Terracotta Warriors Tours | Terracotta Warriors Travel
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends."
Brad Pitt, Legends of the Fall
There is a legend in Chinese ancient capital –Xian, but truly exists and has been lasting for thousands of years. That is Terracotta Army (also named Terracotta Warriors, Terracotta Soldiers), the underworld army of Emperor Qin Shihuang (the first unifier of China, 259BC-210BC), Emperor Qin Shihuang undertook gigantic projects in order to consolidate his power and country like the first version of the Great Wall. Terracotta Army was built at the centre of a complex designed to mirror the urban plan of Xianyang (capital of Qin Dynasty) for conquering the afterlife. The terracotta warriors were unearthed 5 m (16.4 ft) beneath the surface and about 4 km (2.5 mi) east of his mausoleum by a team of well diggers in 1974.
The army is the masterpieces of realism and comprises different branches of the armed force, chariots, horses as well as their weapons. Currently, there are four pits dug and estimates the number of terracotta soldiers are over 8,000 with 130 chariots, 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses but most of them are still buries in the pits due to the faulty preservation technology.
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor including the Terracotta Warriors Museum has been listed as the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Every year, more than 1 million tourists from all over the world visit the Terracotta Museum. It is the real highlight of Xian Tours and China tours.
The Terracotta Museum consists of Pit 1, Pit 2, Pit 3 and Pit 4 as well as the Hall of the two bronze chariots and horses. Pit 4 is empty by recovering earth but other are all worth seeing.