[Leica] Xi'an

[Douglas Barry]

I like Shopper, but then again you probably guessed that :-)

You're improving my knowledge of China. X'ian looks fascinating and has well 
over eight million people living in it - twice the population of Ireland!

Douglas

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jayanand Govindaraj" <jayanand at gmail.com>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>; "PSM" 
<psm-1857 at googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2014 1:35 PM
Subject: [Leica] Xi'an


> The next stop was Xi'an, the home of the Terracotta Army. The Army was
> buried to protect the founder of the first dynasty in China. Emperor Qin
> (of the Qin Dynasty), near his burial mound, from enemies he might
> encounter in his afterlife around 210 BC. The figures are 10-15% larger
> than life size, as befits a ghost's army, and the detail on their bodies 
> is
> quite amazing. In due course, everybody forgot about it, until a farmer,
> digging a well under his lands in 1974, stumbled upon it. The walls had
> fallen on the army, grave robbers had stolen the weaponry, and flooding 
> had
> ruined the figures as well, leading to a painstaking and gargantuan
> reconstruction task. There is enough still hidden here to keep
> archeologists busy for a century more, I think - there are supposed to be
> 60 pits around, full of the emperors help for the hereafter, and only 4-5
> have been dug up, fully or partially. The Emperor's necropolis has not 
> been
> opened as yet for fear of what oxidation would do to the things inside. 
> The
> Terracotta Army is very well documented, so here are a few shots from the
> three pits open to the public, giving an idea of what is there:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-1854.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-1954.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-1884.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-1966.jpg.html
>
> The museum and grounds are wonderfully laid out and maintained for both
> maximum safety for the contents, as well as ease of viewing for the hordes
> who pass by every year:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-1992.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2023.jpg.html
>
> Xi'an, surprisingly has a big Muslim population, and is home to The Great
> Mosque and its lovely green grounds. Luckily, on the day we went, there 
> was
> a funeral service going on someone important in the community, so there
> were quite a few people around.:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2580.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2062.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2596.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2050.jpg.html
>
> Surrounding the mosque was an enchanting covered market, selling, as most
> such markets do, utterly flimsy, cheap and useless stuff:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2617.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2622.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2635.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2565.jpg.html
>
> Everybody was zipping around the bazaar in electric vehicles, either bikes
> or tuk-tuks:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2657.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2077.jpg.html
>
> Finally, people shots to end the first day in Xian:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2063.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2067.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2028.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/China/China-20141017-2098.jpg.html
>
> Please see LARGE
>
> Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome.
>
> Cheers
> Jayanand
>
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