Terracotta Army – Don't Gel Too Soon

Xian: The Breathtaking Terracotta Warriors

Tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 BC - 210 BC) — Tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang

They stand in silence, sentinels for China’s Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BCE) , the visionary ruler who demanded this ghost army of 10,000 to guard his tomb (and also demanded the expansion and unification of the fragmented Great Wall – making it what it continues to be today.)

It is a special army indeed. Singular figures each, their faces unique.

After 2,200 years, in 1974, farmers digging a well stumbled upon them — just a few shards suggesting more. The village elder understood what might be, gathered the random pieces in his home, and called the experts. They found ten thousand soldiers, discovered through a leader’s instincts and a small farming village’s need for more water.

It’s not possible to describe passing through a wide passageway and coming upon these:

A kneeling archer; his hands are placed to hold a crossbow

A high-ranking general whose single raised finger suggests that he may be second only to the Emperor

little boy - general — Look at the bottom right: even little ones are not immune

This entire trip is exploding my brain in the best possible way.

No Google, Yahoo Mail Won’t Work SO Here We Are In China!

He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a real man, said Chairman Mao. That’s what it says on this tablet. Pay close attention to the photo to determine why we only made it part of the way.

Yup. Rick fell in Hong Kong and sprained his leg. It really hurts. We’re traveling with these crutches and using wheelchairs wherever we can because he’s determined to BE here while we ARE here. And it’s worth it. China is mind-blowing, unpredictable and so very interesting.

We had a great double birthday party for him – first at the hotel with a surprise cake and then with our guide at a local restaurant. If you wrote him, he probably didn’t see it since Facebook isn’t available, so comment here and I’ll relay.

Today we took the bullet train to Xian and tomorrow we will see the Terracotta Warriors. I am very excited.

I promise to post more soon. With real content.

But I don’t have any other way to communicate until I figure out why Yahoo has locked me out. If you’ve tried to reach me with no response, now you know why: many of The Usual Methods do not exist here. At all.