There are so much to see in Xi'an, tho' most tourist zoom in only on the terracotta warriors. It's the beginning of the Silk Road, the cosmopolitan city in ancient times where the westerners came with their goods in exchange for Chinese silk and tea.
Since this is the 1st visit, we shall start from the beginning...
There're some similarities between Emperor Qin and the Egyptian Pharoahs:
~ The obsession with the quest for immortaility
~ The elaborate preparation with the afterlife
~ The tomb must be located in the West
~ As soon as he ascended the throne, work on the construction of his tomb starts (Emperor Qin ascended the throne when he was 13y/o, but after 37yrs, the necropolis was still not completed when he passed away)
After visiting the Shaanxi Provincial Museum and the Terracotta site, you learned what he has achieved and the legacy he left behind:
~ the emperor also developed an extensive network of roads and canals connecting the provinces to improve trade between them.
~ the currency also standardized to the Ban liang coin (半兩).
~ most importantly, the Chinese script was unified to form one language, one communication system for all of China
... this ancient capital is so rich with history... 3nites stay doesn't do justice and not enough time.. shall go back again to explore the history of the other dynasties :)
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