Xi'an's ´drum and bell tower

The Xi'an drum tower was built by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty. The 34 m two-storey tower was built without using a single nail!
In China drums were not only used as an alarm in emergency situations, but also to signal the time. Along the north and south side there are 24 drums each one symbolizing a period of the ancient solar calender:


Here a close up:

Not only was there a small museum inside (you can see a stone drum here):

but we were also lucky enough to enjoy some musical performances:

Not far from the drum tower, in the heart of Xi'an, is the bell tower. The bell tower marks the geographical centre of the ancient capital of the Ming dyndasty. Main streets to the East, South, West, and North connect the tower with the four main gates of the city wall. Whereas the drums were beaten at sun set, the bell int the bell tower was struck at dawn. When the Tang dynasty bell fell silent (for whatever reasons that happened - I'm at a loss here and we didn't go to see the old Tang bell in the 'Forest of Stone Stelae Museum' so I just have to believe the story) a new one was cast during the Ming dynasty:

Here, too, a small museum could be found inside the tower and musical performances went on:

Enjoy a video the drums and bells of Xi'an:

Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors

Ok, this entry should have been much earlier. Various things kept me from posting. But now it is high time to show you some pictures of our fantastic holidays in Xi'an and Taiwan.

It was a long flight to Taipei, around 12 h, and of course our booking for vegetarian food was completely mixed up. I ended up with some 'raw food' lunch, i.e. some vegetables and fruits. Well, it was enough to survive, but since it was very cold during the flight I wish I had something warming to eat. In Taipei airport we were greeted by a group of buffaloes:

After a tasteless but nevertheless warming pot of ramen we had to leave again for our flight to Xi'an. A hotel van picked us up and soon all trouble was forgotten. The hotel was beautiful with very attentive staff and free afternoon canapés, yummie.

The next day was a very busy day. We had arranged a tour to the terracotta army museum. This is a picture of the first hall, and also the oldest one:

It is just as impressive as the photo suggests. I will not going into the detail of the funerary statues of the Chinese emperor Quin Shi Huang. You can read about in the wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army) or somewhere else for a short summary or even better read an inexpensive book about it (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Terracotta-Army-John-Man/dp/0553819143/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263256674&sr=8-1).

I'll just give you some pics to lean back and enjoy this mindblowing archaeological site.

Here is a view on a not yet reconstructed part of the army, what a mess. How many restorers does it take to rebuild them all:

On some statues one can still see some traces of colour, although most of the bright colours vanished quickly once the army saw the sun light again:

The famous kneeling archer:

One of the two bronze chariot models which were found in 1980 in two wooden boxes:

After a cup of tea in a nice tea house with our guide (a young woman who had studied history and English at university) we went to see the 'Tang Palace Dance Show' which included a dimsum dinner. Quite touristy, but nevertheless enjoyable. Let us not discuss the Tang dynasty authenticity here.

And here are super yummie vegetarian dumplings or dim sums from the Tang Dynasty Dance and Dinner Show:

An exhausting day, but also a very memorable day. Although I knew what was waiting for me, the terracotta army was just an overwhelming experience. I'm very glad I had the opportunity to see them live at the very site they had been buried more than 2000 years ago. All the exertions of the long flight were forgotten, this one day was worth it already.

But it doesn't stop here, so stay tuned in for more on beautiful Xi'an :)