Archaeology day

Monday in Xi'an was a day full of archaeology. After a cool run to start the day, we headed on a guided tour of Xi'an most famous archaeological sites.

First stop was the Banpo museum where we learned about this matriarchal society that used to live in the area.
We learned all kinds of interesting things about their culture and saw some artefacts such as pottery and human remains
As well as reproductions of the village
And excavated foundations from original houses
After learning about the Banpo, we started out journey to the Terracotta warriors. The Terracotta warriors are a big draw for tourists in Xi'an so they milk the phenomenon accordingly. Look at this statue in the middle of a roundabout
The next stop on our itinerary was a factory of Terra Cotta warriors where we learned about how they are made.
And were given an opportunity to buy warrior replicas of all sizes
We then went to a disney like hall where they reproduced the tomb of the second emperor (not sure there is a link with the warriors but it's nearby)
And after a group tour style lunch, we finally reached the exciting destination, the excavation site of the warriors
You really have to be there to appreciate the scale of the project that the emperor undertook. The area is vast and buildings have been built over the finds to protect them. Once inside, we saw all kinds of interesting information about the warriors
Apparently, this knealing archer is the shape of the map of the province if you look at him a certain way
The emperor even built a command HQ where Terra Cotta generals could direct the Terra Cotta troops. I think the emperor was a little bit crazy.
We finally saw the main hall where the warriors are being dug out. They estimate a total of 6,000 warriors between the different sites but this one is by far the largest
It's really impressive.
They also have other China odds and ends in the museum. This olympic flame was interesting for me
On the way back to town, we stopped at this hot spring where we could wash our hands in the supposedly healthy water.
And we topped the day off with a delicious dinner in a HongKong style restaurant
And a visit to the night market where we bought a bunch of stuff we didn't need (those Chinese sales person are very good!) Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the night market.