Tourism Before Lockdown

It was amazing to see the Terracotta Warriors in China and I got some good photos, but the crowds were enormous and it was easier to photograph the visitors rather than the exhibits.  Entry is controlled by tickets so I was surprised how many people were jostling to try and get a decent view.  I did some polite shoving at first, as this seemed to be the expected behaviour, but I wasn't very comfortable so I switched to photographing the crowds.
Today I came across a review of Cartier-Bresson's photographs of China and I took another look at all my crowd pictures, not expecting to choose one from my trip to China.  It brought back memories of the whole trip, and the day of the excursion from Xian was in many ways typical. There seemed to be a late change of programme and we spent the morning at the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, with too brief a stop at the little shop that looked like fun. The guide was reluctant to let us go into the shop but relented under pressure to allow 10 minutes before we went for lunch in a restaurant filled with tour groups.  I had to ask for replacement crockery as it was all chipped.  Lunch was disappointing, especially as we later walked past stalls selling interesting street food which the guide discouraged us from buying by rushing past.  We spent much longer in a terracotta museum shop than it actually warranted, though the first 20 minutes was interesting.  There were no amusing souvenirs at the shop.  Eventually, we went on to the highlight of the day, the archaeological site.
Although the place was very busy at the start, as we walked down the enormous hall the crowd thinned and there were much better opportunities to view the exhibits. The place had the feel of a museum rather than a dig, though some statues had been left as though there was ongoing work.
If one of the side effects of the coronavirus pandemic include reduced crowds at tourist highlights. it will be a good thing.  The trip to China was expensive, so a higher ticket price would make a marginal difference.  On the other hand, it is great to have a photo of the crowds that I might not otherwise have taken.