Today was our first full day in the ancient capital of Xi’an! We started off our day with a buffet breakfast at our hotel. The food was okay. At eight o’clock AM we went on the tour bus and headed for the Terracotta Warriors Exhibit. The ride was long because we had to travel outside of the city. On our way to the eighth wonder of the world, we stopped at a reproduction factory. There we were able to buy Terracotta Warrior replicas and other memorabilia. After that, we took a short ride to the place where the famous soldiers were found. We learned that the Terracotta Warriors were built by Emperor Qin because he believed that in his afterlife his army would be with him. About two thousand years ago, shortly after the emperor died, angry peasants unearthed the soldiers and destroyed them. In 1974, a farmer found the ruins of the soldiers. As of right now, archaeologists are putting the pieces together and refurbishing them. The Terracotta Warriors are amazing because no two are alike and each is unique. At the end of the short film, we were able to purchase books and get them autographed by the discoverer himself. The Terracotta Warriors were discovered by a farmer who doesn’t like his picture taken because he believes pictures take away the soul and therefore he would have a shorter life. After this exciting and memorable time, we headed for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. The sweet potatoes were winnaz! Everyone enjoyed it, especially Ms. Haney! It was like candied potatoes. Also, a few of us bought hand painted scrolls. After lunch, we had a long ride to the best preserved city wall in China. Almost everybody took a cat nap in the bus! The city wall wraps around the city and is about nine miles long. Then, after the city wall we departed to the Shaanxi History Museum. There we learned about the dynasties and their special tools. We went to the Wild Goose Pagoda after the museum. This was interesting because we learned about the Buddha and temples. There we also saw people worshipping and praying. At the end of our visit, we got a free card with our zodiac signs on them as a souvenir. We had dinner at another hotel and the food was soooo good! There were salads, rice, FRENCH FRIES, beef stew, fried fish, steak/onions, and assorted desserts. Everyone was excited to see familiar American foods! After dinner we boarded the bus and headed back to our hotel. The ride was short to our hotel which was right around the corner. Tomorrow, we will get to sleep in later than the usual because our flight to Shanghai departs at around half past eleven.- Shaina & Rhea
