We had the most amazing Chinese New Year celebration in Xian!

Our adventure began before we even landed in the imperial capital of China. After Asher was stroked on the cheek and had his hair and ear pulled by some admiring older ladies in the row behind us in the Beijing airport, we hopped on a scenic 2 hour flight to Xian.

Here is a photo taken from the airplane window on the way from Beijing to Xian:

Our first full day in Xian, our driver and guide, Ms. Lily (who was by far everyone’s favorite guide in China), took us for about an hour and a half drive to the spot where the Terracotta Warriors were discovered in 1974.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang (the same Emperor who unified China and was responsible for establishing the Great Wall) wanted the life-size warriors constructed to protect him in the afterlife.  Our guide Lily told us that at first, Emperor Qin wanted to bury his actual soldiers with him when he died, but was convinced by an advisor to build an Army of terra-cotta warriors instead to protect him in the afterlife.

Shortly after Qin became emperor he started having the warriors, horses, chariots, weapons, and other figures built for him.  It took over 40 years (from 246BC to 206BC) and over 720,000 artists and craftsman to build them.

The Terracotta Warriors stayed buried underground for over 2000 years until a group of communal farmers were digging a well in 1974 and pulled up a head of one of the Terracotta Warriors!

At our first stop on our tour, we had the chance to see one of the actual farmers who found the warriors (he signed a book for us!)

There were 4 Pits of Terracotta Warriors discovered about 1.5 kilometers from the actual Tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (as of today, Qin’s tomb and the rest of the treasures that were buried with him still have not been unearthed).   After seeing a short film depicting how the Terracotta Warriors were made and how the ones in Pit 1 were destroyed by revolting peasants, we went over to Pit 1 to see the largest display of Terracotta Warriors.

Pit 1 is about the size of an airplane hangar!  Of the 8,000 terra-cotta figures found, 6,000 of them were found in Pit 1 (currently there are about 2,000 on display).

Each one of the warriors had unique facial features, hair styles, clothing, gestures, and poses!

This one was our favorite!

Not that penguin looking warrior, but this warrior who was unique because he was the only figure that was found completely intact.

There were also horses, chariots, and weapons found with the warriors, who were in columns to protect the Emperor.

Although many of the Terracotta Warriors were standing, they weren’t found that way.  These Warriors have been described as the largest jigsaw puzzle in the world because they were found in mounds of broken pieces and had to be painstakingly put back together.

The work is still in process and can be seen in the back area of the Pit 1 hangar.

After the pieces of a figure were identified, they were tagged and then taken to a work space in the back of Pit 1, so that they could be put back together and replaced to the original place they were found.

Unlike the long rows of thousands of warriors in Pit 1, the warriors in Pit 2 were arranged in four units of warriors in battle formations.  In addition to rows of chariots, there were rows of standing archers and kneeling archers.

This kneeling archer was the only figure who was found complete.

The original warriors were painted in bright colors.  But, when archaeologists excavated the warriors, they realized that the paint on the warriors faded when exposed to air.

So, much of Pit 2 remains unearthed until they can develop the technology to retain the paint color.

Although most of the figures were made of Terracotta, there were two horse drawn chariots found that were made completely of bronze.

Pit 3 was the smallest area found with only 68 warriors arranged in a meeting of high level officials. Most of the officials were missing their heads!

Asher’s favorite part of the visit was the markets at the exit of the Museum.  He chose to turn down the man who tried to sell him some terra-cotta warrior figurines “very cheap, 55 Yuan, ok ok 25 Yuan, very cheap, ok ok 10 Yuan, very cheap, ok ok 5 Yuan”.  Instead, Asher happily bought his favorite Chinese souvenir: a warrior’s sword!

After the absolutely worst meal that we had in all of China, we went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in the walled city of Xian to learn a little bit about Buddhism in China.

After our fun filled day, we went back to the Sofitel hotel for a dip in the pool and dinner.  While we were eating dinner the Monk of good fortune handed out red envelopes to all the tables.  Suddenly loud booms burst forth from fireworks directly outside the window of the hotel restaurant.   These amazing light explosions occurred every 15 minutes for the next 7 hours!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!  Happy Year of the Ram!

The next day we took a tour of the old Xian city wall.

We were supposed to ride bikes on the 14 kilometer wall, but the kids were too small and the weather was too cold.  So, instead, we rode around the wall on a motorized cart.

Of course, no trip with kids is complete without a good fight at a scenic location!

On our way down from the wall, we encountered some traditional guards and the Xian opera figures:

Then it was time for everyone’s favorite activity:  Dumpling making!  The traditional feast on the first day of the new year is dumplings, which symbolizes good fortune since the dumplings are in the same shape as traditional ingots of gold.

Asher was our biggest dumpling eater!

And it turned out that we all loved making dumplings, as much as we enjoyed eating them.  In the middle of the Datangtianxia Restaurant, which serves over 380 different flavors of dumplings, we learned the technique of “roll, fill, and shape” to make our own unique dumplings!

After having fun making the dumplings, we had a chance to try some of the special dumplings that made Datangtianxia famous.

We ate about 20 different types of these beautiful pockets of flavor. I liked the candied walnut dumpling(at least that’s what it tasted like to me) but I think it was a bit too strange for the kids.

Asher’s mouth was on fire after taking one bite of a pepper duck dumpling that was filled with uber hot red peppers!  When we requested a drink to put out the flames in his mouth, they brought him a steaming hot glass of water that was too hot to touch.

Check out the amazing shape of the dumplings!

After our dumpling feast, we went to the Muslim quarter to walk around the markets and buy a few souvenirs.  I loved the candy makers who were stretching long taffy like bands to make ginger candy.

And the ever present large round wheels of yellow rice cakes on a stick with sticky date jam on top.

And the amazing assortment of dried dates.