China Part XIV - Xi'an, Welcome to Central China

After a relatively short flight we had safely arrived in Xi'an.
西安

Below is the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport.

The city has more than 3,100 years of history, and was first known as Chang'an, Xi'an translates as "Western Peace". Xi'an is the capitol city of Shaanxi, provence.

• Xi'an - Our Hotel.
  

Our hotel in Xi'an, The Heizee, a was very nice five star hotel. It had a huge and unusual chandelier hanging in the lobby and a happy Buddha next to the ATM machine.

There were also some huge vases in the lobby.

Just the thing for Raylene to play 'I dream of Genie'.

From there we jumped on the bus headed for the Terracotta Factory.

• Xi'an Daqin Terra Cotta & Lacquer Furniture Art Factory
  

We had a stop first at the Xi'an Daqin Terracotta & Lacquer Furniture Art Factory.

We were greeted by a terracotta lion.

Inside the outer wall we were shown kilns where the terracotta is fired.

Seems a bit primitive but then what do I know.

Actually, having a degree in Art with an emphasis in ceramics I found it quite interesting.

There were some finished warriors standing about the room, I assumed, waiting to be crated up and shipped off to their new homes.

There was the opportunity to audition for the terracotta army.

Grandma lived up to her well known reputation of being hostile and warlike, she was very terrifying.

 

Everyone tried to get Grandma to make her scary attack face.

Try as she may this was as aggressive as she could get.

Bob and Raylene were very menacing warriors.

Dee Anna didn't scare any of us.

Roberta Powers made a rather non-threatening warrior as well.

Here some artisans work on miniature replicas.

For more on the process click here: the process of making the Terracotta Warriors.

There were also lots of full size replicas.

Here are some of the molds used to form the life size warriors.

In the next room were the lacquer furniture creations and artists.

 

Here an artisan does some lacquer work...

and here are some finished examples.

From there we entered the showroom where they sell replicas of all kinds and sizes. There were many examples of various sizes on display.

In the next room were lots of beautiful hand woven rugs.

Below is a video clip showing the tedious work. She had already been working on this rug for months.

 Next: The Terracotta Warriors