Banpo Neolithic Village, Xi'an

Favorite thing: Visit the Banpo Village! Walking into the grounds you first notice a statue/fountain of a woman pouring water – noting that this village was a matriarchal society! Basically it is the site an ancient village. The most interesting things I remember is the children?fs burial jars, which had large holes in then. After a child?fs death the family would put the child in one of these jars and place it near the home. They also had different positions related to how the villages died: someone who died of old age was placed face-up, a person who died of disease was placed face down, someone who had a disability was placed in a flexed position, and people who died together were buried together. The village really reminded me of Native American camp.

Fondest memory: Near the entrance to the museum was a table with vendors selling the Banpo Rezan. It looks like an egg, is made of the famous Banpo pottery, and sounds a little like the Japanese shakuhachi (flute). The sellers did a beautiful rendition of ?gMy Heart will Go On?h, and a bought a CD (note: you can bargain here and get the instrument for about the same price as the CD, 70yuan!).