The Army of Terracotta Warriors

My visit to the Army of Terracotta Warriors started off with a visit to the factory where they produce Terracotta Warriors in the same way they were made thousands of years ago.

A mold is used for the body which is then baked in a life size oven. The heads are all individually carved and placed on the bodies afterwards.


My fellow travellers on the tour with me...

Up close in pit 1. Thank goodness for my cameras zoom lens...





Archaeologists busy at work.



Me with the warriors in Pit 1.


The Terracotta Warrior Hospital area.
This is where newly excavated warriors are being cleaned and reassembled and then placed in the exact spot from where they came.

A symbolization of the old China and the new China - this was made for the Beijing Olympics 2008.


It is hard to believe that a life size army of thousands has silently stood guard over the soul of China's first unifier for over two millennia. Whether Qin Shi Huang was terrified of the vanquished spirits awaiting him in his afterlife, or, as most archaeologists believe, he expected his rule to continue in death as it had in life - the guardians of his tomb today offer some of the greatest insights into ancient China.


The discovery of the army was entirely by mistake. In 1974 peasants drilled a well and uncovered one of the largest and most important archaeological finds of the century, an underground vault that eventually yielded thousands of terracotta soldiers and horses in battle formation.



No two soldiers faces are alike. Pit 3 is believed to be the army headquarters due to the number of high ranking officers unearthed here. In Pit 2 you can examine five soldiers up close, a kneeling archer, a standing archer, a cavalryman and horse, a mid ranking officer and a general.
The General - one of seven found in the pits... Highest ranking officer.

Me and the general.

Cavalryman with his saddled warhorse...

Standing Archer - the pose of the hands shows that the soldier was ready to shoot.

Middle ranking officer.

The level of detail is unbelievable, the expressions, hairstyles, armor and even the thread on their footwear is all unique.

Pit 1 is the largest and most impressive of all the pits. 6000 Warriors and horses stand here is battle formation facing East.

















Here you get an idea just how huge pit 1 is.

Just as extraordinary as the soldiers is a pair of bronze chariots and horses unearthed just 20m west of the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang. The tomb is described as a burial ground containing palaces filled with precious stones, underground rivers of flowing mercury and ingenious defences against intruders. The tomb according to history books and scripts took 38 years to complete and required a workforce of 700 000 people.

It is said that after the completion of the tomb and underground palace Qin Shi Huang instructed that all artisans who worked on it be buried alive within the tomb taking all the secrets with them.

This area is still to this day unexcavated due to folklore predicting that if opened massive destruction will occur within China and the rest of the world.







This is certainly the highlight of my China trip....