Sunday, August 22, 2010

August 19, 2010: The Terra Cotta Warriors

This morning we left the hotel early on the bus with our travel group to go to what our CCAI guide, Sissia, calls the 8th Wonder of the World…The Terra Cotta Warriors!

The Warriors were discovered by accident in the 1970's by several farmers who were digging a well.  They are in a little town called Lintong about 60 km outside of Xian.  On the way there, we stopped at a government operated manufacturing plant for lacquer furniture and Terra Cotta Warrior replicas.  Caroline got to play with the clay and form her own Warrior in a mold with Gailie's help.    

The Terra Cotta Warriors are literally an army of life sized soldiers built out of clay.  There were approximately 8,000 built under the order of Emperor Qin and buried underground standing in formation.  There purpose was to guard Emperor Qin's underground mausoleum which was an actual palace built underground.  The Chinese believed (and many still do) that after you die…you just continue to live underground…so Emperor Qin took great pride in the details and extravagance used to create his underground world where he would abide after death.  The Terra Cotta Warriors are a marvel for many reasons.  The skill and craftsmanship used to make them was way ahead of its time and just the massive scope of the now excavated underground tunnels lined with these life sized warriors – each one completely unique is absolutely amazing!! 

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7 comments:

  1. Ginny StevensAugust 22, 2010 at 4:20 PM

    Oh Sally, I am overwhelmed with how beautiful and special Kate is! What a blessing for you, Sean, and Caroline...and what a blessing y'all are for Kate! Alan called today to tell me about the blog and this is the first day I have been on it. I read through the entire blog in one sitting and cried at places and laughed at places, and just smiled all the time. I am so very happy for all of you. Thank you for sharing these moments. It is all simply perfect! Miss and love you, Ginny

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  2. JnJAugust 22, 2010 at 7:20 PM

    Oh man, so jealous you guys got to see the terra cotta warriors, it was one of the things I wanted to see while we were there. Xian seems nice, Zhengzhou was somewhat boring for us. Seems like in Xian the staring and questions were about the same for us in Zhengzhou though, we were always a spectacle walking around there! Hope you guys are doing well, have fun in Guangzhou!

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  3. TiffanyAugust 22, 2010 at 7:55 PM

    Super cool!

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  4. the Borgeson FamilyAugust 23, 2010 at 12:35 AM

    REALLY wish we were there with you guys for this. What an awesome sight to take in.

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  5. UnknownAugust 23, 2010 at 9:43 AM

    Isn't it so cool to see those? Looks like you guys are getting to do a lot of fun stuff! Makes me want to go back!
    Kelly
    www.wearegraftedin.com
    www.jiayindesigns.com

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  6. AmandaAugust 23, 2010 at 7:44 PM

    Oh my goodness! Kate looks so happy!! I stinkin can't wait until you guys are back! I'm so excited about meeting Kate :)

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  7. UnknownAugust 30, 2010 at 10:02 AM

    Hi Sally

    Some say "lucky girl"
    We say "lucky parents"

    An old Chinese adoption saying and how true. What a blessing. Kate is so beautiful, and has such a happy face. You can tell she will have no trouble making this transition. She and Caroline look at each other like...well like they are sisters which they are!!

    Hope this finds you all back at home and exhausted, but a good exhausted. Now come the fun part, getting everyone back on US time.

    Thanks for sharing your journey with us. The minute I saw your pics in the White Swan I was just overwhelmed with emotion remembering that magic time in our lives. What a special gift from God. Enjoy this time. Can't wait to meet your new addition. Terry Brown

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