By SUSAN TRIMBLE

Another excavation, another tomb!

Xuzhou is located in northern Jiangsu Province and was called Pengcheng in ancient times. With a history of 4,000 years, Xuzhou has much to offer the history buff. The first Han Dynasty (208BC to AD 25) emperor Liu Bang was born in Xuzhou. Descendants of Liu Bang ruled several kingdoms in the area for four centuries, and it is the many excavated tombs of these kings for which Xuzhou is known. Xuzhou is the heart of the Han Dynasty.

Arriving in Xuzhou by train during late evening was not a lot of fun. The area around the train station was very busy with rather doubtful characters looking for a way to earn some quick cash. Inquiries about a hotel nearby were met with ridiculous answers such as "the nearest hotel is 40 minutes away." I know that there is always a hotel near the train station in every city and town in China. I steeled myself and set out across the street to survey the area,.not an easy task as the square in front of the station was under major construction, wet and muddy, and full of people huddled for the nights. I spotted a hotel to the south and headed that way as fast as possible. I was hungry, tired and not feeling very welcomed to Xuzhou.

Lion Hill -- awesome entrance to the tomb of Liu Wu.

The hotel doorman changed all that. Quickly opening the door for me, he took my bag and ushered me into a bright lobby. "You shouldn't be out so late at night by yourself." I booked a room and asked where I could find some food in the hotel...what an absurd question at 9:45 at night. Well, no matter, I'll ask that nice doorman where there is an open restaurant or at least a small shop. With a shocked expression, the doorman told me there was no safe place to eat less than a taxi ride away, and I really shouldn't use the taxi at night by myself. Great options...but once again, that doorman came to the rescue. Before I knew it, the night manager was climbing into a taxi with me in tow...off for a late dinner we went!

Over a steaming bowl of noodles, the night manager told me about his hometown Xuzhou...how it was economically poor but rich in history, how the people in Xuzhou have always had to hustle to earn a living. The city is a major transportation hub for travelers from the west and the north who are traveling to more prosperous parts of China for work. That explained the seamy looking places of activity around the train station and why the doorman was concerned about the safety of a single female traveler. The Xuzhou people are hardworking and industrious; their opportunities to earn money most often take the form of providing inexpensive meals for itinerant workers whose pockets also are pretty empty. And so "Xuzhouren" earn little more than necessary to keep themselves going.

Anyway, there I was dining with the on-duty night manager in a tiny restaurant about 20 minutes by taxi from the hotel. I figured the doorman was filling in during the manager's absence. What service this was...far beyond any I had ever experienced before! Back to the hotel we went; as I prepared to turn in for the night, I discovered that I could not turn out my overhead light! I tried everything and finally called housekeeping...a serviceman came and turned the room into an electrical repair shop confident that the problem would be fixed in an hour! Forty-five minutes later I found my friend the night manager and asked to change rooms. I was quickly installed in the wedding suite and given three "We're sorry" breakfast chits! After a short but great night's sleep, I had a scrumptious breakfast and then launched myself in search of history.

Jade burial armour.

The Xuzhou Museum is superb! A fantastic collection housed in a modern, clean building; the labeling is excellent, the exhibition design is great. The collection of Han Dynasty tomb figures is outstanding and more representative than in any other museum I have visited. The museum is located near the Yunlong Mountain and Lake in the southern part of Xuzhou. You can easily combine the museum with a visit to the Han Dynasty Gallery of Stone Sculptures housed in a great Tang style complex in the Yunlongshan Park. These sculptures are carved stones, bricks and columns of many sizes that formed the walls and supports of Han tombs. Richly carved ornamentation describes scenes from everyday life during the Han Dynasty and other scenes depict the imaginary world.

The Han Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum is in an eastern suburb at the foot of Shizi Mountain. Small and simple, the museum obviously is lacking in funds for upkeep and improvement. Nevertheless it is marvelous to walk into this low building and outflank two legions warriors of 50 cm in height with highly detailed features. They stand on guard, they draw their bows, they wield their swords, they pose to drive the chariots. The sadness, the fear, the nonchalance, and the mightiness of the Han soldier was finely represented by those sculptors of history. The faces of those terracotta tomb figures are still imprinted in my mind.

Shizishan Hanmu, or Lion Hill Tomb of Liu Wu, is a five-minute walk from the Warriors Museum. En route to the tomb, I passed an ongoing excavation of the area. Another year and another tomb discovered! That is the situation around Lion Hill. However the tomb of Liu Wu, third Prince of Chu, is the one that has been completely excavated and is open to the public. Once inside the grand looking display hall the view of the entrance to the tomb is impressive. As you walk down the steps into the 2,000-year-old tomb you can only wonder how man alone could hollow out a hill to build such a magnificent tomb structure. Deep and narrow with vaulted ceilings in some cases as high as a five-story building, the tomb design speaks silently of eternal afterlife. This Han tomb is unique in that an official of the Prince's court was also buried here. Some items found in the tomb provide evidence of trade with Central Asia. Part of the jade coffin remains; and the first jade burial shroud unearthed in China was that of Liu Wu. The tomb of Liu Wu was never decorated on the inside...he committed suicide after a disastrous defeat. I am sure that had he completed the construction of his tomb, its inner beauty would have matched the magnificence of the structure.

Princess's coffin room.

To the northwest of Xuzhou lies the tortoise-shaped Gui Hill part of the Jiuli Mountain. In Guishan is the tomb of Liu Zhu, sixth Prince of Chu. He was the emperor from 128BC to 116BC. The emperor's tortoise-shaped silver seal was discovered in the tomb proving the identity of the occupant and his wife. The Guishan tomb is typical of most Han tombs in that it is positioned according to the principles of geomancy with hills and water. It is entered from the western side of the hill and is designed with two connecting coffin chambers, one in the south for Lui Zhu and one in the north for his wife. There are two perfectly parallel corridors eighty-three meters long leading from the entrance to the coffin rooms. Besides the coffin rooms, there is a stable, garage, lavatory, two chariot and horses rooms, an armory, two kitchens, a treasure storage room and two antechambers. The walls of smoothly polished stone are damp with moisture that drips into carved channels that run along the room and corridor floor edges to escape the tomb at the western end, thereby ensuring that the tomb contents remain safe from deterioration. The Han tombs were designed and constructed with exquisite skill and technical expertise. It was thrilling to visit this tomb and examine such craftsmanship. To then realize that I was standing inside a structure built over 2,000 years ago sent shivers down my spine.

Of course Xuzhou boasts historical treasures other than Han tombs - one such being the Ximatai or Horse Training Terrace where General Xiang Yu inspected his soldiers and cavalry. Liu Bang and Xiang Yu battled to fill the empty throne of the Qin Dynasty. Xiang Yu met a tragic end and his last months are aptly described in a small exhibition hall at this site. A stone stake and manger for Xiang Yu's famous horse Wuyu were still visible for many years...the stake has finally disintegrated, but a replica stands as praise to Wuyu.

Bronze mirrors, rich inlay, stone carvings, bas relief, sculptures "in the round," the Confucian texts, lacquer ware, finely carved and sculptured jade and portrait painting - all of these are representations of Han art; and Han art was the culmination of all earlier periods. The end of Han saw the rising popularity of Buddhist art. Traditional standards were heavily influenced by the exchange between nations.

Fortunately for us, the Han peoples' preoccupation with immortality and ensuring a lavish transition to the afterlife has provided a great record of the Han period.

The documented history of the Han Dynasty is largely found in the tombs. And many of those tombs have been discovered in Xuzhou - Home of the Han.