| Tang
Dynasty Village
is a theme park that recreates the seventh century Chinese village
of Chang 'An, the present day Xian. For Anne there were two attractions
that lured her to Tang Dynasty Village. First it was surrounded by
a life size replica of the Great Wall of China, something Anne and
I have always wanted to see but haven't yet. And, second, there are
over 2,000 of the terra-cotta warriors statues that were discovered
underground in China back in the 1920's. She wanted to see them and
this was as good as it gets without actually going to where they were
discovered. |
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Entrance
to Tang Dynasty City and its Great Wall of China |
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| Entering
the complex the first thing is to climb the replica of the Great Wall
and look at the village from above. Atop the wall you get some idea
as to the layout and size of Tang Dynasty City. For a tourist theme
park (trap!) I have to admit it was well done. Sit back and enjoy
some pictures from Tang Dynasty City. |
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The
village as seen from the Great Wall |
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Anne
hugging the leg of
a Ming Lion decorated for
the Chinese New Year |
Standing
in the corner
below a beautifully decorated
Chinese lantern |
Pond
at the center of the
village complete with boat
and fisherman |
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Me
sitting in front of
a Ming Dog statue |
An
interesting roof pattern
seen from an adjacent roof |
Stone
sculpture above
a doorway |
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| Anne
(picture below) putting into practice her alternate cooling down method
... when an air-conditioned room isn't available, an ice cold water
bottle to the forehead is a good substitute. Singapore being just
a few degrees shy of the Equator is hot but not intolerable by any
means. While we were there it was in the 80's and low 90's. Not bad
for January and certainly better than the 20's and 30's I knew they
were having at home! |
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An
elaborately carved piece
of ivory
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Anne
sitting on the be in
the Inn of 1,000 Happiness
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Anne
cooling off |
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The
terra-cotta soldiers with two horse figures
The
army of terra-cotta soldiers standing
poised for battle
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In
the Spring of 1974 peasants and workers of the Yen Tsa commune in
Lin-t'ung county discovered an underground army of terra-cotta soldiers
and horses believed to have been buried for over 2,200 years. Ch'in
Shih Huang Ti, the first emperor and builder of China's Great Wall,
was buried in 210 B.C. under an earth mound 15 stories high called
Mount Li. While the site was known in had not yet been excavated when
well diggers accidentally stumbled upon a large subterranean vault,
part of the grave complex. This vault contained over 6,000 life-size
pottery men and horses, an army of warriors, servants, and horses
pulling manned war chariots. Amazingly lifelike, the terra-cotta army
was for the most part intact and standing poised for the command to
attack.
The detail embodied in each of the statues added a lifelike appearance
to them. The horses forelocks were curled and their tails knotted.
They pulled wooden chariots with leather harnesses and brass fittings.
The soldiers carried real bronze swords, spears and crossbows. In
some cases their hair was braided. The detail of these terra-cotta
soldiers, buried for 2,200 years, was astonishing.
Anne, having followed the discovery of the terra-cotta army through
the pages of National Geographic, was ecstatic that Tang Dynasty City
had a collection of over 2,000 of the terra-cotta figures on display.
Visiting Tang Dynasty City then became a "must" for us. |
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Anne
standing next to one of
the life-size terra-cotta soldiers |
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By
all accounts it was thrilling viewing these ancient statues. A complete
surprise to Anne and I that we didn't expect. We had no idea that
such a place existed in Singapore until we arrived and began to
collect the various tour flyers at the hotel.
It's
amazing what this world has to offer in terms of its history, and
Anne and I have been fortunate to see much of it first hand. While
these were replicas we imagined one day having the opportunity to
visit the actual site near Xi'an, China and see the authentic terra-cotta
warriors up close.
As
you might expect, leaving Tang Dynasty Village I ran into a couple
of old friends from Egypt ... some camels. Anne and I had the pleasure
of riding camels to the base of the Cheops pyramid in Giza, Egypt
back in 1984 and seeing this guy brought back some fond memories.
Camels, as you may know, have a habit of spitting. This one, thank
goodness, was nice and friendly and didn't spit. Had he I would
have been a very unhappy tourist the rest of the day!
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Continue
to the next page to see more pictures of animals at the Singapore
Zoo ... |
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