that dates back to the Neolithic period. Our tour guide took us to see excavations of settlements that were built several thousand years ago.
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| Banpo Village |
Our next stop was the Xi'an Terracotta Warriors Museum. We passed by a workshop right next to it where you can find replicas of the original statues. I think you can buy souvenirs here too. Naturally, I had to take a photo.
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| Terracotta Workshop |
Finally, it was time to see the Terracotta Army. The statues were discovered in 1974 by farmers when they were trying to dig a well. Chinese archaeologists continued the excavation and they uncovered thousands of sculptures. To ensure this amazing find would be protected, a museum was built over the dig site. It is believed that these warriors were buried along with Emperor Qin to protect him in the afterlife.
Visitors can also find sculptures of terracotta horses and chariots in the museum.
We spent a couple of hours at the museum before heading to our final stop, the Huaqing Hot Springs. According to Visit Our China, "it gets its fame for being the place where the romantic story of Emperor Tangxuanzong of Tang Dynasty (618-907) and his beloved Yang Guifei (or Concubine Yang) took place."
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| Huaqing Got Springs |
I can understand why an imperial love story would unfold here. It really is quite beautiful.
This was the last place I visited since it was my final day in China. I flew back to Manila the next day.
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