I’m visiting the William Lindesay family in China for two weeks as they take me to points all along the entire Great Wall. You can read the backstory at my website or here on my blog along with all my posts while in China.

Xi’an, China
Friday, September 25, 2026
8:55 PM

Today we visited the unofficial Eighth Wonder of the World, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), the first emperor of unified China, and we also saw the Terracotta Warriors. It’s a remarkable story.

In 1974 farmers near Xi’an in China made an historic discovery while digging a well. Quite by accident they discovered fragments of what was latter determined to be an army 8,000 strong of terracotta figurines commissioned by Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

Chinese authorities came in to safeguard the site. Buildings were constructed enclosing excavation “pits.” This excavation and reconstructions of the shattered pieces is ongoing with Pit 1 being the largest and primary site. It’s slow painstaking work to carefully reassembled all the shattered fragments, which is done with the aid of computers. It will take many years to complete this project. I think it was said there are new identified pits where work hasn’t started yet. And I suppose other pits may be found as well.

This is a fascinating subject, but today has been my first exposure. There are various resources available to learn more online. A very readable overview can be found at Noiser. You can also visit the UNESCO World Heritage website or watch this National Geographic broadcast:

These are some of the many pictures I took today.

There were also statues showing the various ranks and roles of warriors:

After our tour we returned to Xi’an for lunch.

I’m finding meals interesting. After leaving The Barracks and heading west, I’d describe the food as pretty much “hard core” genuine Chinese — I mean, this is China after all! But it’s been an adjustment and I’m looking forward to a more familiar diet back home.

However, I must be adjusting. Lunch today and dinner Wednesday back in Dunhuang were delicious! Seriously good. I’m still working on the chopstick skills, though. Sometimes good, sometimes not.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed the hotel’s Happy Hour at 5:30 with William, Qi, Tommy and Jesse.

And finally, after saying our good nights, David and I explored outside for a few blocks.