Today we visited the Terracotta Warriors

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Geo: 34.26, 108.951

We had another smoggy and rainy day here in Xian. After breakfast we walked to the train station and caught a bus to the Terracotta Warrior Museum. The bus ride was uneventful and took around one hour. We arrived to it raining even harder that what we had left in Xian. We took a shuttle to the museum entrance.
The Terracotta Warriors were buried by the first Emperor of China in about 210 BC. They were discovered in 1974 by a peasant drilling a well. Excavation is still going on today. The warriors are all life size and incredibly detailed, each one a unique individual. They were buried in long chambers, standing on tiled floors, with wooden roofs covered with fibre mats and up to 2 metres of soil.
We started our tour at Pit 2 which contains around 1300 warriors and horses. The level of detail on each warrior and horse is extraordinary. From their expressions, hairstyles, armour, and even the treads on the footwear are all unique. It was fascinating to see the different stages of excavation. We could see parts of warriors and horses spread around like puzzle pieces.
We then continued on to Pit 3 which contained 72 warriors and horses. This pit was believed to be the army headquarters. Pit 1 is the largest pit and is the most impressive. It is believed to house 6000 warriors and horses, but only 2000 are on display. They all face east and look ready for battle. As you walked around the huge pit area you could see the warriors in different stages of restoration. It was all so interesting. This pit was amazing to see with the thousands of warriors lined up ready for action.
Truly an amazing sight. For us, it was another dream come true.
After returning to our hotel, the rain finally stopped and we went for a walk into the shopping area next to our hotel.

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Comments

[Teresa]

Fantastic. Scifi movie material

[photolera]

Thank you so much for these pictures. To see the warriors has been a longstanding dream for me. Maybe one day ...

[photolera]

That is a new piece of information for me. Thank you!! Did you know that the famous statues of gods & goddesses of antiquity, all those statues in the Acropolis for example, and the temples themselves were also painted? Amazing to imagi
ne, how colorful "the grey mists of ancient times" really have been!

[Josette]

How truly amazing! You have realized one of my dearest dreams...