Emperor Chin, The first Emperor of China—or Emperor Qin as he is sometimes called—is back in the news. Why all the sudden interest in a man who has been dead for more than 2,000 years?  Quite simple. Television producers found that he makes good copy and as a result have produced a two-part series on the emperor’s life.  For Thai Airways, Emperor Chin is nothing new. They discovered the emperor and his army of life-size terracotta army when Royal Orchid Holidays added Xi’an in central China to one of its packages for travelers looking for something extraordinary, and that was several years ago.

What is surprising is that Emperor Chin wasn’t very much in the news down through the years until 1974 when his army was unearthed. Their discovery, after lying dormant for more than 2,000 years, was the most sensational archaeological find of the century, if not the world. Startling photographs of this amazing clay army, some 8,000 warriors in battle array, appeared in the pages of the National Geographic, travel magazines and brochures and nearly every news print depicting and promoting China.
 
When I went to Xi’an to report on the site for Royal Orchid Holidays a few years ago, I wasn’t disappointed. The terra-cotta army was even far more magnificent that I had anticipated. But the surprise came when I discovered more than just clay soldiers and that was the city itself, one of the oldest cities on earth, settled perhaps as early as 7,000 years ago.
 
When you first see Xi’an, the city kind of leaps out at you. The reason is its wall. A massive wall surrounds the city. To enter the town you must pass through one of twelve gates and, when you do, it’s like passing into another world. You definitely enter another time era.
   
One of the tragedies of modern China is that, after the 1949 liberation, the ancient walls that had been built to guard their cities were torn down to make room for motorways and expansion. Even the great wall that surrounded Beijing, a wall some 2,000 years old, built to keep out the likes of Genghis Khan and the invading Tartars, was leveled to make room for a motor beltway around the city. All that is left of the wall today is the southern gate.
   
In Xi’an, the original wall, begun 2,000 years ago, is still there. It measures 13.7 kilometres in circumference, and was rebuilt in the early period of the Ming Dynasty. It has four main gates, each of which has three gates, 5,984 arrow-shooting holes and 98 ramparts. The wall of Xi’an is the biggest and best-preserved city wall of ancient China.
   
Xi’an sits on an ancient site in which archaeologists have found layer upon layer of cities, all of different names. The land here is fertile, renewed yearly by the silt from the Yellow River. Since the age of nomads, people have settled in this rich land to take advantage of the relatively flat landscape, ready water, and ease of travel. It's a Toyland for archaeologists and a marvel for tourists.
   
Six to seven thousand years ago, a late Neolithic people, which historians call Banpo, built a stable village. Over the next 3,000 years the descendants of these people founded new villages, and eventually began to build cities. They used jade, bronze, and copper and increased their skills in agriculture. Then came the first dynasty, or unified government, which they called Xia, from which China gets its name. It lasted from 2200 to 1700 B.C.E, give or take a few years.
  
It was in the next period that the terra-cotta army, in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.E.), was created. Actually, Xi’an is peppered with the enormous tombs of emperors, dukes, generals and other wealthy people who would commence building such sites as soon as they achieved power.
  
In Old Xi’an, Evening Glow of an Imperial City, Jia Pingao, the author, wrote that he lived in Xi’an for 27 years and moved eight times. In each place where he lived he saw historical relics unearthed whenever digging was done for construction—bricks from the Qin Dynasty, and jars, tiles, copper coins and terra-cotta figurines from the Han Dynasty. He goes on to tell how workers cursed the hindrance they caused when excavating the land.
   
  

A China Emperor Chin created

Welcome to Xi-an, site of the Terracotta army

The walled city of Xi-an, one of the few walled
     cities remaining in China

Some of the 8,000 Terracotta army of Emperor Chin

One can cycle around the city on top of the wall

One of the many temples of Xi-an

Genghis Khan stormed the wall in the 13th century

Lighting candles at an old temple

The famous Bell Tower of Xi-an

Young Chinese today

For more about walled cities read the author's
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The first Emperor Chin, or Qin, had begun work on his tomb shortly after becoming king at the age of 13. The work took 39 years and covers 56.25 square kilometers. There are terra-cotta models of 8,000 warriors which took 700,000 workers to complete in which thousands of these workers were buried within the tomb.

The first emperor also managed to build over 6,000 kilomketres of road to rival those of the Roman Empire, over a thousand kilometres of canals for flood control, transportation and irrigation, and consolidated three sections of what would become the Great Wall of China. Just the work on the wall took 10 years and 300,000 soldiers and uncounted numbers of civilians. The Qin dynasty, however, was quickly overthrown following the death of the first emperor.
   
Then came the Han dynasty. The first Han (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) emperors built upon the foundations of the Qin and expanded their territory enormously. Unlike the Qin, they allowed the cultures of the new territories to remain intact and encouraged trade and commerce among the various parts of the empire. It was in this period that the Silk Road trade began and Xi’an was the starting point.
  
With a good map, Xi’an is a city in which you can strike out on your own. Get a map that has both Chinese and English writing, one that reveals the names of the streets. You can find your way along Road of Virtue and come to Gate of Training Ground. Nearby you will find Street of Four Mansions, Market of Horse and Mule, Gate of Footstep, and Alley of Horse Farm. They are ancient names and probably originated in the Han and Tang Dynasties.
  
Although Xi’an is not a direct flight on Thai Airways, Royal Orchid Holidays (ROH21) does offer tours there via Beijing or Shanghai. Those who join a ROH tour do have some free time and an excellent way to see the city is by open trishaw. I hired a motorized trishaw and had the driver first take me around the wall outside the city. It’s an impressive drive, with varying views of the wall. There’s a moat and in places the trees are dense and there is much greenery. Through the trees, you can see the crenellated wall with towers and open embrasures. You can’t help wondering, as you drive slowly along, about the terra-cotta army of warriors you fist saw when you arrived. You can picture these soldiers now, defending and protecting this great walled city.
   
You soon realize it would take a day or two to walk around the wall. Only one section of the wall is missing and that is to the northeast at the railway station. With a trishaw you can stop often and in the morning light get some fine photographs. In the afternoon I had my driver take me along the inside of the wall. It’s an entirely different show.
    
The most interesting area, I discovered, was at the South Gate. After entering the gate we followed east along the wall, and found ourselves in old China. In any direction I looked there were temples or gates. One street may have sold only jade and another cotton goods. An alley dealt in brassware and the next in paper ware. Some were lined with teashops and others with dining cubicles the size of postage stamps.
   
Each street and alley can be a surprise, a discovery. We came to one alley junction with a sign: Gao Factory Custom Court Yard. Beneath the sign it said FREE ENTRY I left my trishaw driver outside and entered. It was a great discovery. The main courtyard was constructed in the last years of the Qin Dynasty. There were three courtyards in all and six halls divided into 57 rooms. They were typical style of North China Ming Dynasty architecture. There were several private residences, one sponsored by the Qin Traditional Chinese Painting Institute. It was open for visitors.
   
There’s one other way to see the wall which I didn’t discover until my last day in Xi’an, and that is by bicycle. I don’t mean through the streets, although that’s not a bad way either. No, this is to bike along the top of the wall. At the South Gate you can take the stairs to the top and there rent bicycles, including tandem bikes.
   
There are several sites in town you shouldn’t miss. Topping the list is the Bell Tower, right in the centre of town. It’s a reminder of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and a great place to orientate yourself. Built in 1384 AD, it stands 36 metres high. There are two viewing levels and on the top is a museum of Chinese calligraphy with some pieces dating back to the 1600s. At the second level is a huge Ming drum that weighs 6.6 tonnes. For 5 yuan you can strike the bell and get one of three wishes—happiness, health, or long life. Pay more and you can have all three wishes.
  
The view from the top level takes in four main avenues, North, East, South and West roads. At the end of each, shimmering in the distance, a gate appears. To the West is the Kaiyuan Shopping Mall, Xi’an’s most fashionable section. Here you find all the major banks, shops, clothing shops and department stores. You can reach the Bell Tower by an underpass.
   
Also not to be missed is the Great Mosque. As inscribed in stone, its claim is to be the oldest mosque in China. It’s located in the Hua Jue Lane northwest of the Drum Tower. Construction on the mosque started during the Tang Dynasty in 742 AD.
   
The mosque doesn’t appear to be Moslem. It’s Chinese in style and architecture, and not until you arrive at the last hall can you tell that it is Moslem. It’s the prayer hall and there are rugs on the floor inside, but it’s closed to the public.
  
What makes Xi’an interesting is that historically we skip over a few centuries and many name changes from the early Qin to the Ming dynasty. It was this last dynasty that refurbished the city and returned it to prominence as a center of politics and trade. The Ming emperors rebuilt the walls and many of the temples and towers. Xi’an today has a thriving tourist business, hosts archaeologists from every corner of the globe, and it also is building a diversified economy. There are several major universities in Xi’an as well as art and trade schools. These schools provide the educational base on which the economy is being built.
   
There’s also the terra-cotta army, and what is a Chinese city without a wall? Xi’an has both.

Next week we will vitit the Hutongs of Beijing, the back alleys that are rapidly disappearing.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Q. Dear Mr. Stephens. I read a travel editorial in a major newspaper that “exotic, uncrowded destinations are experiencing a strong comeback after a post-Sept. 11 slump.” Then the editorial mentioned such places as Antarctica, the Argentine Patagonia and the Galapagos. That’s a long way to travel just to say you have been there. Does Thailand have anything like this to offer? Does ROH have such tours? Jack Stephenson, North Carolina, USA.

A. Dear Jack, Your letter reminds me of something I read in a Joseph Conrad novel, that some people travel just to have gummed label stuck on to their luggage. On the positive side, Thailand has all the adventure one can imagine. –HS

Harold Stephens
Bangkok
e-mail: ROH Weekly Travel

Note: The article is the personal view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the view of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited.

Next week we take a look at the Hutongs of Beijing
    that are rapidly disappearing

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