Brass chariots at the Terra cotta warriors museum

This is just one of the two brass chariots unearthed as part of the Terra Cotta warriors dig. It is half size and behind glass, so the photo is a bit blurry. The detail on them is amazing.

TerraCotta Warriors

TWhile in Xi'an we visited the huge Terracotta Warriors museum and archeological dig. It is amazing! Thousands and thousands of life size statues of warriors in this huge larger than a foot ball field building are standing in rows. The photos do not do the exhibit justice so I'm including one from a "factory" where replicas are made. The statues were made for the 1st emperor of China (221 BC) so they are really, really old. One of the many amazing things about them is they have not found any two with the same facial features (they have uncovered and pieced together to some extent) over 6000 warriors. This is still an on-going dig, so more is being discovered.

Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, Gansu

I know i was tired that day (after the train ride), but back to Dunhuang on October 5th when we visited the Mogao Grottoes. Theya re a series of over 600 caves that were carved into a mountain side by Buddhists. Each cave that we went in  (about 10 or so) has statues of Buddha along with paintings on the wall. They were very impressive, but I'm sorry to say after a while (several hours!) we were a little tired of them. They were made between the 4th and 11th centuries. They even found some early buddhist manuscripts. Unfortunately the caves were discovered by European explorers (and 1 American) in the early 1900s and many treasures taken away. Photos were not allowed in the caves, so the photo is of the exterior.

Xi'an

We arrived in Xi'an the evening of the 5th. We went directly to the Dynasty Hotel, from which we could see the old city wall. In the foyer, at the top of some stairs, is a statue of Qin Shi Huandi, the emperor of China who united the country in 221 B.C. The hotel was lovely with clean rooms and a wonderful buffet breakfast in the morning. 

First thing in the morning of October 6th we went on the tour bus to the city wall and gate. The walls were built in 1370 during the Ming dynasty. 

Rug making in Dunhuang

We spent a little time in a rug making and selling facility in Dunhuang before boarding a flight in the afternoon for Xi'an. The rug she is making is of silk. The prices were good, but we didn't purchase one.

Gobi desert and camel rides to Crescent Moon Lake

After a night train ride form the trian station near Turpan (out of town half an hour) we arrived in Leychang, a station town, at 4 am, took the tour bus to Dunhang in Gansu province for breakfast at a hotel before going out on the Gobi desert. We took rides on bactrian camels (2 hump - more comfortable than the 1 hump) to near Crescent Moon lake. Some people had set up sand slide rides (sort of like going down a hill on snow) so David rented a tire and went down. It was a very warm day after a cool night.  We were very tired all day. The soft-sleeper (4 berths to a cabin) was comfortable, but it was difficult to sleep and then be up so early. The ride on the bus was jolting so sleep was impossible. We did enjoy the day.

Turpan Mosque and Minaret

The last site we visited in Turpan was an Iranian style mosque and minaret, the Imin Ta. Imin Ta, the minaret was built in 1778 and the stairway closed in 1989 after an earthquake threatened to destroy it. The brick work on the minaret is lovely with many variations. The mosque is beautifully simple.