Terracotta Warriors

"China is a nation whose soul is firmly rooted two thousand years in the past" ~ M. Butterfly

In preparation for our upcoming trip to China, I felt it was important to learn a bit about the country.  I have come to the conclusion that I know absolutely NOTHING about this country other than I like it's food, I make my children learn it's language, almost everything I own is made there, and that I share this tiny island with a whole lot of people who are from there.

What do I really know?  I know it is big.  I know it has 20% of the world's population. I know they have a really big wall.  I know they are "taking over the world."  Blah, blah, blah....essentially not much.
But I really & truly do not know anything about the history of China.

"I love talking about nothing.  It's the only thing I know anything about" ~ Oscar Wilde

I guess I have never felt the urge to really want to learn much about it.  Proximity and a "big" trip in the works has forced me to challenge myself to learn what I can.  Additionally, how sad would it be for my girls to take this once in a lifetime trip not knowing anything about it?  So instead of having nothing to share on the topic of China, I decided it was time to get educated.

With 4 weeks to go, I took advantage of visiting a temporary exhibit happening right now at the Asian Civilasations Museum.  The exhibit is from the Terracotta Warriors archaeological site in Xi'an.  These life size statues are a representation of the 8,000+ statues that have so far been uncovered near the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi.  The finding is a very recent one - the first statue was discovered just in 1974.  But my real question was "who is this Qin guy?"

After being sufficiently impressed with the exhibit I decided we needed to learn just who this person is.

It turns out he is the "First Emperor of China."  OK - wow.  There were lots & lots of them right?

"Tens of thousands of bones will become ashes when one general achieves his fame" 

~ ancient Chinese proverb

I discovered there are an incredible amount of documentaries to be found on YouTube.  The girls and I spent a good chunk of this past weekend watching specials produced by The Discovery Channel and National Geographic on the "First Emperor."  We learned a lot.  The Emperor lived over 2,200 years ago.  2,200 years ago...wow.  He was a ruler of a small kingdom who became intent on conquering 6 other kingdoms in the area that is now China.  He united these regions for the first time ever - and he did not do it nicely.  He was utterly brutal.  He was also responsible for constructing the first "great wall" (at the expense of hundreds of thousands lives).  Additionally, he created one common currency and established one written form of the Chinese language.  To date, all Chinese use the same characters, but their spoken dialects are vastly different from one region to the other.  I had no idea this all happened 2,200 years ago!

Emperor Qin also constructed the world's largest tomb (again at the expense of many, many lives...in fact, all who knew the way in & out of the tomb were locked inside to die).  There is an earthen mound equal in size to the Great Pyramid of Egypt.  This is surrounded by "pits" located up to a mile away.  In the pits are "armies" of clay soldiers standing prepared to protect the Emporer's soul in the after world.  What is amazing is that this enormous site has so recently been discovered and what has been unearthed is just the tip of the iceberg.  It is rumored that the actual tomb contains a replica of the lands that Emperor Qin conquered with rivers and lakes of liquid mercury.

1 of the "pits" where the warriors have been excavated

 It is now absolutely fascinating to me!  I do hope that it is excavated in my lifetime....I would love to see it!

As an added piece of humor...this was the bridge I crossed to get to the museum...have to admit I have not seen that many cattle & horses walking the streets of Singapore!

Mustafa Centre 24/7

I have mentioned Mustafas once before (Amazing Race), but this place is so unique that it warrants a post to itself.


Here is brief blurb I found that sums it up pretty well:

"This is one mega-mall that is hard to beat for variety. Apart from cars and real estate, everything else you need for the house or the body may be found here. The choices are simply amazing. And if you don't want to worry about being cheated, Mustafa Centre is a no-brainer.

You probably won't be very impressed by the presentation of the store. Neither is the service anything to crow about. The aisles are pretty narrow. And the goods are piled up so high that you can't look over them. If you are taking kids to Mustafa Centre, just remember that this is the perfect place to play hide-and-seek. So don't lose them - there are 6 levels spread over 2 interconnected buildings."

The Mustafa experience is made more interesting given the location - it is based in the heart of Singapore's Little India.  Little India is one of my favorite neighborhoods, it is the one place you can go in Singapore and truly feel like you are in a foreign country.  While a lot of Singapore is strewn with western shops and high end designer stores, Little India is awfully close to being in India itself (minus the poverty, animals controlling the streets, piles of garbage and incessant honking...but other than that...).  The smells are of strong incense and fresh spices.  The people are clothed in traditional punjabi suits or saris - all in brilliantly vibrant colors. 

To prepare for a trip to Mustafas, you must have a well thought out plan.  Aisles are narrow, shopping carts are small and navigating between the 2 buildings sometimes involves going through the employee check-in station (which getting yourself and a cart through is quite the undertaking!)  Weekends are manic at this place  -  and I don't think you could pay me enough to go there.  And then there is always the question of...how does one person personally schlep all of the bags to your mode of transportation?  If you attempt to go there during the day, or the weekend, you will not find parking easily.  If you do, there is not a traditional parking lot adjacent to the mega store....there is street parking, but not much of it.  From what I have seen on the elevator, there is apparently a parking structure somewhere because there are buttons indicating parking levels.  I have yet to find any entrance off the street to the supposed parking structure.....

There are always taxis, but at Mustafas there does not seem to be a method to the madness.  Normally there is a taxi stand with an organized line.  This place seems to be free for all - and try to beat out 25 Indians all jumping into the street to grab a taxi while wielding 15 bags - can you say FUN???

OK, and while we are on the topic of bags....each area within Mustafas has a register area (not always manned by a human being however).  As your new purchases are put into bags, they are sealed shut with a plastic tie.  I find this hysterical each and every time I shop there!

So I am sure the next question you might have is "why on earth shop there?"  Well, the simple answer is that it is cheap.  Groceries are incredibly expensive in Singapore, so when I have a big shopping run, I have started hitting the Mustafa grocery floor.  I am going to have to break Rose into going there....I think the place terrifies her:)

So here are some rather low quality pics I snapped with my ancient iPhone as I scuttled through the store.... (iPhone 5 is on the top of my Christmas list this year!!)

Hair accessories anyone?

Gold bangles...reminds me of a dollar store

Narrow aisles with towers of "stuff" jumping out at you

Dishes?  This was just one of several walls of them!

Towels and towels and more towels

It is a very fashion forward place...

I don't think you'll find a LV bag in this mess....

Trinkets galore

A little bit of incense smashed in between food...

Speaking of food.....

Dog food?  Nope....rice!

I guess oral hygiene is thankfully important

But with oregano toothpaste?  Yuck!

And just in case you were looking for one of these....

I ended up walking away with about 60% of what was on my list.  Nothing new about that!  One shopping list in Singapore equates to at least 3 grocery stores stops....and people wonder how I fill my days....never ever a dull moment around here!