This morning we were up at 4:45 to leave for airport at 5:30...another short night (one reason we have a hard time to get this blog written in much detail. Hopefully can do better. Have begun taking tablet along and writing as we drive places. After arriving in Xi'an we went to a factory where they demonstrated the pottery process that was used to create the terracotta warriors.
They were shaped from clay and then fired at great heat twice before being painted, arranged in ranks of soldiers and buried. Again there is so much history of the Chinese dynasties involved it would be too lengthy to write. A few interesting facts: this emperor had 731,000 prisoners working for many years to build his tomb and these warriors who were meant to protect him in the after life from any invaders. After it was completed they were also killed and buried so that no one could know where his tomb and these warriors were. They were partially destroyed when peasants had an uprising after his death and surrounding kingdoms he had conquered came and burned and smashed many of them. Archaeologists have been working for 40 years to reconstruct these warriors, which looks like such a daunting process to me! The statues were amazing. 2000 uncovered so far and they estimate another 6000 are buried, yet they believe no two are made alike. The are in no hurry to excavate them until they find a better way to preserve them. Their colors oxidize as soon as they are exposed to the air.
After this we went to a banquet of dumplings and theater performance of Tang dynasty dances. More on this later...
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