Bob said, Let's go to Xian (about a 2 hour flight from the Beiing airport, to the right).
Bob and Jola at the Shangri-La Hotel in Xian.
Cousins, Bob and me.
Xian is a beautiful ancient city, its city wall build in 1370-1378 . A lot of new building is part of the landscape today in the Shaanxi or Shanxi ("Shahn-shee") Province city of 4.2 million people.
One sign of economic downturn in Beijing and Xian: the occasional new construction on which work has just stopped. Nothing was going on in this building across from the Shangri-La Hotel.
At the masoleum of the first Qin ("Chin") emperor east of Xian, marionettes featured at the Olympic Games of 2008.
An Olympic marionette.
The first emperor to unify China, Qin Shi Huang, began to build his tomb soon after ascending to the throne at the age of 13. He died at 51 in 210 BC. These bronze horses and charioteers were part of the entourage he had made.
Window screens in the structures protecting the three major archaeological dig sites.
The terracotta and bronze figures that Qin Shihuang had manufactured were not recorded in Chinese historical records. They were discovered in 1974 when local farmers digging a well in the Shaanxi Province village of Xiyang found pottery fragments, bronze arrowheads, and crossbows.
When a well inspector saws the ancient remnants, he notified the Lintong County government and archaeological experts were called. The digs continue in the protective structures.
Bob's assistant Mr. Yu, ("Yuh"), Yu Chung Wah, an engineer, and his girlfriend Coco (Liu Coco), here with Jolanta.
Chung Wah, Coco, and me.
Each face of the terracotta warriors is different. They are people you'd like to talk to.
The dig and the research go on and tourists are able to see the progress.
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