Xi'an - Terracotta Army Excursion
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Today, we will drive about one and a half hours from city center to visit the Terracotta Army, created to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to unite China. One of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of all times, the Terracotta Army is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We leisurely admire this vast array of soldiers. After lunch, we visit the Tomb Hill of this Qin Shihuang. The burial mound is a large hill yet to be fully excavated. An easy hike takes us to the hill top to appreciate the good Fengshui that the tyrant emperor chose for his everlasting life. We also go to a new wax museum that reproduces the mystic underground world of the tomb.
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The Army of the Terracotta warriors was discovered in 1974 by peasants digging a well. The awesome ranks of life-sized pottery figures, modeled from yellow clay, were made to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, despotic ruler who unified China over 2,200 years ago. Excavation yielded three pits and over 7,000 soldiers, archers and horses. Pit 1 contains the infantry; Pit 2 is filled with cavalry and soldiers; and Pit 3 seems to be the command center, with 70 high-ranking officers. Each warrior, originally colored with pigment and holding a weapon, has an individually crafted expression.
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The Terracotta Army is just one part, the defending army, of a complex necropolis. A mile west of the pits, a large hill, yet to be fully excavated, is believed o be the burial mound of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. In 221 BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huang united China for the first time. He is the emperor who forced millions into labor to build the Great Wall. A tyrant preoccupied with death and the legacy he would leave behind, He spared no expense, enlisting 700,000 people over 36 years in the tomb's construction.
Historical sources portray a miniature plan of his underground empire: a floor cut by rivers of mercury beneath a ceiling studded with pearls to represent the night sky. The complex is also said to contain 48 tombs for concubines who were buried alive with the emperor, a fate also reserved for workers, to prevent the location and design of the tomb from becoming known. Now the best way to look at the inside is visiting the wax museum nearby which gives you a vivid picture of this immense underground palace.
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