After dinner, we made our way up to Bell Tower, bell tower is the centre of Xian City.
Admission Fee: CNY 35 for the Bell Tower only and CNY 35 for the Drum Tower only;
CNY 50 for the joint ticket of Bell and Drum Tower
Opening Hours: April 1 to October 25: 8:30 - 21:30
October 26 to next March 31: 8:30 - 18:00
Once we made our way up, we saw so many swallows flying around the roof, was an amazing sight.
The Bell Tower, is a stately traditional building, that marks the geographical center of the ancient capital. From this important landmark extend East, South, West and North Streets, connecting the Tower to the East, South, West and North Gates of the City Wall of the Ming Dynasty.
The wooden tower, which is the largest and best-preserved of its kind in China, is 36 meters (118 feet) high. It stands on a brick base 35.5 meters (116.4 feet) long and 8.6 meters (28.2 feet) high on each side. During the Ming Dynasty, Xian was an important military town in Northwest China, a fact that is reflected in the size and historic significance.
The tower was built in 1384 by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang as a way to dominate the surrounding countryside and provide early warning of attack by rival rulers.
Read more from travelchinaguide.
Inside the bell tower, was a small museum showcasing ancient embriodery and statues.
From the highest level of bell tower, we could walked round the tower and view the city from North, South, East and West. The night view of the city was so beautiful.
From far, drum tower could be seen and was beautifully lighted. We did not climbed up drum tower.
We stayed till the closing hours, were the few tourists left till they closed the gate.
Video of view from top of Bell Tower Xian China
Dinner was at next building to our hotel, the wifi in our hotel was so terrible(took few hours just to send some what apps messages), need find free wifi to get in touch with my family. In china, we cant use facebook,google, you tube, etc - banned in china but what apps is available.
Saw this Hongkong Restaurant called Biaoge (translated as "elder male cousin"), they provided free wifi and the menu looked good and resonable price.
I think the restaurant is on the fourth floor, but the buttons in the lift looked funny. Hahaha Buttons "-1" and "-2" sounds eerie, like going to another world lol.
I what apps this photo of the restaurant to my family back home, they were surprised the restaurant looked so chic and stylish. They thought Xian, China is so backward lol.
Sweet and Sour Pork (hubby's favourite)
Stir fry beef with vegetables and ginger
Fu yong omelette
After finishing visits to all three pits, we made our way to the museum, nothing much to see in the museum.
Instead I love taking photos of all the roses and carnations there.
Many world leaders visited the terracotta museum, including Singapore ex prime minister Lee Kuan Yew who passed away last year.
We exited the museum and found we did not exit the same place where we enter but a small shopping village. Just follow the crowd walked all the way straight out and we found the KFC fast food restaurant.
From KFC fast food restaurant, we walked back to the car park and to the exact same spot where we alighted from the bus.
Board tourist bus 5 (also known as bus 306) back to Xian Railway Station for a fare of CNY7.
After about one hour, we arrived back at Xian Railway Station, we shopped a little in the vicinity and bought some apricots and grapes but they tasted not very sweet.
Pit No.2 is the most spectacular of the three pits. Compared to Pit No.1, the combat formations in Pit No.2 are more complex, and the units of armed forces are more complete. According to preliminary calculations, there are over 80 war chariots, about 1,300 terra cotta warriors and horses, and thousands of bronze weapons. It is a revelation to first discover the terra cotta general, the kneeling archer and the warrior with saddle horse in the pit. There are two sloping entrances on the northern side, and four on both ends of the eastern and western sides. Read more from travelchinaguide.
Experts have pointed out that Pit 3 is the command center or headquarters for all the groups in the other two pits. The unearthed artifacts include 68 terracotta warriors, four horses and one chariot all arranged in a layout that is quite unique.
Many of the Qin Terracotta Warriors unearthed in the Pit 3 do not have heads. It is believed that these warriors did have heads when they were originally produced. Archaeologists specul ated that at some point vandals broke into this pit and deliberately destroyed the warriors. During the archaeological excavation, a villager revealed that he dig out half of a warrior's head in the southern wall of what is now the Qin Terracotta Warriors Museum. He returned the head and archaeologists searched across the various body pieces for a match. Finally, they matched it to a warrior body discovered in the Pit 3. This is one example of how many of the heads have been lost outside of the pit.
Although Pit 3 is smaller than both Pit 1 and Pit 2, archaeologists spent all of 1977 finishing the excavation of this pit. Because its contents were not burned like those in the other pits, the terracotta warriors unearthed in this pit are more splendid than those found in the other two.
Read more from travelchinaguide.
Video of Pit 2
Video of Pit 3
Once we made our way up, we saw so many swallows flying around the roof, was an amazing sight.
The Bell Tower, is a stately traditional building, that marks the geographical center of the ancient capital. From this important landmark extend East, South, West and North Streets, connecting the Tower to the East, South, West and North Gates of the City Wall of the Ming Dynasty.
The wooden tower, which is the largest and best-preserved of its kind in China, is 36 meters (118 feet) high. It stands on a brick base 35.5 meters (116.4 feet) long and 8.6 meters (28.2 feet) high on each side. During the Ming Dynasty, Xian was an important military town in Northwest China, a fact that is reflected in the size and historic significance.
The tower was built in 1384 by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang as a way to dominate the surrounding countryside and provide early warning of attack by rival rulers.
Read more from travelchinaguide.
Inside the bell tower, was a small museum showcasing ancient embriodery and statues.
From the highest level of bell tower, we could walked round the tower and view the city from North, South, East and West. The night view of the city was so beautiful.
From far, drum tower could be seen and was beautifully lighted. We did not climbed up drum tower.
We stayed till the closing hours, were the few tourists left till they closed the gate.
Video of view from top of Bell Tower Xian China
