Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses (秦始皇兵馬俑博物館) is located in the east of Xi’an (西安) about 37 km (23 mi) from Xi'an Railroad Station and about one hour by car. The purpose of these more than 8,000 life-size terra-cotta warriors, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses was believed to protect the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇, (259 - 210BC) in the afterlife. It was first discovered on 29 March 1974 by farmers digging water wells. Four 7 m (23 ft) deep key pits have been excavated. They are located roughly 1.5 km (0.93 mi) east of the Qin Shi Huang burial mound. Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses was opened in 1979 and listed on UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
We took the car to the site in about an hour. It had a large parking lot. We went directly to the ticket booth and decided to hire a licensed guide because we only had 2 hours here. We arrived at noon time, and the guide suggested we visit the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Tomb Artifact Exhibition Hall (秦始皇帝陵文物陳列廳) first. There are many excavated items in the on-site displays in the exhibition hall. The most extraordinary displays were the life-size bronze chariots and horses. After the exhibition hall, we went to the 3.473 Hectare (8.6 acre) Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses. We visited the largest pit, Pit 1, first. Here we saw the stunning excavation site with a huge space for the Terra-cotta charioteers and infantrymen in battle formation. The guide told us there are 6,000+ figures and 50 chariots in Pit 1. Next we went to the smallest pit, Pit 3, where the command center was for entire terracotta army in both Pit 1 and Pit 2. Last but not least, we went to the Pit 2 where we saw all kinds of terra-cotta which includes infantries, cavalries, chariot warriors and archers.
We spent only 2.5 hours here in a rush because we had other places to see. You can take photographs but are not allowed to use flash or tripods, but some visitors just ignored the rules. I would like to suggest at least reserving a half day here in order to discover more in such an amazing historical site. Hire a guide if you have limited time to spend here. Otherwise you can go by your own and spend more time on what you would really like to see.
We took the car to the site in about an hour. It had a large parking lot. We went directly to the ticket booth and decided to hire a licensed guide because we only had 2 hours here. We arrived at noon time, and the guide suggested we visit the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Tomb Artifact Exhibition Hall (秦始皇帝陵文物陳列廳) first. There are many excavated items in the on-site displays in the exhibition hall. The most extraordinary displays were the life-size bronze chariots and horses. After the exhibition hall, we went to the 3.473 Hectare (8.6 acre) Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses. We visited the largest pit, Pit 1, first. Here we saw the stunning excavation site with a huge space for the Terra-cotta charioteers and infantrymen in battle formation. The guide told us there are 6,000+ figures and 50 chariots in Pit 1. Next we went to the smallest pit, Pit 3, where the command center was for entire terracotta army in both Pit 1 and Pit 2. Last but not least, we went to the Pit 2 where we saw all kinds of terra-cotta which includes infantries, cavalries, chariot warriors and archers.
We spent only 2.5 hours here in a rush because we had other places to see. You can take photographs but are not allowed to use flash or tripods, but some visitors just ignored the rules. I would like to suggest at least reserving a half day here in order to discover more in such an amazing historical site. Hire a guide if you have limited time to spend here. Otherwise you can go by your own and spend more time on what you would really like to see.
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James Huang - All rights reserved.
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