Emperor Qin Shi Huang is credited unifying China for the first time. Two hundred years before Jesus came around, he was hard at work commissioning the Great Wall and other enduring projects. For this, the Chinese generally regard him as a pretty great guy. They acknowledge only as an afterthought that his mercury-addled fits of rage reportedly could end with random subjects being pulled apart by horses.
He also had the idea that a massive army of clay soldiers should be built to protect him in the afterlife, possibly from all the people he had randomly drawn and quartered.
This army was discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well. He now sits in the souvenir shop at the end of the tour and grins behind a pair of Ray-Bans, seemingly still bewildered by his luck, three decades on.
Fifteen tourists I were led by Zha Zha (ja-ja), a beaming tour guide whose energy never faltered. On her call of "hellohiexcuseme!" we would rally to her for guidance and info. She punctuated most sentences with a self-assured "hmph" and a quick nod, and after asking the busload of us to say our names and nationalities, introduced herself thusly: "I am Zha Zha, easy to remember, "Lady Zha Zha!" Hmph! 26 years old, still single! (huge grin) I want you all to stick together today! My first day!, I lose one person! This time!, I don't want to lose any person! Hmph! So stick together okay!"
Zha Zha led us around the three "pits," doing her best to speak above the din of the millions of Chinese on holiday for National Day week. The heaving masses yearning-to-stand-in-front-of-your-camera-as-soon-as-you-framed-up-your-shot would have completely ruined the day, were it not for her endless enthusiasm and self-aware humor, and the best part of the experience ended up being her impromptu song on the bus ride back to Xi'an. She suggested a sing-along to pass the time. The group of us immediately requested that she sing a Chinese song to start things off and, after some coaxing, she proceeded to deliver a sweet rendition of a traditional number "Ma," "Mother" in Chinese.
The unearthed terracotta warriors number in the thousands, but it was an exercise in social awareness to see such astonishing numbers of living, breathing, shoving people crowding around the sites. You hear about China having lots of people, but you can't really get the full effect until you turn up at a big tourist attraction during a week-long Chinese holiday.
Pictures will follow when internet speed permits.
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