After travelling for over 7382 kms from Coimbatore, the XPD Beyond Asia-Trans Siberian 2019 team who started their aspiring journey from Coimbatore to St Petersburg on August 7 are presently at Lintong, Xi'an in China.
After travelling for over 7382 kms from Coimbatore, the XPD Beyond Asia-Trans Siberian 2019 team who started their aspiring journey from Coimbatore to St Petersburg on August 7 are presently at Lintong, Xi'an in China.
The team called it a resting day and decided to make use much of the day for laundry, sight seeing and vehicle overhauling.
The team left at 7:45 am from their hotel to visit the world famous UNESCO site at Xi'an - 'The Terracotta Army'.
A collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting the emperor in his afterlife.
"After a 1.5 hour drive, we reached the 'Terracotta Army' and were taken aback to see world famous subterranean life-size army of thousands of armymen who silently stood to guard over the soul of China's first unifier for more than two millennia. Either, Qin Shi Huang was terrified of the vanquished spirits awaiting him in the afterlife, or as most archaeologists believe, he expected his rule to continue in death as it had in life. The guardians of his tomb offer some of the greatest insights we have into the world of ancient China", detailed Meenakshi.
Meenakshi also recounted some interesting facts behind the terracotta warriors and their discovery. "The discovery of the army of warriors was entirely fortuitous. In 1974, a group of farmers while drilling a well uncovered an underground vault that eventually yielded thousands of terracotta soldiers and horses in battle formation."
She added that they were fascinated to meet one of the farmers who was actually part of the drilling.
Elucidating further on the spectacular place, she says "It’s incredible how no two soldier's faces are alike! There are three pits but Pit No:1 is the most impressive. Huge aircraft hanger like building houses Pit No:1 and it is believed to contain 6000 warriors (only 2000 are on display) and horses, all facing east and ready for battle. Also, on display are two 'Bronze Chariots' which were unearthed about 20 kms away near to the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang."
"The detail on the warriors on display is simply extraordinary. Their expressions, hairstyles, armour and even the tread on the footwear are all unique.
And, how incredible, they did this so many hundreds of years ago", wonders Meenakshi who is completely in awe with the Terracotta Warriors.
After two hours of an amazing experience and insight of visiting the 'Terracotta Army', the team headed back to their hotel room in Xi’an to pull out their used clothes from their bags for much-needed laundry.
And at about 5 pm, they were set out on foot to see the Old town of Xi’an, Drum Tower, City Wall, Bell Tower and importantly Xi'an's most famous Food Street — Muslim Street and headed there straightaway.
They said the food street was bustling with tiny food counters, crazy crowds unapologetically loud, a complete electrifying atmosphere!
"The Muslim quarter has been home to the City’s Hui community (non-Uyghur Chinese Muslims) for centuries, perhaps as far back as the Ming dynasty or further still.
Xi'an is an amazing city which is famous for these yummy snacks food like barbecues, fried pancake, soup, steam bun, local noodle and believe me all these are freshly cooked in front of the customers. Truly a gastronomic evening! And, a great opportunity to taste the local traditional food", recounted Meenakshi.
She concluded by calling it a fabulous Day 25 and great vibes at Xi'an.
The team called it a resting day and decided to make use much of the day for laundry, sight seeing and vehicle overhauling.
The team left at 7:45 am from their hotel to visit the world famous UNESCO site at Xi'an - 'The Terracotta Army'.
A collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting the emperor in his afterlife.
"After a 1.5 hour drive, we reached the 'Terracotta Army' and were taken aback to see world famous subterranean life-size army of thousands of armymen who silently stood to guard over the soul of China's first unifier for more than two millennia. Either, Qin Shi Huang was terrified of the vanquished spirits awaiting him in the afterlife, or as most archaeologists believe, he expected his rule to continue in death as it had in life. The guardians of his tomb offer some of the greatest insights we have into the world of ancient China", detailed Meenakshi.
Meenakshi also recounted some interesting facts behind the terracotta warriors and their discovery. "The discovery of the army of warriors was entirely fortuitous. In 1974, a group of farmers while drilling a well uncovered an underground vault that eventually yielded thousands of terracotta soldiers and horses in battle formation."
She added that they were fascinated to meet one of the farmers who was actually part of the drilling.
Elucidating further on the spectacular place, she says "It’s incredible how no two soldier's faces are alike! There are three pits but Pit No:1 is the most impressive. Huge aircraft hanger like building houses Pit No:1 and it is believed to contain 6000 warriors (only 2000 are on display) and horses, all facing east and ready for battle. Also, on display are two 'Bronze Chariots' which were unearthed about 20 kms away near to the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang."
"The detail on the warriors on display is simply extraordinary. Their expressions, hairstyles, armour and even the tread on the footwear are all unique.
And, how incredible, they did this so many hundreds of years ago", wonders Meenakshi who is completely in awe with the Terracotta Warriors.
After two hours of an amazing experience and insight of visiting the 'Terracotta Army', the team headed back to their hotel room in Xi’an to pull out their used clothes from their bags for much-needed laundry.
And at about 5 pm, they were set out on foot to see the Old town of Xi’an, Drum Tower, City Wall, Bell Tower and importantly Xi'an's most famous Food Street — Muslim Street and headed there straightaway.
They said the food street was bustling with tiny food counters, crazy crowds unapologetically loud, a complete electrifying atmosphere!
"The Muslim quarter has been home to the City’s Hui community (non-Uyghur Chinese Muslims) for centuries, perhaps as far back as the Ming dynasty or further still.
Xi'an is an amazing city which is famous for these yummy snacks food like barbecues, fried pancake, soup, steam bun, local noodle and believe me all these are freshly cooked in front of the customers. Truly a gastronomic evening! And, a great opportunity to taste the local traditional food", recounted Meenakshi.
She concluded by calling it a fabulous Day 25 and great vibes at Xi'an.