Mud Men

They've been dubbed the eighth wonder of the world. The massive terra cotta army, buried beneath the terra firma for two millenium. Life sized, clay figures, lined up as if for battle, to protect the paranoid Chinese emperor who ruled parts of present day China 200 years before Christ.

They are truly amazing to behold, and although I have my frustrations with the Chinese governments marketing (ie. Is the old guy in the big shades really the farmer who happened upon this treasure trove thirty odd years ago when he and some other farmers were digging a well for their parched land? --- Buy his book for 20 times the price it is elsewhere and get his John Hancock! or, is it really necessary to stop, mid tour, at the on-site government run factory to buy a reproduction... we thought not.) Never-the-less, even though it was my third (and I hope final visit) the terra cotta soldiers of Xi'an are amazing, and I'm glad I got to make the trip a few weeks ago with my sister and MGJ.

I'm also glad we got to bike the Xi'an city wall, take in a percussion performance at the Drum Tower, wander the Muslim market, and visit the Great Mosque. It was also fun to chill outside a lovely hostel (especaily lovely, since we didn't actually stay there --we were checked into the Shangri-la courtesy of Mr. Johnson-- we just sampled some local pi jiu under an umbrellas while MGJ played badminton with a backpacker from Canada) and have an otherwise low key morning in the art district. We came home with some new "farmer art," scrolls, plenty of pics, and memories to last as long as those mud men of Xi'an have.