These are the days of My Life - Xi'an, China, My Arrival and the terra cotta warrior manufacturing plant tour

I was amazed by the highway into the city.  There was not but 1or 2 cars others than the airport bus that took me into the city on this road.  The only time you came upon traffic was at one of the building sites when the pesestrian traffic crossed the street.  Kind of a weird experience of wide open space (it all used to be farmland) that is being transformed into an enormous city due to the popularity of the discovery of the Terra Cotta Warriors.

Let the building projects begin.  For the approximately 40 minutes on the ride in on the airport bus there were entire endless building sites of 30-40 story buildings.  These sites wer all along the horizon.  Why, i don't know; however from my tour guide later in my stay to the actual Terra Cotta Warrior site he mentioned that a very poor farming community to a very wealthy province due the government purchase of the actual site of the warriors.  hence the tourism being brought to the area has allowed it to grow and gorw and grow.

The "Bell Tower" in the round about in Xi'an, China.  The bell rings daily on the hour.

The "Bell Tower" all lit up at night.  Just to see if you are reading along...9:00pm Tuesday, May 24th, a small aftershock rocked my world while writing this blog.  This is the 4th one that I have experienced since my arrival in Tokyo one week ago.  This one was minor but still unsettling to one that is unaccustomed to the ground moving. Yikes! 

This is the "Drum tower" lit up at night. 

My new "Hero".  Hello Panda is a clothing line in China.  I bought a t-shirt with this grumpy Panda insignia.  Mine say's "On The Road" which I felt was approriate.

This the South Gate lit at night.  my hostel is about 500m from this entrance to the inner sity.  Xi'an like Beijing has various rings around the city.  I am located within the city walls.  The area is very cosmopolitan, alot of shopping and really congested with traffic and people.  The Chinese hve certain days when cars with a corresponding last digit or two are not allowed to drive on those specified days during the week.  On the weekend there are no limits.

I just love an Americna breakfast.  This was all for about US$3.00.  Try to find this bargain at home....Good Luck!

Me as a Terra Cotta Warrior.  Pretty impressive..huh?

Making the clay molds of the warriors for sale.  The detail of the molds is quite impressive.  The process is still done manually from  carving the casts to applying the mud and pressing the molds.  The kiln is still used today.

The details are still completed by hand

No two are alike. It is amazing the amount of individual detail goes into each warrior.  These are all for re-sale.

I know...I couldn't get enough of the warriordrag.  How handsome I would have been back in the days of legends.

Warriors ready for sale.

Individual pieces hand formed and assembled, fired in the kiln, and hand painted.  The end result is beautiful.  The cost is extrodinary...needless to say i did not purchase anything as well  being atraveler ther is no room in my luggage.