We checked into the Sheraton. Got upgraded. Room is nice but the ventilation isn’t too great. Kevan opened the window for some air flow. They had to send a fan to cool me down.

Day 1

Huaqing Palace 华清宫

Huaqing Palace was a resort palace used by emperors from the Zhou, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties. It was famous for its natural hot springs and one of the main features in many of the palace buildings are the historic spas and pools that have been recovered and restored.

The palace is wonderfully situated at the base of Mount Li 骊 山 with various palace buildings all the way up the mountain. We visited during the day and toured the various buildings in the complex, and then returned at night for a stage performance which was simply spectacular.

The Statue of Yang GuiFei 楊贵妃 aka Yang YuHuan 楊玉環

The Museum of Imperial Pools

The emperor himself enjoyed the largest of these pools, one of which was shaped to match the Milky Way galaxy shape. The smaller pools, which were literally and symbolically fed with water from the emperors pool, were for his concubines and family members. The palace is rich in Tang Cultural events, including love stories between the Emperor Tang Xian Cong and his concubine Yang Guifei.

The Song of Everlasting Sorrow written by Poet Baijuyi 白居易

The performance (entitled “the song of everlasting sorrow”) is staged right in the middle of the palace complex, 2500 people per show and they run four shows each night. It’s not cheap, around $60 US per person, which is relatively expensive by local standards but each performance is sold out, and I only saw two other foreigners in the audience, completely packed with Chinese tourists. Which makes sense since the entire performance is in Chinese.

It is a spectacular love story of the Emperor Tang ZuanZong (tang dynasty so 7th century) who falls in love with his main concubine, there are 11 scenes as the love story plays out.

Ultimately his great love for the concubine Yang YuHuan overwhelms his commitment to other responsibilities, upsetting many of his administrative and military officials. Tang Xuan Cong renovated the palace so he could bathe with Yang Guifei. The love story ended with tragedy during An Lushan’s rebellion when Yang Guifei was forced to take her own life during their exile by the imperial guards and Tang Xuan Cong was forced to allow the order. Thus, marked the fall the Tang Dynasty.

The poet Baijuyi 白居易wrote a beautiful play to commemorate the story. It is played at the live size theater at Huaqing Palace and is a must see show for visitors.The rebellion scene culminates with a great storming of the palace in a fiery battle scene and require that something drastic be done. This culminates in his concubine taking her own life, but the final scene shows the Emperor reunited with his eternal love in heaven.

Fantastic pageantry, great water features, the light show against the mountain backdrop is amazing, and the colors and scenery and props are extremely vibrant. They even have a fire feature during the battle that is so huge and hot that I could hardly stand the heat from the 28th row back, I think it would have singed my hair if I had front row seats for this one. This is a must-see on your Xian tourist punchcard!

Xi’an Event

During the Xi’an Event, one of the leaders of the republic of China (Chiang Kai Shek) was kidnapped and house arrested at this palace. He was forced to join force with the communist party to fight the encroachment of the Japanese.

The Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors 兵马俑

The first terracotta ruins were unearthed by a local farmer while digging a well in 1974. When he found fragments of the terracotta, he thought he had dug out the God of Earth 土地神. He later gifted it to his neighbor whom placed it at his house for worshipping. Later on, a reporter came to the village and found that the statue was interesting so he took a picture of it and caught the attention of an archeologist. The secret was unveiled and workers began to unearth more terracotta warriors. The farmer is still alive as of today and is frequently visited by officials from other countries. His living expenses are fully supported by the Chinese government.

The terracotta warriors and the horses were designed and placed by the tomb of emperor Qin ( ShihHuangDi) approximately 206 BC to guard and protect him in the afterlife. This Emperor is revered in China as he was the first emperor of a unified China. His accomplishments in consolidating power across warring, factions, and unifying the country, as well as his decision to commission the construction of the great wall are great achievements. It is also from this Emperor Qin that China gets its name, indicating his importance.

There are three main pits that have been excavated, the most impressive is the first pit were over 2000 warriors are displayed at one time. Apparently each figure has different facial features and expression, as well as clothing and hairstyle and gestures, which you can make out as you look at these ancient clay replicas.

The second pit is fairly close by, and includes four military units, the first with kneeling and standing archers, the second with chariots, the third is a mixed unit of infantry chariot and troopers, and the final one includes troopers with weapons.

The third pit is the smallest of the three and only has around 70 figures, And represents the command post as all the figures are officials.

There are thousands of very detailed and life-sized soldiers and horses in this army. Scientific research has indicated that these clay models were molded in parts, like a production line, then fired and assembled and painted, which is amazing considering that it took over 700,000 builders to create this army.

After visiting the sites of the Terracotta Warriors, we attended a performance outside in a theater complex which went through a brief history of Emperor Qin and included poetry, acrobatics, and a digitized trip to the past by one of the audience members to symbolize the connection between current generations and the sacrifices and accomplishments of previous generations like Emperor Qin who unified China. I would say the performance was above average but nothing as spectacular as the HuaQing Palace night show.

Day 2

Xi’an City Wall

There are ramparts built all around the city wall to defend against attacking armies attempting to climb the wall, with each rampart having a sentry building which allows them to defend that section of the wall without exposing themselves.

The gates are beautifully decorated, and each city gate has three gate towers, which are used to raise and lower the suspension bridges. The city wall is easy to access by subway and then once you get there, you can walk around the city wall or it’s easy to rent a bike and ride around. And if you happen to be visiting on November 3, you could even register to run the Xian marathon, which allows you to run the marathon while visiting the city wall.

We had lunch at the Cantonese restaurant at the hotel, Rmb 298 (about USD 42 for 2) all you can eat, order for make, and we ate too much🐷

Grand Tang Mall 大唐不夜城l

Many of them were dressed in ancient Chinese dynasty attire especially young women who were also staging photo shoots in front of the carious statues and traditional style buildings featuring palace architecture.

We wondered how many people were locals and how many were tourists so we decided to take a survey and asked a number of people where they were from. Without exception, they were all from different provinces in China and had come as tourists.

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔

This pagoda is located next to Grand Tang Mall. It was built in AD 648 and it’s primary function was to store the statues of Gautama Buddha.

The pagoda was rebuilt beginning of AD 700 during the reign of Wu ZheTian. Its exterior brick walls were later renovated during Ming Dynasty.

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