Xi'an
This past week we had the wonderful opportunity to spend a short few days exploring Xi'an a bit. The city is absolutely full of culture and history. It is overflowing with beautiful old architecture, temples, and history lessons. We didn't have time to fully explore all the Xi'an had to offer, but we really enjoyed the parts we got to experience. I am looking forward to reading up more on the history behind it all, and maybe getting the chance to visit again someday to see a bit more.
In the dead center of the old city is the Bell tower with the Drum tower just a short walk away. The rest of the city spans out in a circle from these beautiful old buildings. At night they are nicely lit up and make the downtown quite attractive.
Behind this area is the muslim market which is a fun corridor of vendors bargaining for their wares. It's a great place to buy quaint souvenirs and antiques. Bargaining is half the fun for both seller and purchaser if you can do it with a smile. I could have spent much longer here being charmed by the pretty things.
My next visit was the Wild Goose Pagoda which was a really lovely old Buddhist temple where the Buddhist scrolls were brought to China from out of India. It has fantastic details built into every corner and when you climb up into the 7th story you get great views of Xi'an city. The entire area surrounding the temple grounds is built up with parks and walking streets. The view leading up to the Pagoda is lined with fountains and statues.
The intense details carved into each wall, stair, and rooftop make it a fascinating place to wander with a camera in hand.
Many people still purchase incense to burn on the alters in hopes of good fortune.
Surrounding old city Xi'an is a fortress style wall that once upon a time would have protected the city from intruders. It is quite imposing and has 4 gates facing North, South, East, and West along with outposts every few hundred feet. It is in fantastic condition and is quite formidable to behold. Walking along the top of the wall gives a great view down into the neighborhoods of Xi'an.
Our last day we hired a driver to take us far outside the city to see the Terracotta Warriors. The history behind them and actually viewing them is amazing. The 100 square km mausoleum created by the first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang over 2000 years ago in about 210 BC is based on the old Chinese belief that you must take what you will need with you into the afterlife. Still for certain holidays we see Chinese out on the street corners burning money or paper replicas of iPads to send into the afterlife for various relatives that have passed on. Based on this philosophy, the emperor used round about 720,000 people and about 30 years to create his amazing mausoleum complete with a full army of clay soldiers, weapons, chariots, and horses to take into the afterlife in the belief if he held such power he would be emperor of the afterlife as well.
The Terracotta warriors were discovered in about 1974 by a farmer digging for a well on his property. He reported his discovery and thus opened the door for one of the most amazing archological digs of our age. This army of clay was created in incredible detail, using techonology that should have been beyond their years. Each soldier was uniquely molded with distinct facial features, intricate details into their clothing and shoes, and even classic lines on the palms of their hands. They are life size and amazingly lifelike in appearance. Each one was painted with rich distinct colors. The amount of painstaking manpower, numbers of years, and advanced technology it would have taken to create this feat is astounding.
Unfortunately they quickly discovered that upon removing the warriors from the earth the color on their clay surfaces disappeared within 30 minutes. As a result of this, 1/2 of them remain buried in the wait for technology to be developed that can stop this from happening.
Sadly for the emperor, much of his army was damaged or destroyed before the burial was complete. Although no one knows for sure who, it is supposed to have been his arch nemesis who swept in and damaged some of the army in hopes of weakening his rival in the afterlife. Witnessing such elaborate preparations for death with no knowledge of the true hope offered in Jesus Christ that could have really prepared him for his death made me a bit sad to think of. What a rude awakening it must have been for him. I am so glad we are not forced to be dependent on what we can afford to take with us to find peace in the next life. What a relief that our way was paid for already and given to us freely. Now that is a beautiful hope to stake my future on.
Romans 3:23 "For the payment of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"
In the dead center of the old city is the Bell tower with the Drum tower just a short walk away. The rest of the city spans out in a circle from these beautiful old buildings. At night they are nicely lit up and make the downtown quite attractive.
Behind this area is the muslim market which is a fun corridor of vendors bargaining for their wares. It's a great place to buy quaint souvenirs and antiques. Bargaining is half the fun for both seller and purchaser if you can do it with a smile. I could have spent much longer here being charmed by the pretty things.
My next visit was the Wild Goose Pagoda which was a really lovely old Buddhist temple where the Buddhist scrolls were brought to China from out of India. It has fantastic details built into every corner and when you climb up into the 7th story you get great views of Xi'an city. The entire area surrounding the temple grounds is built up with parks and walking streets. The view leading up to the Pagoda is lined with fountains and statues.
The intense details carved into each wall, stair, and rooftop make it a fascinating place to wander with a camera in hand.
Many people still purchase incense to burn on the alters in hopes of good fortune.
Surrounding old city Xi'an is a fortress style wall that once upon a time would have protected the city from intruders. It is quite imposing and has 4 gates facing North, South, East, and West along with outposts every few hundred feet. It is in fantastic condition and is quite formidable to behold. Walking along the top of the wall gives a great view down into the neighborhoods of Xi'an.
Our last day we hired a driver to take us far outside the city to see the Terracotta Warriors. The history behind them and actually viewing them is amazing. The 100 square km mausoleum created by the first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang over 2000 years ago in about 210 BC is based on the old Chinese belief that you must take what you will need with you into the afterlife. Still for certain holidays we see Chinese out on the street corners burning money or paper replicas of iPads to send into the afterlife for various relatives that have passed on. Based on this philosophy, the emperor used round about 720,000 people and about 30 years to create his amazing mausoleum complete with a full army of clay soldiers, weapons, chariots, and horses to take into the afterlife in the belief if he held such power he would be emperor of the afterlife as well.
The Terracotta warriors were discovered in about 1974 by a farmer digging for a well on his property. He reported his discovery and thus opened the door for one of the most amazing archological digs of our age. This army of clay was created in incredible detail, using techonology that should have been beyond their years. Each soldier was uniquely molded with distinct facial features, intricate details into their clothing and shoes, and even classic lines on the palms of their hands. They are life size and amazingly lifelike in appearance. Each one was painted with rich distinct colors. The amount of painstaking manpower, numbers of years, and advanced technology it would have taken to create this feat is astounding.
Unfortunately they quickly discovered that upon removing the warriors from the earth the color on their clay surfaces disappeared within 30 minutes. As a result of this, 1/2 of them remain buried in the wait for technology to be developed that can stop this from happening.
Sadly for the emperor, much of his army was damaged or destroyed before the burial was complete. Although no one knows for sure who, it is supposed to have been his arch nemesis who swept in and damaged some of the army in hopes of weakening his rival in the afterlife. Witnessing such elaborate preparations for death with no knowledge of the true hope offered in Jesus Christ that could have really prepared him for his death made me a bit sad to think of. What a rude awakening it must have been for him. I am so glad we are not forced to be dependent on what we can afford to take with us to find peace in the next life. What a relief that our way was paid for already and given to us freely. Now that is a beautiful hope to stake my future on.
Romans 3:23 "For the payment of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"
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