source：discovershaanxi editor：郭兰芳
the terracotta warriors in foreigners' eye
located about 36km east of xi'an in lintong district
terracotta warriors is one of the subordinate tombs of qin shi huang, a cultural relics that astounded the world and an artist recreation of qin shi huang's strong army.
three pits containing 8000 life-sized soldiers with different facial expressions, 130 chariots and 520 horses built by about 700 thousand people over near 40 years.
discovered by local farmers by accident in 1974, it was regarded as the eighth wonder in the world and was recorded into the world heritage list by unesco
as a byword for glorious ancient chinese civilization, terracotta warriors and horses will bring you back to the past
over one million people visit the site every year
how do foreigners feel about the wonder?
let's have a look together.
① claire from the u.s.
claire and justin went to terracotta army, their first destination upon their arrival in a rainy weather. they visited all three pits and the exhibition hall.
“general impression of terracotta warriors: they're cool! they're impressive. my favorite part of the whole museum was the exhibition hall where you can see the relics up close. ”
② belgian couple naick & kim
all of them have a different facial expression.there are no two that are identical, which is crazy to think about it because there's no mould that they use. it's all done by hand all done individually. it's really cool to see the terracott awarriors and horses guard the first unifier of china, the first emperor of china.
tip: you might as well start from pit two and pit three which contains about 50 warriors and a handful of horses. and then the most impressive pit one with over 2000 warriors.
③ nico from sweden
this pit (pit two) is actually still excavated in the warriors, which is so interesting to see on what a scale this immense project is. before i came to see the terracotta warriors, i wasn't really sure what to expect. but to be honest i wasn't really that bothered about it, because as we come to xi'an. it's a must-see tourist attraction so we thought we back up. when we looked around pit two and pit three, it just made me realize how amazing it actually is. when you think about all the history, the reason why these warriors were made and the fact that they're all different, it's really impressive. as for the pit one……if it hadn't be that busy i'm sure it would have been breathtaking (that's why i keep stressing to come earlier).
tips: the best time to visit the warriors is either the first thing in the morning or about lunchtime so you can beat the tour group (don't be like us because i can barely see warriors in the busiest pit one ╥﹏╥). one more thing, there may be people trying to sell you fake ticket. don't fall for this. there is an official ticket office right before you enter.
④ poppy and jackilena from the u.s.
what did they say?
it's truly impressive just to see how much detail still remains on every warrior after more than 2200 years and just the fact that everyone was individually crafted differently.
it’s their first day back in china after a year of being gone and their decided to visit the terracotta army. before visiting, they learned a lot about the history behind those warriors.
why were they built? the terracotta army is made up of roughly 8,000 life-sized statues built to protect the tomb of china's first emperor qin shi huang. emperor qin wanted to live forever so he spent much of his life and resources searching for immortality. he figured building a huge army would protect him and help retain his power even in the afterlife. construction of the tomb began in 246 bc once qin took his throne at age 13 (poppy: i don't know about you, but it's pretty crazy to think that at age 13 qin was already thinking and planning his afterlife). it's estimated that over 700,000 laborers worked for approximately 40 years to build the warriors in tom.
actually, before the qin dynasty, china had a brutal royal funeral institution of burying the living with the dead. qin shi huang decided to replace the living with terracotta warriors and the terracotta army we see today is the best representative of this practice.
after enjoy tasty food and historical terracotta warriors, let's go to mt.hua together to commune with nature!