China 2012: The terracotta army in Xi'an
After spending almost one week in Beijing, we flew towards Xi'an, capital of the Shaanxi province, about 914 km far from Beijing.
If we would have taken the train, we would have spent 8 hours and lost one day.
The terracotta army of the emperor Qin Shi Huang is not located in Xi'an, but in Lintong county, about 37 km far from Xi'an city. To go up to there, the best and cheapest way is to buy a bus ticket, take the 306 or 307 line from the railway station. Forget about taxi, it's not very easy to catch one after 8am.
I don't remember very well the price for one go, it was around 15 yuans per person.
Anyway, we took this bus to see the terracotta army. If you don't speak any word in chinese, it won't be easy for you, as officer in bus seems to only speak chinese, and you won't probably understand you will have to stay in the bus until the last stop.
When we arrived on site, I must admit it's a big mess to understand which way to take to go the pits, or maybe it was planned like that to lose tourists in all the shops (that all sell the same articles by the way).
I saw somewhere in a web site that the entrance price was 90 yuan per person. We actually paid 150 per person !! I guess the website was not updated.
First, you have to pass a gate to access to the park, and after walking again about 5 minutes, you arrive to another gate: the pits entrance.
The whole place is so wide, but I personnaly don't care about the park, where there is nothing else to see.
Maybe I didn't buy the right plan, but it's not so easy to understand where are the pits after passing the last gate. You have big buildings all around you.
I found a map on the internet that will help you if you go there next time.
I read in a tourism guide an advice I followed: don't start by the first pit, but by the second, then the third and at least by the first. The first pit is the most impressive one, then if you start with this one, you won't find interesting the pits 2 and 3.
Excerpts from the travelchinaguide.com web site, here are the main information you have to keep in mind before going there (and viewing my pictures):
Pit 1 is the largest of the three excavated pits. Covering an area of 14,260 square meters, the pit contains the vanguard, the main body, the flank and the rearguard.
Pit 2 is the grandest of the three pits. In this pit, there is a large L-shaped combat formation composed of chariot soldiers, foot soldiers and a troop of cavalry. It is the backbone of the battle array.
Pit 3 is the smallest pit and also a component of Pit 1 and Pit 2. From the layout, it was probably the headquarters or the command center for the military groups in the other two pits.
It is said in the website another pits exist: the Terracotta Accessory Pits
Besides the three pits of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, experts have also discovered other pits, known as accessory pits, near the three main pits. These include the builder's graveyards, the slaughter pits, the rare birds and animals pits and the stable pits.
Located about a mile southwest of the Mausoleum of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, there are three builder's graveyards. The first one is located to the southwest of Zhaobeihu Village; the second one lies to the east of Wusha Factory east of Lintong; and the third one is found north of Yaochitou Village. The third one was destroyed when the land was leveled, with only piles of scattered bones left behind. The graveyard near the Zhaobeihu Village is larger.
I didn't see these pits. Anyway. Maybe a next time in few years.
If we would have taken the train, we would have spent 8 hours and lost one day.
The terracotta army of the emperor Qin Shi Huang is not located in Xi'an, but in Lintong county, about 37 km far from Xi'an city. To go up to there, the best and cheapest way is to buy a bus ticket, take the 306 or 307 line from the railway station. Forget about taxi, it's not very easy to catch one after 8am.
I don't remember very well the price for one go, it was around 15 yuans per person.
Anyway, we took this bus to see the terracotta army. If you don't speak any word in chinese, it won't be easy for you, as officer in bus seems to only speak chinese, and you won't probably understand you will have to stay in the bus until the last stop.
When we arrived on site, I must admit it's a big mess to understand which way to take to go the pits, or maybe it was planned like that to lose tourists in all the shops (that all sell the same articles by the way).
I saw somewhere in a web site that the entrance price was 90 yuan per person. We actually paid 150 per person !! I guess the website was not updated.
First, you have to pass a gate to access to the park, and after walking again about 5 minutes, you arrive to another gate: the pits entrance.
The whole place is so wide, but I personnaly don't care about the park, where there is nothing else to see.
Maybe I didn't buy the right plan, but it's not so easy to understand where are the pits after passing the last gate. You have big buildings all around you.
I found a map on the internet that will help you if you go there next time.
I read in a tourism guide an advice I followed: don't start by the first pit, but by the second, then the third and at least by the first. The first pit is the most impressive one, then if you start with this one, you won't find interesting the pits 2 and 3.
Excerpts from the travelchinaguide.com web site, here are the main information you have to keep in mind before going there (and viewing my pictures):
Pit 1 is the largest of the three excavated pits. Covering an area of 14,260 square meters, the pit contains the vanguard, the main body, the flank and the rearguard.
Pit 2 is the grandest of the three pits. In this pit, there is a large L-shaped combat formation composed of chariot soldiers, foot soldiers and a troop of cavalry. It is the backbone of the battle array.
Pit 3 is the smallest pit and also a component of Pit 1 and Pit 2. From the layout, it was probably the headquarters or the command center for the military groups in the other two pits.
It is said in the website another pits exist: the Terracotta Accessory Pits
Besides the three pits of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, experts have also discovered other pits, known as accessory pits, near the three main pits. These include the builder's graveyards, the slaughter pits, the rare birds and animals pits and the stable pits.
Located about a mile southwest of the Mausoleum of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, there are three builder's graveyards. The first one is located to the southwest of Zhaobeihu Village; the second one lies to the east of Wusha Factory east of Lintong; and the third one is found north of Yaochitou Village. The third one was destroyed when the land was leveled, with only piles of scattered bones left behind. The graveyard near the Zhaobeihu Village is larger.
I didn't see these pits. Anyway. Maybe a next time in few years.
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