Day 10

Today we got to visit a Terracotta Figurine Factory. It was quite interesting to see what the method that was used to create the statues and figurines. The figurine range in size from a couple inches high to full life size replicas

Later in the day we went to the see the actual Terracotta Warriors. The first relics were discovered on a private farm when the owner was attempting to dig a well in 1976. Mr. Wu was actually present at the location to talk to or take a picture with! The enormity of the first building was amazing. Not only are there many figures lined up in a marching formation but they also have an on going restoration for pieces that are broken……almost like putting fossils back together.

The figures were originally colored but once unearthed the paint oxidizes within a couple of minutes and the color fades away. James told me that some years ago a famous Frenchman who was a “body artist” actually came dressed as one of the figures and climbed over the rail to stand amongst the army. The security and police actually could not find him for a couple of minutes because his body art was so accurate and he stood absolutely still! The Chinese authorities arrested him but ended up letting him go because they even saw the humour in it.

After that we were off to the airport to catch our flight to Guilin. The kids have really become traveling pros. Some of them have bought a few too many souvenirs at this point which is challenging our luggage weight restrictions but other than that they move through the airport quite efficiently for such a large group.