Top 10 China Tourist Attractions in Eyes of Foreigners (3)

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is located at the foot of the Lishan Mountain in east of LintongCounty, about 30 km away from downtown Xian. According to the historical records, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty began to build his tomb at the age of 13 years when he ascended the throne. Designed and planned by the Prime Minister Li Si and supervised by the general Zhang Han, the construction time of the mausoleum reached a length of 38 years.

The Terra cotta Warriors and Horses were buried to protect the emperor Qin Shi Huang after his death, in the 1500 meters east of the mausoleum. The three pits of the Terracotta Warriors sit in the west facing the east, arranged in a triangle. The first discovered one is the Pit 1, which has the shape of a rectangle and measures 230 meters from east to west and 62 meters from south to north, about 5 meters deep and with a total area of 14,260 square meters. Surrounded by slope gateways on four sides, there is a pit on both right and left sides of it, which called Pit 2 and Pit 3. The pits have rational layout and unique structure.

The large-scale Terracotta Warriors and Horses was discovered by local farmers when they digging a well in March 1974. After the excavated by the archaeologists, these terra cotta treasures buried underground for 2000 years were unearthed and unveiled greatest mysteries. In 1975, Chinese government decided to build a museum on the site of the figure pits and on October 1, 1979 the Terracotta Army Museum began to open to the public.

Terracotta Warriors and Horses can be rated as the world’s largest underground military museum. It is one of the greatest discoveries in the world’s history of the Archeology. In 1987, the former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac said after visited the Terra Cotta Warriors, “With the seven wonders in the world, the discovery of terracotta figures, can be regarded as world’s eighth wonder.” From then on, Terra Cotta Warriors has being known as the “eighth wonder of the world”.

• The Exquisite Color Painted Figures
  According to the expert, all the terra cotta figures were originally colored and painted. However, because they were deeply buried or burned off, figures’ color decoration has come off and someone turned gray due to other reasons. If the digging area was not burned off, people would see the beautiful colored terracotta warriors and horses.
• Qin Dynasty Weapons Reappear
  At the pit 1, besides halberd, there were numerous the crossbows, bronze swords and other weapons according to historic record. The expert said they may find other weapon in the future.
• Can Find the “military Counselor”?
  More than 6,000 terracotta warriors and horse within Pit 1 were all military officers and general. However, was there no military counselor in such a huge army? The famous archaeologist said that they may find a “civil figure” later.
  
• Is there an “Alien Face”?
  In 2003, archaeologist discovered a tomb near the Terra Cotta Warriors, in which 121 people were buried. After DNA identification to the buried skeletons, experts found accidentally one skeleton with the Western Europe and Asia feature. Thus the experts speculated that in the terra cotta army of Qin Shi Huang, a foreigner face may be found one day.

Xian is an international tourist city which attracts a large number of oversea tourists each year. In the city, there are different grades of hotels and guest houses and the accommodation is quite convenient. It is highly recommended to live in the Bell Tower and DrumTower area, quite convenient. Terracotta Warrior is must-seeing attraction for those who take a trip in Xian.