We got up as usual around 7am and headed down for a traditional Chinese breakfast. Chinese Chelsea, the lady who picked us up at the airport yesterday and also organizes tours for the hotel, told us that it was a very good buffet. Well, for us- it was more or less supper. We walked in and picked up a little stainless steel serving tray- one of those ones you would surely get in a hospital cafeteria- and then it was on to choose what we wanted, hmmm... let's see: fried vegetables, noodles with chicken, dumplings, some beef dish.... this is certainly not breakfast food in Canada! Michelle and Susanne finally settled on boiled eggs, a dumpling and some bread-like thing with green onions baked in. I went for the bread-like thing and a couple of slices of watermelon. It felt like we were choking down dry egg and thick dough with nothing to drink but it's business as usual here- looks like we'll be going out for breakfast tomorrow since our taste palettes have not been able to fully make the transition to include Chinese breakfast- we still crave our cereal and milk or toast and peanut butter.
Anyway, while we waited for our mini bus to the Terracotta Warriors to arrive, we had a chance to chat with Chinese Chelsea. You would be hard pressed not to notice the number of people who smoke here- especially in restaurants and common sitting areas. We've come to appreciate the fact that smoking in Canada is more or less confined to private homes and cars as opposed to public areas. When we asked Chinese Chelsea about this she said that pretty well every grown man in China smokes; that you might find one or two here and there who don't but that it would be unusual. She said that part of the reason is that at business meetings, the majority of people gather around the discussion table and smoke and drink. If one does not smoke or drink than it might be thought that they cannot do good business either. Very interesting. She mentioned that smoking among women is also on the rise, especially with young women (16-18) who are doing it because it's "cool." When we told her about the laws surrounding smoking and buying cigarettes in Canada she said that it was pretty harsh! :)
We finally headed out on our hour long drive to the see the army. Like you might expect- traffic is crazy here! I will never again complain about a traffic jam in downtown Halifax. We were stuck in one place for literally 25mins before moving. When we arrived, Chinese Chelsea gave us our entrance tickets and sent us off in the right direction. From the outside, the buildings just look like normal structures you would see anywhere but once inside, it's pretty neat. There are 3 pits currently being excavated at the site that was actually only discovered in 1974 by some local farmers trying to drill a well. They noticed some clay figures beneath the earth and ever since they have been working to uncover it all. Pit 2 is the least developed and really just looks like a massive pit of uneven clay mounds waiting to be unearthed. Pit 3 has a few statues of warriors and a horse and carriage but not much else. It is the smallest of the pits but said to have been one of the most important because it is where they found the most generals and other important warriors in Chinese history.
Pit 1 is by far the most exciting- it is the one you see in books and on tv. It is a domed-in, huge open space with thousands of life-size clay statues. There are two different types of soldiers (you can tell them apart by the side that their hair is knotted on- some have it on the left side of their head, others on the right and this determines their rank in the army). There are also lieutenants, a few generals and some horses and carriages. It is quite an impressive sight. They are extremely detailed, all the way down to the buttons on their jackets and treads on their boots. Pit 1 also continues to be excavated and they expect to discover some 6000 warriors in that pit once they finish. A very interesting place and must-see in China! Off to climb Mt. Huashan tomorrow!
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