More pictures

Here are a few more shots worth talking about. One is a large porcelain vase discovered in the tomb when it was unearthed. Now the emperor was buried around 1670 I believe. When he was buried and before the tomb doors were closed, these vases were filled with sesame oil and had a copper tube with a large cotton wick inside. They were set ablaze and meant to be burned through eternity for him. I guess they weren't considering the lack of oxygen to inhibit the flame...When the tomb was opened, once the dark black smoke bellowed out that had been sealed in for hundreds of years, they found this vase 3/4 full of sesame oil.

Also, there are the shoes that were buried with Empress. Notice how small they are. Of course her feet were bound and she lived an existence of pure pain. When examining the shoes you will notice they are pointed at the front. Lotus explained to me how the big toe is left unaltered and the remaining toes are folded under and bound. The point allows for the toe to fit comfortably. Of course, the smaller the feet the more beautiful they were thought to be. These shoes were no more than 6" long!

Also, there is the marble coffin which encased the Emperor's body. There was one for the Empress and one for the house maid that the Emperor slept with once, got pregnant and bore him his first son. Although the Emperor did not favor her ever again, the Empress was happy to have what she considered a grandchild. She and the child were fond of the house maid. Well, I would hope he was, it was his mother. He had her placed in the tomb as a sign of gratitude. Also, the empress was allowed to die a natural death. Usually when the Emperor died they would feed his wife a wonderful meal, let her feast and then hang her. They would put her body in the tomb. He thought it cruel so he let her die a natural death. Big of him considering he still bound her feet!

There is also a marble door. It is huge. It glides shut following a marble hinge and there are two that close together to make an air tight seal. There are three sets of these marble doors on the entrance we came through, and I believe three more sets on the other entrance. I was able to touch behind them (the fronts are covered with glass now), and it was ice cold. Wow, amazing structure.

I think for fun I will also enclose a picture of the toilet at the restaurant. For anyone who has not had the pleasure to use a Chinese squat toilet ~ I don't want you to miss the visual. Now imagine that the floor is also very wet. This is actually a very 'upper scale' model. You can't even imagine some that I have used on this trip. And so you know, NO squat bathroom ever supplies toilet paper. You buy the nice little packages to keep in your purse. If you forget them, well - you get the picture.