June 4, 2025 - Wednesday - We were in Santa Ana, CA today to visit the Bowers Museum. We were very anxious to see their latest exhibit called "World of the Terracotta Warriors: New Archaeological Discoveries in Shaanxi in the 21st Century." Archaeological finds in Shaanxi within the past two decades have revealed new information about pre-dynastic China’s political landscape and artistic achievements. Plus we wanted to see more Terracotta Warriors!
This sculpture, recently unearthed, is about 4,000 years old. It shows two horses facing a bull.
This is the main room displaying the warriors. They are about 2,000 years old. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army hold more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remain in situ in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.
This is how a typical warrior was originally painted.
The exhibit was very interesting, although it lacked the grandeur of the first exhibit that we saw in 2011. Unfortunately, the Chinese haven't figured out how to preserve the paint on the warriors after they are unearthed. A friend of mine who traveled to the original site in China told me that at some point they stopped unearthing any more warriors until they could figure out how to preserve the paint, but I guess they still don't know.
Before the exhibit, we had brunch at Norm's, which is always a treat.
Judy had their classic eggs benedict that were delicious.
I had their steak and eggs that were good, except the porterhouse was a little thin.
