Xiangtan Shi, China

Today is Mother’s day and it’s the first time that I’m not with my children or mother. We will be visiting the Terra-cotta Army How did it get here? In 221bc Emperor Qin built himself a mausoleum which took 37 years to build and 700,000 people to replicate his warriors out of terra-cotta. The soldiers were arranged in combat formation. Apparently it was destroyed 2 years after his death by the next emperor. Things haven’t changed much in some parts of the world we live in today! Who found this amazing historical treasure? 9 farmers who dug a well in 1974 because of a drought in the area. Five years later there was A major grand opening of the historical site. Only 1500 soldiers are reconstructed today as they are found buried in thousands of pieces. There are 500 archeologists working here today from all over the world. It will take 220 years to complete at this pace! What does it feel like too see this? You feel the immensity, the pomp, and the glory of what the emperor’ s life must have been like when you see the first building with the thousands of soldiers, When you see the second building with all the solders in thousand of pieces you feel shame that another leader could destroy the work of thousand of laborers. When you see the third building with the bronze carriage and horses reconstructed. You know the painstaking work that remains ahead of all the people who are rebuilding this site today. This incredible discovery put Xian on the map and the farmers were subsequently very well taken care of by the government What I found interesting is the details that went into the original replica, such as their different heights, their body shapes and features. From there Justin took us to another family style Chinese lunch. We are then driven to the airport where we transfer to Zhangjiajie. The accommodations are quite nice at the foot of the mountains with a great view of the mountain tops