Xian - Terracotta warriors

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We took the public bus ten kilometers out of Xian to visit the terracotta warriors. The soldiers were discovered in 1974, they are part of a burial tomb by one of the Qin dynasty emperors from around 200 BC. He believed that he would rise from the dead to continue his domination of China. Over a 40 year span, he had the tomb created for himself. The tomb includes thousands of soldiers, horses and armament, all araigned around his central tomb. Each of the soldiers has different facial features and armor.
It is amazing that so much time, effort and money was spent on the tomb. The emperor spent his entire reign of 37 years fighting surrounding warlords to maintain control of his terrritory.
Helen mentioned that they were using an old style of excavation, where they dug pits several feet from each other. Maybe some of you also took archeology and know what she is talking about.
My pictures are not of the best quality, but a quick search of the web will turn up some great pics.

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