"Xian - Warriors, Emperors and Walls." a Xi'an Travel Page by K.Knight

The main attraction, and the main reason tourists are drawn to this beautiful city, are the Terracotta Warriors of the first Emperor of China.

A UNESCO world heritage site, the Terracotta Warriors are approx 90 minutes drive from Xian.

It is amazing that the Warriors of the first emperor remained hidden from the world for thousands of years. The story of their discovery advises that three local farmers were digging a well in 1974 when they were digging their hole they discovered pottery fragments. Believing that this was the tomb of a “Pottery God” they had an elder of their community burn joss sticks so that the God would not be angry.

When a local official heard of the discovery, he informed the Government.

The Government sent a team to look at the relics, and because they could not date them, reminded the farmers of the national policy on archaeology and quickly confiscated all of the pottery fragments.

Later testing showed that the fragments were over 2,000 years old and the husband of a worker on the project, a reporter, wrote an article for a national newspaper announcing the discovery of the “Terracotta Warriors and their horses” near the tomb of the first emperor!

And so it began…..tourism!

Xian is a fantastic old city that is surrounded by a magnificent high wall. The wall has 4 main Gates; strangely enough they are called the North, South, East and Western gates. There are also 3 smaller entrances comprising of the Zhuque, Duanlv and Heping gates.

Most of the attractions are housed within the walls limits, with easy access through the main gates. I can suggest taking the time to explore the city wall as it has a lot of things to see and do, especially on the top.

Anne wanted a go "on this little number" to get us back to the hotel. We missed out in Beijing, so not wanting pass up an opportunity, we hopped in.

Compared to a taxi, they are not very cheap and they are certainly not as safe! Taking us from the Drum Tower and the Muslim Quarter back to our motel turned out to be an adventure in itself.

We bartered the price of 25 YUAN and jumped in. The engine roared to life, as did the driver, and I don’t think the horn stopped blasting for the entire trip. We passed by the locals so close, and at such speed, that I am sure that skin was removed from some elbows.

The driver then stopped suddenly, in the middle of town, and said “can’t go further, police. You get out here!” Luckily we were only 2 blocks from the motel!