Day 8 and 9, May 15 & 16, Flight to Wuhan and Road trip to Jingzhou

Today was another travel day.  We left the hotel in Xian and toured a jade factory before heading to the airport to fly to Wuhan.   Wuhan  ( pop 10 million.) sits on the forks of the Yangtze and Han Rivers.  Because it is a transportation hub it is called the " Chicago" of China. That evening  we walked into the city streets to soak in some local culture and also to buy some wine for our cruise.

Early the next morning we drove through some very pastoral countryside to the city of Jingzhou.  For 3 hours we passed many types of farms including oyster farms, eel farms, lotus farms ( the roots are delicious) and of course fields of rice.  China is changing and that was very well illustrated when we saw a farmer in the water with his oxen ploughing his rice field right next to the construction of a high speed rail line.  With only 6% of the world's fresh water and 9% of the arable land China feeds 21% of the world's population.

Jingzhou is an ancient city that dates back over 2500 years.  It was the capital of Chu state which dominated southern China from 770 - 221 BCE.

The museum includes the tomb of a mid level bureaucrat who died in 224 BCE with his mummified body still in excellent condition.  He was 60 years old and still had all of his own teeth.  The museum also included fabulous lacquerware and original silk from as far back as 770 BCE.

From the museum we went to the old wall that surrounds the inner city.    It was built to protect the city from its neighbours who were all at war with each other.

The 5 bronze statues below depict  all of the loyal generals who were in charge of safeguarding the state.

Warriors were everywhere.

Donna