Xian: Megalomania, Mutton Soup, The Father of Serendipity

Xian used to be Changan, the capital of China spanning over 13 dynasties. It is also located at the eastern terminus of the silk road. The Lantian man was discovered here and Xuanzang (spelt and pronounced differently each time I encounter his name!) the Buddhist monk, scholar and itinerant traveler returned to Xian to establish a Sanskrit translation center after two decades of studying Buddhist scriptures at Nalanda University in India. However, this 3000 year old place has become synonymous with the Terracotta Warriors.

We visit the site of the terracotta warriors on our first day here. I have never seen anything like this. The Emperor Qun Shi Huangdi ordered over 700,000 of his craftsman to build 8000 + life-sized replicas of his army. These warriors were buried with him in his tomb. Our guide tells us that Emperor Qin feared death so much that he wanted his army to protect him in the afterlife! His tomb is also said to have “flowing mercury,” pearls and lots of gems. What megalomania!

As we walk through what remains of this necropolis, we suddenly spot an old man behind a table signing books. A crowd gathers around him. Overcome by curiosity we walk towards the table only to learn that the old man is the farmer who discovered the warriors in 1974. Our guide tells us that it is an uncommon sight and so we buy books and get them autographed by him. He signs my book and smiles deferentially. I realize that this man in front of me is the father of serendipitous discoveries. Imagine farming and chancing upon thousands of terracotta warriors built by a powerful Chinese emperor before the birth of Christ!

Awe-struck and dumbfounded, we leave the site and spend the rest of the day in the Muslim quarter where we eat mutton soup (a famous Xian dish) and then end up, for better or worse, in a massive night club where Chinese policemen patrol the sides of the dance floor watchfully as Chinese men and women dance with semi-reckless abandonment.