Xi'an - Day 5

Yesterday was a full day of exploring and learning - one I'm sure none of us will ever forget. We started out early and headed toward the Terracotta Warriors Museum. First, our guide took us to the workshop where they make all the replicas for people to buy. We didn't, but it was quite interesting to learn about how the original warriors were made. The ancient Chinese people did some truly brilliant things - long before the rest of the world caught on.

Click on photos to enlarge

Every one of the 6000 warriors has a different face. I think I like the one in the middle best. :-)

After our stop there, we headed to the actual Museum were the three Pits are. Very impressive and HUGE. It just amazes me that so much energy was put into preparing for a war in the afterlife. The Emperor whose tomb the warriors are guarding spent 2/3 of the nations money each year on preparing his tomb... for 40 years!!! I can't help but think of what good things could have been accomplished with that money. It's incredible to see the warriors, but it also saddens me.

When we first got there, we had a chance to meet the farmer who originally discovered the warriors back in 1974 when he was helping dig a well. I took a picture of him signing a book for us before I realized we weren't supposed to do that. BUT, for 20 Yuen, you can have your picture taken with him. No choice after the one I had already snapped!

I think it's kind of funny that for months I've been following blogs of other Starfish babies' whose families have done this same tour, and there is a picture of each of the kiddoes doing this same thing:

The "Eight Wonder of the World" and they sleep right through it!

On our way back from the Museum, we stopped at the Xi'an orphanage so that Michelle could see where Marie Ling had lived and could meet her teachers and try to ask some questions about her past. It's so hard to see all those children without families, but for what it's worth, the orphanage looked clean, the children looked like they're doing OK and Marie Ling was all smiles getting to see her friends one last time. (She's having a very hard time, off and on, so Michelle was very glad to get to do that.)

When we got back to the hotel, Tom walked with us to a little hole in the wall Muslim noodle restaurant and we had dinner there. It was really good and dinner for ALL of us was only about $15. Rodney and Tom had to walk a few doors down to find something to drink with it, but we all had a good time. (Madeline wasn't feeling well and stayed at the hotel.)

Sophia is doing amazingly well. She almost never cries - I just can't get over what a content little girl she is. We are so in love with this little doll baby! She has the sweetest little voice and a smile that just melts our hearts. I'm looking so forward to Olivia, Jackson and Elijah getting to meet her! They are going to have FUN, FUN, FUN just loving on her!!!

She loves sitting in her stroller just about every where we go.

Hanging out with Daddy this morning.

Today was our down time and Tom isn't picking us up until 4:30 this afternoon. He's taking us to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, out for some kind of famous local cuisine (he's been really good at making sure we've tried the things Xi'an is famous for... did you know there's such a thing as a soup dumpling? Yes, it's a dumpling with soup in it. Quite a technique involved in eating it!) and then on to see the Tang Dynasty theater show. It's supposed to be really good and tells a lot about the Tang Dynasty, so we're looking forward to it. It's also our last full day here in Xi'an. We've really enjoyed our time here in this city. Although we've seen a lot of history and done a lot of "touristy" kind of things, we've also had the opportunity to see how real Chinese people live, work, eat, and play. Oh, and stare. That seems to be a past time all of it's own... and we're the subjects of the staring!

Did we mention traffic is a little scary here? This wasn't even rush hour!

There is so much construction going on in China that our guide says the national bird is "the crane".

We're heading to Guangzhou tomorrow for our last part of the journey. Sophia's passport will be ready in the morning and we'll head to the airport a little after noon to fly south. Weather has been interesting here: Beijing was really cold, but sunny, Xi'an has been only a bit chilly, but sunny, and Guangzhou is tropical, so it's time to pack up the coats and jackets because we won't be needing them anymore! Tricky packing for the different climates, but I'm looking forward to being in a warm climate for a while. And so grateful we weren't here in the summer when GZ was over 100 degrees and MUGGY!

Sweet dreams!

Please keep us in your prayers - we feel them and appreciate them so much!
Till next time,

Karee