8000 Warriors

So you have just conquered 6 other waring states and want to make sure that you will be safe with your own army after your death. Logically you would order 750,000 people to work for the next 34 years, constructing 8,000 Terracotta soldiers that would protect you when you died.  Such was the thinking of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.  He lived about 200 BC and was responsible for the creation of the Terracotta Warriors that we viewed in the city of Xian last week.  
Here are a few pictures:

Each warrior is unique!

Here is the cutest warrior I saw on the trip...

While we were in Xian (the old capital of China), we walked on the city wall that surrounds the city.  Here Rhonda stands next to some beautiful architecture on the wall

The sun was setting as I took this shot from the wall...

While in Xian, we also attended an evening performance of traditional dancing and music.  Below I tried to capture one of the dances.  Lots of acrobatics going on as you can see...

One day Rhonda and I went for a stroll in a nearby park near campus.  We heard something that sounded like a whip.  When we arrived, we saw an elderly man using a whip to turn a very large top.  It is called Tuo Luo in Chinese.  After watching him for a few minutes, he turned to me and handed me the whip.  It was great fun.  I was able to keep the top spinning fairly well, but must of looked pretty funny, since I drew a bit of a crowd.  

I decided to leave my shirt on, but most of the other men who were also doing Tuo Luo, had theirs off...maybe it helps!

I will end this blog post with another picture of the best part of China...the children.