Cutie Pie from the Great Wall                           
Griffin and a Jade Terra Cotta Warrior

Poor Kinsey
Kristi, this one is for you and Kerri.  The two on the left are the only twins they have found so far.

Today didn't get off to a very good start.  We were doing fine, when Kinsey suddenly started feeling bad.  A few minutes before we arrived at the jade factory, she threw up all over her pants.  Kinsey cried, Chris cleaned, I went in search of some place to buy new pants, and the woman one seat over tried to get off the bus before she puked.  Kinsey felt great a few minutes later, but it did come back a couple more times during the day.  She hasn't thrown up for about 9 hours, and she had some supper, so we are hoping the bug has been given the heave ho (yes, pun intended).  

We did manage to see some of the beautiful jade, and the boys managed to not break any of it while visiting unsupervised.  After that, they took us to a noodle lunch.  They grow a lot of wheat here, so the diet is more wheat based than rice based.  It was very good, and they even made egg drop soup for Kinsey's tummy.  

Next we drove into the country about 1 hour to visit the terra cotta warriors.  I had seen photos in National Geographic, but I didn't know the story.  The first emperor to unite numerous tribes into the Middle Kingdom, now China, had his tomb built while still alive.  He wanted to maintain control in the next world, so he had about 8,000 warriors and horses made to go with him.  Soon after his death, there was a peasant uprising.  They broke into the tombs to steal the weapons, which were real, and burned the mausoleum.  In the 1970's, a farmer digging a well came up with part of a warrior, and archeologists went to work.  There are only about 2,000 soldiers uncovered now.  They are waiting on more techniques to be developed before bringing out the rest.  I had just assumed it was the same few casts over and over, but each was modeled after real people, so the detail is incredible.  You can even tell the age of the horses by how many teeth they had.  Seeing them in the ground where the remains were found was pretty amazing.

We frantically packed again, before and after, seeing a dinner show.  Everything going in the belly of the plane had to be out by 11:00 p.m., which included my card reader, so I'll send more photos tomorrow night from Chengdu.  

I'm losing track of days, so Jamie, if it's today, Happy Birthday!!  If I'm off, please still have a great day!!!  Sarah, so glad the surgery went well.  I can't wait to see the results!  Thanks everyone who is sending comments.  It helps us feel a little less like we are on the other side of the planet. : )