“There are only three ways to protect a tomb from archeologists and plunderers when foraying into the afterlife. Be buried in a hidden place, be buried in something too valuable to dismantle, or, in a particular case, be buried in something lethal, like an ever-churning chamber of mercury.” -Old Sean
A Recollection Bucket List
Following my visits to Chongqing and Fengdu, I next wandered further East, gradually heading back towards Beijing. My next stop would be the immense walled city of Xi’an, where I hoped to see the immense Terracotta Army.
When I was about eleven years old, China was a mysterious nation on the rise, well beyond the purview of my middle school lifestyle. I knew exactly four things about China at that age.
First, my dad would often lament that China was building all our goods, as opposed to American factories.
Second, I knew there was an immense, imagination-defying wall in the North, which didn’t function terribly well but remained astonishingly impressive.
Third, I knew everything I picked up from Disney’s animated Mulan.
And fourth, somewhere in China, there was an army of stoic soldier statues guarding China’s first emperor, a line of vigilant defenders barring access to an underground afterlife kingdom.
I only learned the fourth fact because the Terracotta Warriors are a structure players can build in a real-time strategy game called Rise of Nations.
By now, I’ve seen Chinese factories, the Great Wall and the animated Mulan, so there was only one thing left on the list.
As such, visiting Emperor Qinshihuang’s Terracotta Army was the foremost item on my modern Chinese bucket-list.
A Far Look While Visiting Xi’an
When I got to Xi’an, it was a bit too late to be visit the Terracotta Army, so I opted to explore the city battlements and parks.
At first, I was struck by how spacious the Chinese city felt. Most Chinese cities work hard to build superstructures, affordable apartment complexes and tall architectural monstrosities. It has the effect of making China seem ever-busy and towering.
Only later, I realized this sensation of space was due to the interior not hosting any skyscrapers. All of Xi’an skyscrapers are built beyond the outer ring, letting locals see a vast, ancient walled city and surrounding series of parks without their vantage points being interrupted.
This, alongside fairly wide streets and elegantly functional shading-trees, made Xi’an a pleasant city to walk around.
Visiting Xi’an Upper Walls
The most imposing facet of Xi’an are the enormous Battlement Walls, also known as the Fortifications of Xi’an or the Xi’an City Wall. These wall fortifications (among the oldest in China) encircle the city’s center from a respectable height.
When looking “inside” from the fortifications, the city of Xi’an spreads out for miles. Endless, ornate hutongs, narrow streets and low, traditional buildings decorate this space.
When looking “outside” from the walls, the area around old town Xi’an is ringed by a moat, a thin green belt and reflective, curving lakes. The super-city’s skyline surrounds this further out, giving Xi’an an imposing horizon in almost every direction.
The walls were constructed by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang as a major fortification networked military defense system. The upper wall is wide enough for cars to drive on top of, with neatly-fitted stones dropping straight down toward meticulously flat surroundings.
(I think part of designing ancient fortifications involves creating perfectly flat killing fields around a defense. This prevents assaulting armies from having cover or staggered ranged-weapons lines).
Encircling the Walls
My absolute favorite activity to do along Xi’an’s Walls is biking.
The Walls are vast, well-maintained and perfectly level. There are entire fleets of rental bikes stored along the top of the wall, allowing guests to loop the entire city.
However, the Walls and the old town of Xi’an are huge. Even while peddling at a respectable speed, it took me over three hours to loop the entire length of the walls.
While biking around Xi’an counterclockwise, I was able to enjoy an incoming sunset. I swerved often to avoid cutting off adorable couples on double-seated bikes. I passed huge lines of Chinese tourists taking selfies around the wall’s rim. When I couldn’t avoid photobombing them, I did my best to look majestic while peddling.
Within the Walls
As amazing as a day spent upon Xi’an’s walls is, I was happy to explore the interior of the city as well. There are many tunnels, red Chinese lanterns, hidden little park nooks and an impressive number of minor relic sites.
I ended up overeating during my stay. The food within the wall is supremely good. There are lots of pulled-cold-noodle restaurants, traditional dumplings in sour soup and delightfully spicy Xi’an goat, chicken, bell-pepper and duck kebabs.
I stopped at a few more restaurants for the evening. Finally, after a few days of irregular sleeping situations, I wandered to the lovely Hantang Inn Youth Hostel. Here, I dozed, enjoyed their upstairs coffee bar and awoke from my lounging several times to find a cat on my lap.
To the Front Lines
The following morning, I repacked my blessedly tiny backpack to visit the TerraCotta Warriors.
Strictly speaking, the warriors are well outside Xi’an’s center, requiring about an hour drive. Or, in my case, an hour and a half bus ride.
But the Terracotta Warriors themselves are well-worth it. Provided a person gets there very, very early.
I arrived directly before opening time, dodging a fair number of crowds later on. The warriors are located at Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum, a vast green-space with a series of Chinese tourism villages built around the grounds.
I practically jogged past the tourist shops, eager to beat a swelling crowd to the Warriors.
The guardian Warriors are resounding. They’re impressive standing carved sentinels, locked in attention for the remainder of time. They remain vigilant, protecting Qin Shi Huang, first Emperor of China.
The figures extend backwards in huge chambers designed to weatherproof the archeological treasures. The various statues date from the late third-century BCE and were only uncovered in the 1970’s. They remain an absolute icon of Chinese culture and histroy.
The figures stand in long lines, extending backwards, guarding their emperor in lockstep. But these aren’t simply plain soldiers with exquisite details. There are also taller generals, commanders, curved chariots, sturdy horses and far more. Not all the figures have been excavated yet, but there are also non-military personnel, such as acrobats, imperial officials, musicians and entertainers.
Beware the Human Tide
The wonder of the Terracotta Warriors has a rather severe detractor.
Along with the Eiffel Tower, The Eye of London, a school holiday at Six Flags and a Grand Opening Whataburger, there were way too many people. As time wore on, I was rapidly hemmed in no matter where I walked.
It was too much body heat in toasty weather for comfort. I ended up leaving more quickly than I would have liked and got myself an ice-cream while reading facts about the site through a translation app.
A River of Mercury
As impressive as the warriors are, they aren’t what protects Qin Shi Huang’s tomb from archeologist excavations. The first Emperor of China encased in surrounded by an ingenious, accidental and highly-toxic mercury trap.
Mercury has a strange history in China. It was through to be an elixir for immortality. It’s likely that a wide number of Chinese people, including possibly the Emperor himself, died while ingesting mercury. His tomb was surrounded by the substance since it was thought to have divine or profound properties in the afterlife.
Technology hasn’t reached a level where people can enter Qin Shi Huang’s tomb. The mercury saturation and other traps have ensured the Emperor’s peaceful rest for more than two millennia.
Even with technology becoming available to safely excavate the tomb, I personally hope it never happens. After such a long interrupted rest through an effective (though likely unintentional) barrier, I think the tomb should remain undisturbed.
Let the Terracotta Warriors and their pool of mercury continue protecting the honored dead from scrutiny. Emperor Qinshihuang conquered and unified all of China’s most prominent six warring states. dying early at age 49. An uninterrupted rest seems earned.
A Finale Visiting Xi’an
My time visiting Xi’an was fun. I’m ready to finish this final last-hurrah tour of China.
Currently, I’m staking out at Starbucks, awaiting my train home.
Originally, I had planned on staying in Beijing until it was time for me to start working in Europe, But since I don’t have any work, a friend from high school has invited me to visit her in Australia.
So I’m off to Melbourne after Beijing.
Until the next jump, skip and hop.
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written April 20th, 2018
Read more about visiting Xi’an by visiting Leftfade Trails Destination Info
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