March 22nd- X'ian

   Aside from being the original capital of China and site of the 6,000 year old Banpo Village,  X'ian boasts the most unexpectedly important archeological find in recent history. In 1974 a rural farmer, digging a surface well, unearthed a piece of pottery which led to the discovery of thousands of terracotta figures, soldiers, generals, archers, and chariots that were crafted to stand by to guard the tomb of the Emperor in 221 B.C. This was a truly remarkable find and the work so pains-taking and patient and the magnitude of the project  so labor intense, it makes one wonder of the society that would support this amount of human sacrifice for one man's worry of the afterlife....but the figures speak for themselves..........