Terracotta soldiers, Xian

Day 01One-day Xian tour

In the early morning, our tour guide and driver will pick you up at the airport or the railway station or your hotel. Breakfast is on your own. Then you will be transferred to visit the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. Get back to Xian and enjoy your a la carte lunch at a fine local restaurant. In the afternoon visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and if time permits the City Wall. After that, we will see you off at the airport or the railway station, or drive you back to your hotel.(L)

Descriptions:
Terracotta Warriors - Before visiting the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, visitors are suggested knowing a little knowledge of the Qin Dynasty. The Qin Dynasty was the first power-centralized and unified state in Chinese history. It is an important dynasty but was very short, beginning from 221 BC to 206 BC. The dynasty was built by the Emperor Qin Shihuang, who took many effective measures to the political, economic and military systems of the Qin State and conquered the other six states and unified China. But because of his tyrannical reign, his kingdom finally quickly ended in the peasant uprising. You may have seen the movie The Mummy: Tomb of Dragon Emperor, acted by Jet Lee, Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh. No matter whether you like this movie or not, it's believed that the terra cotta warriors reliving are really astonishing. The archetype of Dragon Emperor, actually, is the Emperor Qin Shishuang. It's a not a real story, but stimulates more people's interest in the Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses in Xian, Shaanxi. As a world's great wonder, it is well worth visiting in your lifetime.

Today visitors see the color of Qin Terracotta Warriors is pale grey. But originally, they were painted various colors such as black, white, red, green, yellow, pink, purple and brown. The laboratory report says these colors are all minerals. The green color is made by green copper ore, the red color is made of Spanish red and cinnabar, the white is white lead and porcelain clay, the purple is synthesized by red lead and copper ore, and the brown color is made by pigment. It shows that Chinese people could manufacture in great quantities and widely used these paints.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda - After centuries of destruction of wind and rain, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda still stands tall and upright in the ancient Da Ci'en Temple. At the base of the pagoda, you will see two stone tablets carved with inscriptions of Cui Suiliang, the famous calligraphist of the Tang Dynasty. Do you know why Xuang Zang stayed in the temple for 12 years and translated 1,335 volumes of scriptures. To praise his dedication to Buddhism, the Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and the Crown Prince Li Zhi wrote two articles which were engraved on the two tablets. 
 
City Wall - Xian has the largest and most integrated ancient city wall all over the country. The City Wall of Xian was formed in early Ming Dynasty, based on the imperial city of Sui and Tang dynasties around the 6th century. It once acted as a huge and precisely designed system for military defense, now circles the prosperous inner city of Xian.

B-- Breakfast     L-- Lunch     D-- Dinner