Terra Cotta Warriors

August 27th, 2006 Bell Tower Hotel, Xian, China
The bed was really comfortable last night, and I found it a little difficult to pull myself from the sheets. However, I overcame, and the group met at 8:30 in the lobby, and then trudged to the bus. Our visit of the day was the Banpo Village Museum. Found in the ‘70s (I think), it was the remains of a 6,000 year old village, older than the recognized dates of Chinese history. I was reminded of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Excavated bones were in separate cases. Dr. Byram and Rich thought that if Pooh (my granddad) were there, he’d be climbing over the railing to get a closer look at the archaeological remains. They said that as I had one foot over the fence.
Outside, two kids were shooting basketball. A few of us joined in. I will only say two things about what transpired: 1. My brother would make fun of me for all eternity if he had seen how ‘well’ I shot and 2. I have some practicing to do once we get to Brisbane.
From there was the factory where they now make terra cotta warriors for gifts and decoration. It was an interesting place, but not on my top five things I’ve seen while I’ve been here. We watched as they pressed the shapes into the clay and then whittled off the excess. It was then fired in a kiln. The gift shop was very big, filled with soldiers of all shapes and sizes. Patrick bought a gigantic archer, almost life-sized, to send home as a joke to his parents. He spent a little over a $1,000 on it. That’s an expensive joke. I suppose they’ll be the only family in Alabama with a terra cotta warrior in their garden.
Lunch was eaten at a small restaurant close to thirty minutes outside Xian. Willow told us we would eat a light lunch to save room for the western buffet at the hotel tonight, and the food might not be very good. As we ate, I didn’t understand what she was talking about. I loved the sesame chicken and donkey.
We arrived at the large complex where, in 1974, the army was found beneath the earth by a farmer. This gentleman was paid 2 yuan (the equivalent of a few cents) for his find, which became one of the Eight Wonders of the World. This very same farmer sat at the entrance to the site, signing autographs. We were told he didn’t like his picture being taken, so I tried the little trick I achieved at the huge sculpture of Buddha. I wasn’t as successful this time. This guy was good. He saw my lens shoot out as my camera came on, so he quickly grabbed a large fan and held it in front of his face. From then on, he watched me wherever I went. I escaped his menacing gaze by following the group into a circular room with screens running along the walls. Presently, a movie came on depicting the history of the Terra Cotta Warriors and of their being found thirty years ago. Apparently, the Chinese have different expectation for dramatic presentation. The information found therein was kind of cool, though. The warriors were for the tomb of the first emperor of China, who had united six (or more) provinces through war. He then began construction on his massive tomb, which lasted almost forty years. 700,000 workers were involved in the process, and 8,000 terra cotta warriors were placed with him to serve him in the afterlife, ensuring his reign forever.
Once the video finished, we filed out of the room and made our way to a museum. Inside was held the two chariots, each one pulled by four horses. They were smaller than I expected, but they were nevertheless remarkably lifelike. I am continually amazed by the craftsmanship of people long ago. They probably deserve more credit than we give them, because they were pretty darn smart. Following the chariots, we visited three pits. The first two were fairly empty except for scattered remains of warriors that had been destroyed hundreds of years ago by marauders who had discovered the tomb on raids throughout the land. The third pit (Pit #1) was the most spectacular. Miniature caverns furrowed through the ground, cutting back hundreds of yards away. In these small valleys stood a great army of the famous warriors. Each one was different than the other; no two looked alike (just like snowflakes and real people!). I walked the entire length of the rectangular-shaped hole, photographing this wonder of the world. Even now these creations demanded respect and I understood (to some extent, because I loved the Great Wall; Dr. Byram and I want to come back someday and walk the entire distance) why Xian is the hottest spot for tourism in China. Even though they were made from dirt and water, these warriors were intimidating. The detail put into their faces and armor was incredible. I was impressed.
I slept the forty or so minutes back to Xian. Most of us ate dinner in the restaurant of the hotel. I enjoyed the skewered octopus and had two pieces of cream caramel in honor of the Grand Pooh-bah. Afterwards, we had a few minutes to relax before we met in the conference room for a small worship service. We sang several songs and enjoyed a guest speaker, who had a very remarkable story to tell. This man, who was Chinese, had been sent to America in 2003 as a visiting scholar, studying in Illinois. During his work, he began reading the Bible as literature and began to believe that the stories about Jesus were true. For a reason that I unfortunately missed, he was visiting Harding’s campus for a few days when he decided to be baptized. Dr. Eddie Cloer baptized him at College Church in Searcy, Arkansas. He is now back in Xian teaching English literature in one of the forty universities in the area. There are 20,000 students at the university, and around 3,000 faculty and they still have a better student to teacher ratio than Harding. This man has, for the first time in the 5,000 year history of China, begun teaching the Bible in a literature course at a university and has places of learning all over the country onboard with this. The government is fine with it as long as it is taught as literature. I thought it was pretty smooth.
Annie and William and I wrestled in the hall after we concluded. I got my workout for the day. Those two are close to unstoppable when they’re together. I’m officially worn out now. We have an extra thirty minutes of sleep tomorrow morning. I am appreciating bedtime very much on this trip.