The forgotten terracotta warriors!

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Before I get onto Shanghai, I must make a confession. I forgot about the Terracotta army. In my defence, I was not the only one, as they went undiscovered for 2000 years. However I apologise.

I managed to squeeze in a visit on my penultimate day in Xian, and visited with Cole, another volunteer from the hostel. Spread out in two huge aircraft hangers, the scale of the warriors is even more impressive when you consider that all but one of the warriors was broken into tiny pieces by a vengeful rival emperor, shortly after they were errected. It apparently takes five years for one archaeologist to piece together one warrior into their present state!! The warriors themselves are each unique, with different facial expressions, weaponry etc.

However what actually fascinated me most was that the warriors are preserved in colour, but when they are exposed to the air the colour fades. However technology is actually available to prevent this erosion, but it is pioneered by the Americans. So the Chinese are determined that it will be Chinese technology that carries out this task and that of opening the tomb of the emperor nearby, and are hopeful that it will be completed within five years. There must be some frustrated Chinese archaeologists out there!

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