First of all, the air tic was expensive to begin with. I could have bought it at RMB1,300 but decided to fly in with the rest of the group to make things simpler. 我不想做拖油桶, missing kid. (Thereafter I was told, you can get it much cheaper by train/plane ~ RMB800. Ok, let's not dwell on this too much *Grouchy*).

First day was good. Things went as planned. Toured 兵马俑 & tour guide was very knowledgeable. I couldn't understand any of the things she said. Too chim. Just to correct some mis-informed 无知少女 like myself:-

1. 兵马俑 was only founded in 1974 not centuries ago. ~ 2,200 years from Qin Dynasty till now.

2. Mausoleum (陵) - Tomb eg 中山陵／秦始皇帝陵／十三陵

3. 秦始皇 was a prince. I always thought he was a farmer like 刘备 someone from humble background. Given the silver spoon, not that hard to 统一六国 right?

4. Terra-cotta army was made from clay+glutinous flour+... Somehow this combination makes them more sturdy. They are not real human beings buried alive. Though thousands of officials & craftsmen were buried alive to keep the tomb a secret.

Disappointment No 1: Terro-cotta army is not as grand/huge as I imagine. I assume 一望无际的兵马俑. But it is only as big as half a soccer field in Pit 1 (一号坑) (62m x 230m) and around 1,000 infantryman uncovered?

Good thing is, we met the original villager who discovered and reported the terro-cotta to the authorities. He is 80 plus years old now and is the 正殿之宝。Even Bill Clinton wants to take photos with him. So we bought a book and asked him to sign off. Collector's items. So if anyone is interested, let me know cos I am not really that keen in collecting dust from it. Both English and Chinese versions available.

Sorry was on the phone for a while... So going to sleep now...blog the other suay things another time...