Xi'An: Han Tombs

I took a course on Egyptian civilization in college and became obsessed with Egyptian history, especially the burial procedures. I mean, what's more interesting than removing a brain through your nostril? For my birthday one year, I even forced Matthew to take me to the King Tut exhibit in Philadelphia. But I still dreamed of visiting the pyramids and seeing the tombs for myself, filled with treasures once believed to be needed in the afterlife. While I haven't made it to Egypt yet, I did recently get to enter an Emperor's tomb, and it just so happened to be in China.

About 20 km outside of Xi'an sits the Yangling Mausoleum of the Han Dynasty. Built in 153 AD for Liu Qi and his empress,  the tomb covers an area of 20 square kilometers (4,942 acres) and is comprised of the emperor's tomb, empress' tomb, burial pits, a ceremonial site, human sacrifice graveyard and criminals' cemetery. I'm sure your ancestral burial plot also has those last two items.

While you can't enter the actual tomb (boo), you can explore the outer pits at China's first underground museum. The tomb contains around 50,000 doll-sized terracotta figures depicting humans and animals for use in the afterlife. The museums sits on the excavation site and has a glass floor so that you can look down on the ongoing excavations.

Even without any mention of brain removal, the Han Tombs are definetly worth a visit if you travel to Xi'An.

Xi'An: Cave Homes

While visiting Xi'an, my family had a rather unique opportunity. We were invited by our guide, Raphael, to visit the ancestral home of his family. Carved into the side of a hill, this cave home, or yáodòng, had housed generations of his family. For hundreds of years, these cave homes have been popular dwellings in Shaanxi province due to the ease of digging the earth as well as a lack of other building materials.

Our guide's cousin and family still call this humble, hand dug cave their home. Though it also doubles as the local Mahjong parlor at night.

Inside the home, the whitewashed walls were adorned with calendars, family photos, and posters of cats. In recent years, revenue from the Mahjong parlor has even allowed the family to add electricity to their home.

We settled onto the kong, a bed which has been elevated to allow for a fire to burn underneath, and chatted with the family through broken Chinese and help from our guide. The family explained that in previous years, the back room had been used to store the family's livestock.

After profusely thanking the family for allowing us to visit their home, we ventured off for final leg of our Xi'An tour.

To arrange a tour of a cave home, contact:
Xi'An Day Tour
Raphael Wang
raphaelwj@gmail.com
Phone:86-13002908084
http://www.xiandaytour.com/

Xi'An: Pagodas, Museums, and Walls

Because I apparently like to torture my family, our final day in Xi'An was chocked full of activities. Just after breakfast, we headed to the Shaanxi History Museum. Located near the museum is the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. Around 15 stories high, it seemed like the perfect structure to make my parents climb early in the morning.

After our morning workout, we explored the area courtyard as well as the museum itself. With over 300,000 artifacts, we could have easily spent the entire day viewing the relics of past dynasties.

But we clearly had not exercised enough, so we decided to scale the Xi'An City Wall. This wall, build in 1370 by the Ming Dynasty to protect the city from intruders, encircles a 14 square kilometer (5.4 square mile) area of the city. The wall is approximately 12 meters (39 ft) in height and 15–18 meters (49–59 ft) wide.

And I made us walk on it.

All of this before we even ate lunch.

Xi'An: The Grand Mosque

Located in Xi'An's Muslim Quarter is the Grand Mosque, the first mosque build in China around 740 AD. Located behind the Drum Tower, the Grand Mosque beautifully combines Chinese and Islamic architecture. While only Muslims are permitted to enter the actual mosque, the accompanying courtyards are remarkable as well.

Xi'An: Muslim Quarter

The Terracotta Warriors are easily the most popular attraction in Xi'An and the reason most tourists flock there. However, Xi'An is full of numerous others treasures which make this city a spot worth visiting.

One of those such locations is the Muslim Quarter. The Muslim Quarter is a fascinating area, made up of narrow alleys lined with exotic foods, interesting architecture, and lovely people. From the first century BC, Xi'An served as the starting point for the famous Silk Road. During this time, Xi'an attracted thousands of traders, mainly Muslim, from the West whose ancestors still live in Xi'An today.

We made our way to the Muslim Quarter just after dusk. The small alleyways burst to life with vendors peddling everything from terracotta replicas to dried fruits and local cuisine.

We had come to the market with one purpose, to try as many foods as possible. It was clear from the beginning that this would be a cumbersome task as stall after stall was full of culinary delights. We picked our way through the crowds to sample everything from fresh bread, baked before us in a tonur oven, to savory hand pulled noodles.

We quickly located our favorite treat of the night, a persimmon cake or Shi Zi Bing. The cakes are made from a persimmon dough that is stuffed with various fillings such as ground walnuts, osmanthus, or black sesame and then flattened and gently fried. The result is a sweet, syrupy treat that had our taste buds begging for more.

Our stomachs stretched to the max, we washed down our dinners with a warm cup of pear and date infused tea. 

If you find yourself in Xi'An, most likely to see the Terracotta Warriors, make sure to stop by the Muslim Quarter to nosh on some of the best street food China has to offer. Just make sure to leave room for dessert.

Xi'An: Terracotta Warriors

After a whirlwind holiday spent in the US, we are back home in Shanghai. Our families were overly generous with presents as usual so it will take a few days to settle in and sort through all our loot. Plus a certain ball of fur keeps enticing me with midday naps. Seriously, how can I be productive when this is occurring?

I suppose this same procrastination is why I am still recapping my parents' trip to China, a full two months after they departed. Better late than never, right?

After departing Beijing, we arrived in Xi'An for a few days of site seeing. The main attraction in Xi'An is the Terracotta Warrior exhibit. Thanks to stories of the Terracotta Warriors being discovered by farmers, I wrongly assumed Xi'An was a small, sleepy town. I was quickly corrected by our tour guide who informed us it was in fact a small city. A small city of eight million people. When I told him I grew up in a town of 10,000, he assured me that I must have the figure wrong.

The Terracotta Warriors are an army of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. They were buried with the emperor to protect him in his afterlife, around the year 210 BC.

The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. Their armor, or lack of it, also designated their position in the army. Originally, each warrior held a wooden weapon which has long since disintegrated.

Archaeologists estimate there are over 8,000 soldiers, 100 chariots and 500 horses buried in the area surrounding Qin Shi Huang's grave, most of which are still unearthed. 

Other non-military terracotta  figures were also found surrounding the grave such as officials, acrobats, and musicians. Unfortunately for Qin Shi Huang's concubines, he chose to bury the actual women alive in his grave rather than their terracotta likeness.

The kneeling archer is perhaps the most famous of the Terracotta Warriors as he is the only statue found fully intact. The majority of the warriors are found as broken fragments which are then painstakingly pieced together. 

It's hard to believe these incredible statues were found by chance by farmers digging a well. The only thing I ever found when digging in my yard was earthworms.