I was simply dumbstruck by the Terracotta Warriors in Xian. They are one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen and I found it hard to drag myself away after spending a day there. The warriors were discovered in 1974 by local peasants digging a water-well. The underground vault holds thousands of life-size terracotta soldiers and horses in battle formation. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (Qin Shi Huang) commissioned local workers to construct the Warriors in order to guard his tomb. Each warrior is completely different in dress and physical appearance. It is speculated that the workers modeled the warriors after themselves. Definately a must see if you are traveling in China.
We also spent a little time at the Emperor’s Tomb but were somewhat disappointed as the tomb is not open to the public. The tomb is located deep in a hillside, and has a zoo and several burial chambers, plus a lake. However, to date it hasn’t been opened. It’s booby-trapped with high levels of mercury and they haven’t figured out a way to get into it!
A tip for the adventuresome – We opted to take a mini-bus to the site instead of going with a tour group. You’ll save yourself well over 300 RMB if you take this route. You can catch it outside the train station