Since we were in Xi'an you knew we weren't going to miss a visit to the famous Terracotta Army, located in the Lintong District about an hour's bus ride (40 km) out if Xi'an. In fact, even huge morning downpour and the incessant drizzle wasn't going to stop us from visiting….. it did help that our hotel loaned out umbrellas for free. We managed to catch bus 306 and arrived outside the parking lot of this world renowned archaeological site…..the drizzle had dampened the spirits of the many hawkers and vendors and we made it to the front gates unscathed if a bit soggy.
There are three main pits and we'd recommend starting in reverse order, from the smallest (pit 3) to the largest. This increases the dramatic effect of the visit.
Qin Shi Huang the First Emperor of China must have been one heck of a force of nature and a pretty amazing individual being credited with starting the Great Wall, unifying China, and starting the national system of roads. Of course, he was also known as a brutal and tyrannical ruler who ordered the destruction of all Confucian and non-"scientific" texts, and supposedly buried 460 scholars alive for having the forbidden books. All of the great building came at cost of hundred of thousands of lives……no wonder the emperor felt he needed a large army to protect him in his next life!
The actual discovery of the army is an amazing one; in 1974 a group of farmers digging a well struck something about 15 meters down…. it was a head….but as time would tell, not just any head! The rest as they say is history, though I'm always interested to know what "fame and fortune" these poor farmers found in later years, and found this interesting article.
We started our visit in the museum to the right of the entrance. The most interesting item was a replica of the bronze horses and chariot found near Qin Shi Huang's tomb(about 2 km west of Terracotta Army), along with photos of how it looked at the time of discovery.
We started at Pit 3, the smallest excavation, it is thought to be the "command center" of the army, though strangely, we saw nothing recognizable as a commander or general. Perhaps the Emperor thought himself to be the commander?
Also, many of the soldiers are missing heads in this pit. Experts have surmised that perhaps grave robbers had broken into this pit and stole the heads, or perhaps vandals broke in at an earlier time and destroyed them. There are a total of 68 soldiers in this pit.
For many, Pit 2 is the most interesting as it features the 1300 or so warriors, horses, and chariots in various military formations.
What I found most interesting about this pit were the remnants that were unrestored, showing the shards of terracotta that were reassembled…..being that I was never much good at jigsaw puzzles, I can't fathom the work it takes to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Pit 1 is pretty amazing. The building is the size of a airplane hanger and lines of terracotta soldiers stand almost as far as the eye can see……
The hall is over 19,000 square yards and you can't help but be awed by the amount of work it took to build this army.
According to what I've read, every face is unique and was based on an actual Qin soldier.
This is a definite must see…….
Feeling great we headed back to Xi'an catching the bus in the parking lot of the museum……it was interesting as the bus driver knew most of the folks getting on and off the bus, he'd stop without them evening pulling the bell cord.
We thought that we should get something special to eat, it just felt right . We got off the bus and sloshed our way back to the mall across from the Bell Tower, again crossing under the streets and ending up on the wrong side of the road! De Fa Chang, right across from Tong Sheng Xiang was recommended for their dumpling banquet.
The display on the first floor looked quite impressive…..
We were ushered quickly to the busy second floor, ordered our dumpling banquet, and our food started arriving very quickly….
Starting with some "appetizers" which were no big deal……..
The mushroom based soup was very bland…..
The pastry were cold, hard, and somewhat greasy…..
The steamed dumplings started appearing, most were very uneven in flavor, sometimes cold inside, oddly bland, waxy, etc, etc, etc……
One that stood out was the goose dumpling, which had a nice gamey flavor and a hint of spice.
Many of them looked quite pretty………
But we were severely underwhelmed…….
Until we got the one item we ordered a la carte, the Dry Cooked Mushroom, a dish that we loved so much, I've been making it at home. This one was excellent, earthy, with a touch of sweetness and heat. There was also some Sichuan Peppercorn in this which was a nice touch.
We could really see the potential of the kitchen with this dish…..
Unfortunately, the next item out was the Jiaozi, which were terrible……
Whomever had made this dough had over-worked it….I have a feeling they made it in a large stand mixer and went to town. The wrappers were very brittle with little stretch to it. The filling was on the bland side…the Server gasped when the Missus asked for black vinegar then used it as a dipping sauce. I guess they don't eat them that way in Xi'an.
The last item (thankfully) arrived soon there after, a little bowl over heating element.
Opening the top of the pot didn't reveal much….a pale broth with some greens and a wolf berry or two…..
But soon, as the broth came to a simmer, mushrooms and tiny dumplings rose to the top…..
This was not bad….the broth light in flavor.
Much like the snack banquet in Nanjing, htis proved to be a lot of premade dishes with little attention to detail. We could tell that the folks cooking had some skill, but it was not put to good use in mass producing these dumplings. Still, all was not lost since Jia San wasn't a long walk away!
Thanks for reading!