Xi’An

Xian – Wild Goose Pagoda and Terracotta Warriors As I made my planning for my trip to Xian, I was both happy and sad: happy that I was getting an opportunity to visit a place that has been called by some as the “Eighth wonder of the world”, but sad because I realized that my time in China for the summer was about to end.

The train covered the 750 mile distance from Beijing to Xian in a short span of 5 hours. One of the hard things about traveling in China is the dichotomy between the high speed of the rail and the exorbitant waiting times that passengers are subject to upon arrival, such as hour-long taxi waits. Xian was no different. Even at 10 pm on a Saturday night, I had to wait in line for an hour to get a taxi, and it took even longer to reach the hotel.

The first monument that I went to, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, is a majestic site: a wonder built in seventh century AD by Tang dynasty Emperor Gazong to house the figures, relics, and 657 precious Buddhist manuscripts that Xuanzang had bought back after his travels to India. While this tall, seven-story structure has seen the ravages of earthquakes and age, the fact that such a structure from the 7th century is still standing speaks volumes about the engineering capabilities of China, even at the ancient period of the Tang dynasty.

At the entrance to the Pagoda is the statue of Xuanzang, a 7th century monk who was fascinated with Buddhism and undertook a 17 year journey to India, the details of which have been chronicled in epics such as “Journey to the West”. Xuanzang had to travel by foot or on horseback, brave hostile kingdoms and ravages of nature, and after reaching India, achieve mastery over a new language and culture. Having been able to do so, he managed to return to China with sacred Buddhist texts that are now housed in the Pagoda, which was built by Emperor Gazong. The Chinese government has done a great job preserving these ancient manuscripts, as some are currently on display in the pagoda.
At the age of 20, Xuanzang’s intense curiosity in religion prompted him to learn Sanskrit so that he could better understand the texts about Buddhism. When he was 27, he convinced the Emperor Gazong to fund his travel to India. Not only did the journey involved passing through desert and the high mountains of the Tibetan plateau, but the travel also required him to navigate a fine line while passing through Chinese, Turkic, Afghan, and North Indian kingdoms, which at any given point of time were in a state of war with each other. I am 17 years old and sometimes I wonder if ten years from now, I would even have the gumption to even plan such a trip, let alone actually making it a success over seventeen years.

The Terracotta Warriors exhibit is located 30 miles east of Xian at the location where a farmer digging for water struck gold and found the treasure. Getting to the exhibit in an air conditioned WIFI enabled bus and a travel journey of one hour cost me the pricey sum of 7 RMB ($1.20). Buses leave every ten minutes from Xian train station and the journey towards Mount Li is quite scenic. One of the best things about China is how cheap, accessible and easy is public transportation! Qin Shi Huang was the first Emperor of China and on his death in 200 BC, an entire masoluem was created to house his tomb, chariots, the terracotta army and all other precious artifacts from his kingdom. The Terracotta exhibit was absolutely mind blowing; life sized figures of thousands of warriors with each soldier’s expression mirroring that of the actual solider from that era. Each of the figures is perfectly adorned with all the military emblems signifying the correct rank and stature. The Terracotta warriors were discovered in 1974 and so far three Exhibit Halls have been opened to the public. It is estimated that there are numerous other halls that are still to be discovered. Every day after the visitors leave at 5 pm, the archeologists begin the painstaking work of assembling the complete warriors from the excavated artifacts recovered meticulously through painstaking work. When looking at the Terracotta Warriors, one can’t but help marvel at the rich history of China and the possibilities of how many more precious sites like this lie waiting to be discovered providing precious insights into a culture, which prides itself as one of the oldest contiguous civilizations on earth.

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