Xi'an is one of the few cities in China where the old city walls are still visible. They were built on the foundations of the walls of the Tang Forbidden City with a watchtower at each corner. It is about 36 feet across at the top, enough for 3 chariots to ride side by side. Today it is a promenade used for exercise and recreation. All of the houses bordering the 9-mile wall are built in traditional Chinese style to help maintain the history of the city.

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The Wild Goose Pagoda was built in 652 AD to house the Buddhist scriptures brought back from India by the traveling monk Xuan Zang. He then translated the scriptures into 1335 Chinese volumes.

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Driving back to our hotel we saw this gathering of people dressed in white on a corner. Ping told us it was a funeral and that the deceased was from this neighborhood. After this vigil on the corner, the family would then carry the body through the neighborhood streets so everyone could honor the deceased.

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The Tang Dynasty lasted from 618 AD to 907 AD during a time when China experienced tremendous culture, artistic and technological achievements. We attended this dinner theater where we were treated to a delicious 7-course meal followed by a spectacular show of musical and dance presentations that have been recreated in accordance with various historical records of the Tang Dynasty.

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The terra-cotta warriors were discovered accidentally in 1974 when Mr. Yang, a farmer, was digging an irrigation well. As you can see from the photo, if he had dug 5-feet further away, the warriors may never have been unearthed.

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The terra-cotta warriors are one of the greatest archaeological treasures in the world and are being called the 8th wonder of the world. The sites are housed in three buildings today. This is "Pit 1" which is about as long as three football fields end to end!

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7,000 life-size figures were discovered in this vault, grouped in battle order, rank by rank, some mounted on horse-drawn chariots and others in infantry groups armed with spears, swords and crossbows. They were in this location to protect the tombs of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi who was from the Qin Dynasty of 200 BC.

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Archeologists are still working at the site. Some remains have been uncovered and then buried again. There are a total of three pits but it appeared that most of the work was being done here at pit 1, the site of the original find.

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This replica of an officer gives an idea of how tall each warrior was. We noticed that the bodies looked to be cast but the heads were definitely individually carved and unique unto themselves.

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Today Mr. Yang no longer works as a farmer but is somewhat of a celebrity who spends his days in the gift shop autographing books.

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The youngsters of China were adorable and fun to photograph.

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Tonight we experienced a traditional dumpling dinner. We sampled about 18 different kinds of dumplings from pork, to chicken, to veggie, to sweet, to bland, to who knows what! These obviously were filled with duck because each little dumpling looked like a duck!

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We had a demonstration of how the dumplings were made. Our Tour Director Extraordinaire Ping then got up and showed us how she makes dumplings at home.

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