The history of this town goes back farther than any city we have in the US. From the ancient city wall to the tericotta warriors the history here is preserved and exemplified.
Although cold this historical city is in the middle of China so the weather here is much more mild. So biking on the 2000 year old city wall wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as it would have been in Harbin.
The wall is full of history and different Outpost buildings that kept the ride from being tedious as the bricks are uneven and choppy. The scope of the project that built this amazing wall is impressive by today’s standards but considering that it was built so long ago makes this incredible!
Xa’in was also getting set up for the lunar year lantern festival which included very colorful floats and lanterns. Very fun to look at on the wall.
The most incredible part of this area, though, has to be the tericotta warriors! Over 6000 in number they were all individually produced by hand.
Carefully moved into place they were oriented to protect the emperor as he passed into the after life. The sheer number of these amazing statues is incredible. Each one is different from the next: some fat some thin, some tall some short, each face and hair style is different.
Estimates say that only about half of them have been uncovered as the project to dig them out and restore them is constantly on going and very overwhelming. When they are first uncovered they show the true paint colors of the original artist but as time does to all things the colors fade quick and are gone within a matter of months. The massive buildings are not climate control so they are quite cold in winter and hot in summer. Overall the impression that this world heritage site leaves is one of overwhelming respect and awe.
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