Our trip to Beijing and Xi’An: Part 4
Table of Contents
Xi’An was a key destination for its Terracotta Army, which I had long wanted to see. We traveled by high-speed train, stayed at a wonderful Hilton, and explored unique spots like the grand shopping mall with animal enclosures. Visiting the Terracotta Warriors museum was breathtaking, with intricate statues and ongoing excavations, followed by the nearby Huaqing Palace, Xi’An’s spicy local cuisine, and the Silk Road Theater’s spectacular show. Our final day included the Wild Goose Pagoda and the historical museum, making for an unforgettable experience in Xi’An.
Links to the previous parts
Xi’An was the main destination for the trip as I always dreamt of seeing another World Wonder - the Terracotta Army. Instead of taking a short flight, we decided to try famous Chinese high-speed trains. A train ticket price was slightly cheaper than a plane ticket, but the duration was 4 hours compared to 1ish. The boarding was confusing as foreigners were allowed to enter last, and the ride was very comfortable and comparable to European trains.
At Xi’An, we decided to try Hilton, and weren’t disappointed - the hotel was gorgeous, and the staff was amiable and helpful. Also, at the checkout, a receptionist gave me a couple of lovely gifts.
As we arrived in the middle of the day, we decided to check a local Russian restaurant, but it was a slight disappointment. The restaurant has an upscale ex-Soviet aesthetic, but as Chinese people thought it was. In general, the artifacts and interior elements from various decades were mixed up together. Secondly, the menu wasn’t more like Russian-inspired food, but far from true Russian food:
But it was an educational experience for me. The second unusual place we visited that day was a gargantuan shopping mall. The mall has at least 10 levels (we didn’t check the roof and parking) with various installations inside such as enclosures for wild animals (rabbits, tortoises, gooses, and swans), an artificial waterfall, and even an LED ceiling to imitate a blue sky! Singapore is famous for its shopping malls, but this was something on another level.
The second day was heavily packed with various tourist activities. Firstly, we decided to get a guide to watch as much as we could. Due to a misunderstanding, the package included the guide only without a car, so we had to travel from place to place by taxi. Our first stop was at a famous terracotta warriors museum. The ride is about 30-40 minutes from the city center and all the way I was in anticipation. We started intentionally early as the place can be quite late due to its popularity.
We arrived on time to beat the crowd and with no further adieu bought tickets and entered the museum. The museum consists of four pavilions each of which reveals various aspects of the mausoleum. The first pavilion is the main one and once I entered it, I stopped in fascination. It’s a huge hangar with hundreds of warrior sculptures.
The pavilion is a bit crowded and some uncles & aunts can be quite rude, but in general, everyone was reasonably polite. Despite the crowd, it’s possible to spend hours contemplating the intricacies of statues: facial expressions, armor, weapons, postures, etc. Each statue is different from each other.
The guide shared a lot of interesting details. Firstly, the statue’s height is about 1.7 m and it was surprising to me as I always thought the ancient Chinese (and Asians in general)were far lower. There are a couple of hypotheses around it - warriors were selected once, it’s an artist’s exaggeration, etc. Secondly, share a lot about the warrior’s attire & armor - how to guess a warrior’s rank based on his weapon & attire and we’ll see more about it later.
The burial site is huge, and Chinese archeologists still keep excavating the site and assembling new statues. The site has examples on their WIP for statues of warriors and horses.
There are 3 of the most iconic statues presented for a closer look. Try to guess their status, position in a military formation, and rank. I added answers at the end of the article*.
Lastly, we checked the last pavilion, where unexcavated warriors were buried. The site has been already X-rayed and it’s possible to see a computer-based reconstruction.
The most impressive fact is that only a fraction of the terracotta army has been dug out, and the majority of the warriors are still revealed to the world. Netflix recently released a fascinating movie on the topic, so if you are fascinated by the Terracotta army, I strongly recommend you to check it out.
After the Terracotta Museum, we checked out the nearby Huaqing Palace. That’s an amazing place, but due to the extensive heat, it was rather difficult to explore it. I’m sure it will be a far more pleasant walk in Autumn.
After the park, we stopped by a local restaurant to try Xi’an’s food, which is contrasting from Beijing’s. I tried a pancake (Chinese burger) before in BingZi (Chinese street food in Singapore), but it was original. And I love the food - it’s spicy, nutritious, chewy, tender, and many more epithets.
Lastly, we went to check out the famous local show - Xi’An Silk Road Theatre: Legend of the Camel Bell. I didn’t capture a good video out of it, but I found a good one on TicTok. The show is incredible - fantastic decorations, live, tamed animals, entertaining dances, and even an artificial waterfall! The show’s duration is an hour, but you are constantly following the rotating scene, so the time flies in a blink. After the show, our guide helped us to book a Xi’An historical museum via WeChat. Otherwise, we won’t be able to get tickets. After that, we decided to take a break and went back to the hotel.
Btw, a funny fact about Xi’An. It’s Xin Jin Ping’s hometown - the current Chinese ruler. Do you know what local people call him? Xi’Uncle (Sounds like Xi’An Uncle).
On the final day, we had only two activities - a wild goose pagoda and the museum. Our first stop was at the museum, which was relatively close to our hotel. The museum, unfortunately, was just okay. There are interesting exhibits, but, to be honest, only a few of them. The place is also quite crowded, so anything notable is always surrounded by a group of people. Obviously, we saw a famous chariot:
And various silk-road-related artifacts are in vast:
How do I feel after 4 hours of straight sun:
After the museum, we had a quick refreshment in the gargantuan mall again - a fried yogurt. It tastes great, I wish Singapore would have a similar desert soon:
Lastly, we decided to check Wild Goose Pagoda.
The place is extremely among locals for photo taking - the whole area is flooded by people, who want to have creative photography:
*First one - linear warrior, the second one - general, the last one - bowman