The Terracotta Army

When you think of China chances are you think of 3 things: The Great Wall, The Terracotta Army, and Shanghai. Seeing as how I had done two of these wonders I knew I had to get to the third. The problem was not many others in my group were motivated to see the greatest archeological discovery of the twentieth century. Sad. I know. Lucky for me two girls said yes and we were off for an adventure.

First we had to board a train. A train that would take 13 hours overnight. Hard sleeper it was. Last time I got stuck on the third floor bunk which let me tell you is not fun. This time I was bottom bunk which was a much needed upgrade. The worst part of these sleeper trains in the rocking back and forth and the constant slamming of breaks everytime we come to a stop. With the help of dramamine and a benadry, ear plugs and an eye mask I was able to partially sleep through the night minus the need to roll over every time my hip fell asleep from the hard bed. 

We even tried some yoga to help us relax. For reals though we have been doing yoga every day and it's been helping with flexibility and relaxation. The yoga studio app is awesome. 

We arrive the next morning and to my horror I realize I forgot my baby powder. Baby powder is the one way I can manage to touch my unwashed hair. Some girls are lucky and can go three or more days without washing me on the other hand... One night and I am oil queen, now with bangs. So gross hair it was.

After leaving the train we were shocked to see how busy The station was. More busy than any other city we have been in.

Try facing that crowd. What was really nice is that the hostel picked us up. They were even waiting outside with a sign. After checking in we headed back to the train station and found bus 306 to the Warriors. It was a bumpy hour plus ride. When we arrived we used our student cards to get a half off discount WOOHOO! Ps it has to be a chinese student card so make sure you bring your lunch card. Also don't let your friends use your card because they check the card at three different check points. Now we were inside and to pit 1 we went. 

Here there were about 2k displayed. It was breath taking to see. What was really neat was in the museum they showed what they looked like when they were painted. Can you imagine all of these painted?! We also got to see the largest and most i tribute ancient bronze artifact.

They are still excavating and putting these clay figures back together.

You should do a quick read on these guys. It's fascinating.

Let's talk about why this place is incredible:

• Part of the world’s largest ancient imperial tomb complex—part of a mostly unexcavated necropolis 6 km (4 mi) square!
• One of the top archaeological finds of the 20th century
• 2,200 years old!— It dates back to the uniting of China under one emperor, who's buried there.

• The largest find of its kind (about 1,800 different life-size statues have been uncovered)
• Incredible detail:175–190 cm (5'9–6'3) tall, every one different in gestures and facial expressions, some even with color showing

• All have single-edge eyelids!Legend says the First Emperor had single-edge eyelids, so all his Terracotta Army were made with them.

• The workforce: Historians think 700,000 craftsmen and slaves built the complex, but they and many others were put to death to keep the mausoleum a secret!