First day in Xi’an. Today was really a historic day. Mostly because we looked at sites from the Qin and Tang Dynasties, and also because I doubt I’ll forget this day anytime soon. We started out the day with a crowd favorite: western breakfast. After eating our fill of pancakes and waffles, we went to the terra cotta warrior factory, where we learned how to make the terra cotta warriors.
After creating miniature terra cotta warriors with molds (and then abandoning all of them at the factory), we went to go see the actual terra cotta warriors. There we explored the different pits where the warriors had been discovered and learned about how each warrior was unique and had its own rank in the army. We even got to meet the real farmer who first discovered the warriors in 1974. From there we went to the site of Da Ming Palace, the home of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty.
Though the entire palace was destroyed by an earthquake a seven hundred years ago, archaeologists have begun to recreate what they believe the palace to have looked like. Not only did we learn about the history of the palace, we also got to learn about the different rules of excavation and archaeology. Finally, we went to the opera house for a dumpling feast and a recreation of traditional Tang era song and dance. It was really interesting to see how people still remembered eight hundred year old songs and dances. It was a long day, and one I doubt any of us will forget anytime soon.
-Max Stein