= Xi´an

You have probably heard about Xi´an and the terracotta army. Xi´an is actually much more than that. Today there are more than 3 million people in the city so it is not that very large but it has a long and interesting history behind it. Xi´an was the united Chinas first capital and have been the capital for many periods after that. The first name of the city was Changán ( Eternal peace). Xi'an means western peace.  The golden times of the city was probably between  1000 B.C. to 1000 A.D. Xi'an was the final destination for Europe´s merchants when they traveled on the Silk road.  They considered the city to be unbelievable rich and the size to be enormous with its 1 million people700. B.C, it was probably the worlds largest at that time. Unfortunately modern city planning haven´t been too kind to the old parts of the city. What makes the city worth visiting is of course the terracotta army. 1200 B.C. China consisted of 6 independent kingdoms or states. In one of those states, the Qin, was a 13 years old boy emperor. His state managed to conquer all the other cities, one after the other. Such a military achievement must be remembered and short after had ascended the throne they started to build his mausoleum. Up to  700.000 men worked for 36 years with it.  When you bury an emperor you hide the entrance to the tomb very well. What you can see on the surface is only decorations. The tomb can be far away from it. Usually connected with tunnels. In 1974 some of the tunnels was found in Xi´an. A couple of farmers who were digging a deeper well to access water found the first terracotta soldiers. They think that they have to continue the excavation for 50 years until everything is done. The size of it is 56 square kilometers! They have still not opened the real tomb. Then know where it is but think that it is better to wait until the science have better equipment to preserve the findings. According to very trustworthy sources the tomb is very special and very rich. It is like an Indiana Jones movie. It is said that the emperors coffin is standing on a platform of copper and that it beneath it is a river of mercury. There is a map of China in the room, made with valuable stones and gems. Everyone working with the tomb was killed after completing the work to prevent them to tell anyone about it. Everyone entering the tomb will be killed by all the traps build in to it like hidden crossbows etc. So far they have discovered 6000 soldiers from the terracotta army. Every soldier have individual features so they believe they are all made from real model. They have been painted and been equipped  eith real weapons. So far they have found more than 10000 weapons. They have also found carriages, horses etc. Besides the terracotta army there are a lot of other things to look at in Xi´an e.g.  gardens, temples etc. Since Xi´an have been the capitol of China for so long time it is full of interesting historical sites. Back