Kevin's China Tour: Vacation in Xi'an

We travelled to Xi'an on Saturday morning. Xi'an is in west Central China and is a very historic city in China and home to Milestone's Director of Asia Operations- Henry. Xi'an is know for it's buried Terra Cotta Warriors; however, the history that leads to those warriors is even greater. The unification of China in 221 BC under the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang (or Shi Huang Di) marked the beginning of Imperial China, a period which lasted until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in AD 1912. The Terra Cotta Warriors where buried to protect the First Emperor of China in his afterlife. They were discovered in 1974 by 5 local farmers digging a well. They stood beneath the ground for almost 2200 years, undiscovered. Xi'an was also the Capital of China until it was moved to Beijing. By the way. The population of China at the time of unification was only 40 Million people.

Henry and one of his nieces and nephews

Henry's Brother owns a Xi'an street BBQ restaurant. The food was great. We ate there twice!

One of the three surviving farmers who discovered the Terra Cotta Warriors

The process of piecing the damaged warriors together is immense

There were 3its or warriors. @ were discovered by the warring generals after the emperors death and damaged. One went undiscovered and is in pristine condition.

The bronze chariots were buried in another portion of the area surrounding the Emperors tomb.

A hot spring built for a King, his Queen, and his concubines.

Xi'an is also the only city in China where the city wall is still entirely intact. Here is the old city entrance covering the moat.

The old watch tower bell!

I had to look inside too!

Kalya laughed at me for looking at the inside, then what?

Who is that in the bell?

History is everywhere in Xi'an. Also still standing in perfect condition are the Drum and Bell towers. These were uses in the early AD years to tell the residents the time.