I took the overnight train from Beijing arriving at approximately 7.ooam at Xi'an. Xi'an is one of the oldest walled cities in China, and is the capital of modern Shaanxi.
Terracotta Army
About one hour by bus from the city and housed in a building which looks a bit like an aircraft hangar is the Terracotta Army. Discovered in 1974 by local farmers who were digging for water, (one of the farmers is on hand to sign books at the information centre) the life-size clay figures were made to guard the tomb of Qin Sui Huangdi. Three pits are currently on display, the remainder is yet to be excavated. Each warrior was individually crafted and originally coloured with pigment.
Pit 1: InfantryPit 2: cavalry and soldiers (still being excavated)
Pit 3: command centre
Located in the Southeast corner of pit 1, the brick wall used for mending the side wall which was partly collapsed. This is the earliest brick to have ever been discovered in China.
Inside the museum was a diaorama of the Stonemason's Workshop
The ruins are located in the zhengzhuang village near the mausoleum. It covers an area of 750 thousand square meters. The whole ruins are made up of the stone storage quarter, the material processing quarter and the living quarter. A great quantity of crude stone, half-finished stone material, iron tool as well as iron instruments of torture have been found in the ruins. The discovery of many iron instruments of torture indicates that the mausoleum constructors were a large number of criminals. - from the information plaque in the museum.
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