The best tourist destination: Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an

The Terracotta Warriors and Horses literally means “Soldier and horse funerary sautés”. Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor in China. It is a belief that these warriors are real soldiers who were buried with their king so that they could guard him in his next life.

The Terracotta civilization is from the 210 BC but was discovered by a bunch of farmers in 1974. The average height of this army ranges from 6 to 6.5 feet and they are standing as per their roles; it seems just ready to go for the war all fully dressed with their weapons. The generals are in the front being the tallest followed by acrobats, bowman and infantry soldiers. This site is totally unbelievable, breathtaking and is considered one of the wonders of the world. In total, there are over 8000 soldiers, 130 chariots, 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses. Much of it is still buried in the grounds.

It is said that the statues were constructed by local craftsman. In total, eight different kinds of moulds were used to create the face. Clay was added to the mould to give a proper structure and facial expression. All of them vary in their height, hair style as per their rank. There are a total of four pits that are 7 meters deep. The fist pit is 230 meters long and has 8000 odd figures. The ceiling is all water proof and made of reed mats and is wooden. This is for sure worth seeing and must not be missed by anyone who visits china.