China has seven different lan- In 1974, three farmers digging
guages and 80 dialects, with Manda- a well unearthed the head of a life-
rin the most widely spoken language. size fi gure, and excavations began.
Although all seven languages use the For more than 2,000 years, Emper-
same written characters (40,000 of or Qin’s body has rested in a hill-
them) it was far too intimidating for top tomb nearby, which has yet
me to learn more. to be excavated.
The next day we fl ew to Xian,
the site of what is no doubt China’s Viking’s Century Sun
greatest archaeological treasure. The next day we transferred to
Chongqing, the gateway for down-
The terra-cotta army stream Yangtze River cruises.
“Oh, my! I can’t believe I’m really Chongqing was the capital during
here.” The voice came from behind World War II (and known then as
cement underpasses. Swing dancing. me as I, too, stared in wonder at Chungking) when the American
American swing dancing, I thought, the terra-cotta army spread before Volunteer Air Group, the “Flying
both pleased and amused. “For ex- me in the massive covered pavilion. Tigers,” were based here. As an ex-
ercise,” Fred commented. “Tai chi is Around me, hundreds of Chinese Navy carrier pilot, I offer this bit of
still popular, but the American dance people crowded the walkways, aviation trivia: The Tigers shot down
is more fun.” pointing at the imperial guard, a confi rmed 199 Japanese planes,
On our way there, Fred told us which was built on orders of Qin Shi with another 153 probable kills. They
the Great Wall, or Chang Cheng, was Huang, the fi rst emperor of the Qin did this while losing only four pilots
begun in 221 B.C. by the Qin Dynasty Dynasty. He mandated the construc- and 12 P-40s in air combat.
emperor to protect the northern At Chongqing, we boarded Vi-
frontier, a total of 6,200 miles. “Mil-
lions of people died, mostly farmers,
Shanghai began
king’s Century Sun and began our
during its 800 years of construction,”
as a fi shing village
nine-night cruise on the Yangtze
River. Although our trip, “China’s
he said. “The wall snakes and winds 5,000 years ago Cultural Delights” took a total of 15
because Chinese mythology says that
and now is a cos-
days, other Viking trips are avail-
demons and evil spirits only go in
mopolitan city of
able for nine or 10 days. The newly
a straight line.” He also told us that
the guard towers were built just far
more than 20 mil-
constructed ship can hold as many
enough apart to cover the distance
lion. It has more
as 306 passengers.
Meals were served at one sitting
of an arrow’s fl ight.
construction proj-
and attended to by cheerful young
Arriving at the Great Wall, we
ects than anywhere
Chinese men and women. The
began to trek upward. The climb was
steep, the rocks rough, and the heat
in the world ... .
women had names like CoCo and
Kiki, the men, Leo and James —
hovered near 100 degrees. I made it names selected from a list provided
to the third tower, where an odious, by the ship.
two-humped camel awaited to have tion of more than 7,000 life-size ter- I had noted the Viking bus tour
his picture taken for a fee. ra-cotta soldiers in battle array, each guides had English names like Con-
Breathing deeply as I groped and believed to wear the face of an actual nie and Max, so I asked Fred how he
stumbled back down, drenched in soldier — all this to protect him in decided on his name. “My English
sweat, I noticed a Chinese woman the afterlife. Terrifi ed of death, Qin name means peace and comfort,” he
climbing upward, smoking a cigarette, began this feat in 246 B.C., when he replied with a smile. “My real name
as relaxed if she were taking a walk was only 13 years old. He died when is Wang Yipping. I am married and
in a cool park. Using one of the few he was only 49, and his army stoi- have a 20-year-old son.”
Chinese phrases I had learned, I said, cally remained with him until dis- I had read that the government’s
“Zao shang hao,” good morning. covered in the 20th century. “one-child” policy, ordered in the
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R 1 0 3
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