Wonders of the world – HurricaneMaine

Terracotta warriors, Xi’an

Before we went to see the terracotta warriors, we ate at a restaurant nearby. They had lots of warrior copies. Clarence, the guy who rented us the apartment was our tour guide.

The Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, are life-size terra cotta sculptures in battle formations, reproducing the imperial guard troops of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 – 210BC), the first emperor of the first unified dynasty of Imperial China. He conquered the 6 warring kingdoms in the east and took them over to unify China. He was a brutal emperor. Each warrior was different and resembles his army.

It was a funerary project started at the time at the age of 13 to protect him in his afterlife. He became emperor at 22 and resigned for 37 years. He ordered the construction of the Great Wall and his 100 km high mausoleum in the mountain.

Found in 1974 by farmers digging a well, it is considered the most important archaeological find of the 20th century. They were discovered many times before but since this area was originally Taoist, many thought that it would be bad luck to dig it up as they thought it was a temple or were afraid something would happen to it. There were too many farmers in 1974 there to keep it quiet and as the cultural revolution had happened there was less chance that it would be destroyed.

All of the warriors have their hair in a bun. This is characteristic of Taoist people.

The figures vary in height depending upon their roles, with the generals being the tallest. Flowing rivers were simulated by using mercury in his tomb. The soils there do show mercury contamination.

Originally the warriors were half under ground and then a roof was put on. They took the forest away to make pits. After they were buried, the erosion of clay over time buried them deeper at 8 meters. 72,000 slaves were used to build this.

Xiang yu created an uprising after he died and broke into the mausoleum. However there are other theories. The weapons, chariots, and roof were made of wood and generally you burn the body and things for the afterlife. Some believe that they were burnt first then buried. The flank guards face out to protect the guards and they were the statues more intact. Theory is that the clay is harder on the outside than the inside and therefore did not collapse over time like other areas. If it had been broken into and destroyed, those flank men would not have stayed in such good condition.

This section is just being excavated. They remove pieces to put together in a different section, then place the warriors back in position when finished.

Imprints of the wood beams in the clay. Chariots were made of wood and not survived. Warrior with hands holding in front are holding weapons.

The vanguard is along the front of Pit 1. They are the archers. Others are holding spears. Those that have the armor is the infantry.

Those facing it were flankmen to watch the sides.

This cutout area is where coffins were buried long before 1974. Heads are missing around where the coffins were. When they dug, they would cause damage to the warriors. Back then when they found a piece they thought it was from a temple because of Taoist past beliefs. They did not mention what they found.

Coffin inside still in this one part. The wood is gone, but the bones remain.

All the warriors were broken this way and then restored.

Area of restoration as they search for pieces. All of the warriors are numbered by GPS.

Each warrior is 150 to 300 kg.

Remains of the burnt wooden ceiling from 2200 years ago. But maybe burnt as Taoist burial first then buried.

Imprint of wheel from a chariot though the wooden wheel is long gone.

Print of crossbow.

Horses.

Workers scanning pieces.

Pit 3 was found in 1976. This is the original ground level. The picture below shows how they were found at the beginning.

Bodyguards of the emperor.

4 horses with 4 people for a chariot. They used colors and sounds (drum, gong) to tell movements like retreat and direction to move.

The ramp at the bottom left was used to bring the warriors in by chariot. There were 11 entrances.

You can see the grooves from the chariot at the bottom of this area.

Given the area, it would have been better to bury so if these in a cave. It would make sense why they would create a wood city as there is a burning ritual for burial.

This tomb is from the Han dynasty. Holes in the chat were created with an auger to determine the she and whether there were warriors present.

Kneeling Archer was one if the most interact pieces. It was preserved better as since it was lower to the ground there were less forces from the top.

Officer.

The representation if the horse show they had saddles back then but not stirrups. This was an archer.

To small bronze chariots were found and signify the carrying of soul back to palace. This was found on the other side of the tomb and they face westward as the sun sets to the west.

Xi’an had been the capital of many dynasties as this was the seat of power after this first emperor reigned.

Silk road tour, day 6, Jiayuguan pass and where The Great Wall ends

This is the last day in Zhangye and a pretty long day ahead. After 3 hour bus ride we arrived at Jiayuguan Pass. This is a key point of trade for the silk road as well as a protection point as it is linked to the western most part of the Great Wall.

Jiayu Pass or Jiayuguan is the first frontier fortress at the west end of the Ming dynasty Great Wall, near the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu province. Along with Juyong Pass and Shanhai Pass, it is one of the main passes of the Great Wall.
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Jiayuguan Pass

This area is called the Hexi corridor and is only 15 km between the mountains on each side. The mountains themselves provided some protection and only a small wall was needed there as invaders could be seen from the fortress towers. Also, in this remote area, it was difficult to get and move materials.

We walked from what would be the city at the time to the fortress that housed the civil and military leaders and also had towers to watch for invaders, particularly those coming from the West. Soldiers and munitions would be found here.

Temple of literature

Outer city wall

Here merchants could walk along as they could not enter the fortress.

Warrior temple and God of wealth

Amusement temple

This is meant as a stage for entertainment.

A close up of the ceiling that shows many Taoist symbols.

The outer wall

The outer wall leads into a confined area in order to contain invaders as there is another gate they would have to get through. They would be ambushed by soldiers above. You can walk along the inner courtyard wall as well as these outer gate walls. Every corner has a watchtower.

The first inner area for defense taken from the top where soldiers would stand.

The Light gate

This heads to the inner courtyard where generals, troops, munitions, and horses were held.

Cannons

Cannons were invented in China in the 12th century. The idea was taken by the Mongols who then passed it on to the Turks who then passed the new weapon on to the British….

Generals residence

This is the outer building wall of the residence courtyard which had a meeting house, residence house, and kitchen.

Residence area

This is where officials lived when you enter the separate compound door.

Opposite Gate leading to the west

Getting to the top wall

To get to the top there are a series of stairs next to a ramp. The ramp was used for horses, most likely to move heavy materials to the top of the wall.

View from the top looking at the inner residence courtyard

View from the top looking at the inner courtyard

The view from the top looking outside towards the one set of mountains.

Shorter outer wall for merchants. No need to enter the garrison in order to move materials.

Great wall not so great here. Hard to move stone on mountain and this area is so dry that the wall can be made from dirt mixed with straw. The more impressive wall is about a half hour away and the other sections closer to Beijing.

This fortress is the actual end of the great wall here in the north west. It is the furthest Western point on the wall.

You can see the wall running across the picture.

Resting brick above door

The extra brick is above the arch on the ledge. Rumor is that he would not get paid if his numbers were not exact. With the extra brick he made a story of the western wall being blessed with strength.

The western outer wall is thicker and more fortified because it faces west where enemies were known to attack from. There has been some sort of wall here for thousands of years because of enemies. However, the silk road was known as a way to promote trade from the West. Marco Polo used this trade route and brought back noodles from this region (excavations have found evidence of noodles here 2000 years ago). Wheat was brought from the West as well as Buddhism, which predates Christianity by thousands of years.

The end of the Great Wall

A short ride away is found a section of the Great Wall that butts up against the mountains. This is the western most section of the Great Wall that ends at the Jiayuguan Pass.

I made it to the top, snapped pictures from the tower, made an informative video and a silly one as well before going down the other side to get a view there from a path.

The below is not a good video as not pre-planned. Three teachers were singing Pink Floyd’s The Wall on the Great Wall.

It is crazy to be on a highway where there is not much traffic in the desert but still have enough connection to create this blog post!

Great Barrier Reef

When I realized that the southernmost part of the Great Barrier Reef was closer than traveling all the way to Cairns I was excited. Lady Elliot island is a really cool island that is the only one in the reef chain that has it’s own runway.

It is not a cheap trip. It was 829AUD or about $567 USD. It includes hotel pickup, transport by air, drinks, food, and snorkeling. For those wanting to do this it is cheaper from the Gold Coast than from Brisbane. I was intending to do the trip in Brisbane so extended my stay here at the Gold Coast instead. I was excited!

We arrived at the airport in Coolangatta. It was a small plane and as I was by myself I sat in the copilot seat which was awesome.

Some great sights at first and we flew for about 2 hours. Where we were heading was a tiny dot on the panel.

The end of the pink line is the island. You can’t even see the island as the line is the same thickness!

And then I saw the island… Yes it is small. Good thing the plane is small too.

The runway runs from bottom right to top left of the picture.

This island is in a protected green zone. They have solar panels for all of their electricity needs and also use it to distill Sea water for their own drinking water. It is a reef education center, protected sea turtle area, and an eco resort.

You can see the solar panels at the end of the sidewalk running along to the right.

This island is gorgeous. It would be great to stay here for a few days in the resort.

After storing our things and a little look around, we were given snorkeling gear and met for the glass bottom boat tour and snorkeling.

In the glass bottom boat we saw a Manta Ray. It was enormous and they do not sing like sting rays do. The pictures are a little fuzzy as they are taken through glass and water.

Below are other pictures of coral from the glass bottom boat.

Then it was time to snorkel. It was amazing. I’m glad I remembered my go pro (especially since Australia was not planned on this trip. The closing of school due to the coronavirus allowed me this time.)

I took some great video following green Sea turtles and schools of fish.

Sea turtle nesting sites. They are marked with the dates the eggs are laid so when they hatch they are monitored and they can be assisted making it to the Sea.

They offered a really yummy lunch and we were free to explore or snorkel again. I met some great people while visiting the island.

Of course I snorkeled again. Half of our 12 hour day was spent in traveling to and from the island. It was totally worth it. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef was amazing.