Terracotta Warriors

Our day trip to Emperor Qinshihuangs Mausoleum Site Museum started off like any other trip we’ve had.  We looked up on Trip Advisor the best route to get to the Museum.  A public bus from the Xi’an North Railway station would suffice plus be the most inexpensive.  We arrived early enough and began to look around for the bus.  We even asked a few military personnel and a customer service representative.  They pointed to the south end of the station.  Upon arrival to the south end there was a bus with pretty photos of the Warriors on it.  We approached the booth and attempted to get tickets to our destination.  The agent did not speak English and after attempting conversation via sign language we decided for another plan.  As we began to walk away, he yelled at us, handed us a cell phone and motioned for us to talk with the person on the phone.  The person on the other end did speak English however it was quite difficult to understand with their strong accent and the poor connection.  The only thing we really understood was “Just get on the bus.”  So, we did.

As the bus began its journey we both looked at each other asking “Are we on the right bus?”  We didn’t realize until we arrived at the Museum that this was some sort of tour bus and they brought us to the museum without cost.  I’m not exactly sure whether we were to pay when we got there or not but we didn’t pay.  However, this was going to leave a huge issue finding the correct public bus back to Xi’an.

The entrance area is massive with multiple ticket windows (about 20 or so).  The Cue was about 45 minutes.  Again, don’t forget to bring your passports because you will not be able to get in without it.

Tickets in hand we tried to beat the crowds.  This would not happen.

The trek from the main entrance to the actual buildings / burial site is quite substantial.  Multiple entrance gates late we arrived choosing our first building to enter.  It is the main excavation site.  My initial observation is the building is HUGE.  My second observation was “We went on the wrong day.”  There were so many people there you literally got pushed and had to push your way anywhere just to see the warriors.

Fast forward, we went into the other buildings which included history and more artifacts.  However the amount of people at the museum that day was unbelievable.  So i’ll let the photo’s do the talking for a bit.

Again, not sure we exited correctly however the exit we took wound us through a very long outdoor “Mall” where you can buy anything from street food to souvenirs.  I’m pretty sure we spent a good 15+ minutes winding our way through this maze.

Our struggle to find the bus back to Xi’an was actually easier than thought.  We made our way to the main entrance and then just walked East along the road looking for something that appeared to be familiar.  A white bus with green stripes.  Just 1/2 a block into our walk we found a line of familiar buses.  Again our best resource were other foreigners visiting.  A simple asking if this was the bus back to Xi’an confirmed we found the correct bus.  Except this time we had to pay and trip was twice as long as it made stops every 100 ft or so.