I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our home in the farmer’s village has wifi. They said it is one of the few but still a pretty amazing sign of the times. Our hostess and daughter are extremely nice and prepared a wonderful dinner for us. I was able to watch her cook most of the meal in what most of us would call a tiny kitchen using primarily her woks. For us spoiled Americans, our lodging would be considered interesting. For example, they have a western style toilet versus the traditional squat potty historically used in China. However, the system doesn’t do well with any paper being flushed. Therefore, all paper used goes in a trash can beside the toilet. Good times with seven people sharing one bathroom. But, we have wifi!

Our day started with a trip to the terra cotta warrior museum. It was quite amazing! The site is the mausoleum for China’s first emperor named Qin Shi Huang. He was the first to unify China in 221BC. He is also responsible for starting the construction of the Great Wall. At the mausoleum, there is an estimated 10k terra cotta warriors. They are spread among five pits of which three are open to the public. Each warrior was unique with different facial features. The detail in their armor and dress was stunning. Pit 1 houses over 6000 of the soldiers and was impressive to say the least. They were made and buried with the Emperor in order to protect him in the after-life. You can tell the rank of each warrior by their hairstyle. It was truly a surreal experience and only second to the Great Wall in our trip thus far. A am sure Qin Shi Huang would be pleased knowing is still having a great impact of Chinese life some 2000 years later.

Later in the afternoon, we were able to visit a local school. The girls were able to get a glimpse of how kids in rural China gain an education. There were almost forty kids in the class with one teacher. The kids were around 7yrs old and very cute. We did not get to stay as long as hoped due to the school closing a little earlier than expected. I believe this afternoon and evening was a good dose of reality for all of us though. It should make us more appreciative for what we have and at the same time remind us not to make material items too important. We have spent our afternoon in the village greeted by a chorus of smiling faces. All of the conveniences we have aren’t needed for a happy life. However, it sure was nice to have wifi!

Having trouble with uploading pictures tonight. Here is one of Ansley though after the girls learned to make dumplings. In classic Ansley mode, she made one in the shape of a heart for her mom.