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I went to Xi'an with one purpose only. I wanted to see the Terracotta Army ordered by the First Emperor of China, who united the country and initiated the construction of the Great Wall of China, and gave the start to the Quin Dynasty. So, I did not expect much from Xi'an as a city, despite its status of a former ancient capital. In fact, little if anything remain from the times of China unification, and the city offers few impressive sights. And yet what remains is very impressive indeed.
The sheer size of the wall surrounding the core of the city was overwhelming. It took me 45 minutes to briskly walk the length of one of its four sides. It would probably take about 3.5 hours to circumnavigate the Xi'an's core, without stopping for visits at the massive gates.
I actually thought I would be more impressed with the Army. Reports said that there were thousands of warriers uncovered but one can only see a couple of hundreds or so. The site is massive and so over the top with so much space between the parking lot, the ticket office, and two ticket entry points, that after walking all that distance, I expected equally impressive Army. I think the authorities made a mistake.
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