The Terracotta Army

In 310 BC, emperor Qin Shi Huang was dying, after about thirty years of autocratic, tyrannical and very bloody rule. History has not recorded what his subjects thought of him, but it is certain that he at least enjoyed the period very much. As it became obvious that his earthly life was at an end, he tried his best to ensure he'd still be reigning in the world beyond. So he had his subjects build him an army that would be buried with him, to be ready to assist him in defeating whatever barbaric hordes were waiting for him in the afterlife. This strikes me as profoundly deranged even for the time, but it must be said that the resulting underground army, unearthed in 1974 and now a UNESCO world heritage site, is a sight to behold. Anticipating Henry Ford by two millennia, Qin Shi Huang had all the soldiers bodies built on an assembly line, while heads were individually and independently carved, giving each soldier his unique identity.

While very good, and very impressive, and certainly a fit addition to the wonders of the ancient world, the army gets pretty boring after about twelve minutes. Thus we took the bus back to Xi'An and had lunch/dinner at a traditional hot pot restaurant. The chinese hot pot is very much like a swiss fondue, except instead of dipping bread into molten cheese, you dip meat into molten chili. It has a certain kick to it.

Our stay in Xi'An ended up quietly, with a walk through the dusky streets, an evening ice cream in the world's slowest Haagen-Däsz, then coffee at Starbucks – the night was turning very american – before drinks in the hotel's lounge and a good night's sleep. The next day would be one of the trip's milestones, as we were heading towards the one and only pearl of the orient: Shanghai.