but not before a good long healthy walk to the main (or largest) pit, which is housed in a huge structure like a airplane hangar.
Once inside it was amazing to see all the replica's of the warriors that and were originally constructed over 2000 years ago to protect the tomb of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang. These life size warriors stand on guard as if preparing for battle.
The paint has now worn and the original bronze age weapons
(including swords, arrows and lances) that many of the soldiers carried until a few years ago, are now locked up away from public eyes, (except for those found in the museum on site). Although there are 6-8000 of the statues remaining, there were actually many more when the tomb was first built.
And many that are still being 
constructed. "The faces of the warriors are said to be modeled on the artists who sculpted them and on the actual Imperial guards at the time.""This amazing site was discovered in 1974 by Chinese peasants who were drilling a well. "
"In a bizarre twist, the man who supposedly discovered them now sits in a hall at the site signing the book about the stone army."
The figures were actually found in broken heaps, like the above photos, and painstakingly put back together again individually, uisng pieces they could find that seemed to match. There are many thousands left to do.
"Individually sculpted of 3 inch thick terra cotta clay, each soldier and horse is unique, each with its own style of dress (the mineral paints used to cover the figures in bright, gay colors have since dissolved), weaponry, and facial expressions. Grouped into a specific military formation with crouching crossbowmen and bowmen at the point, archers at the flanks, large groups of infantry, chariots and cavalry, and a final guard of heavily armoured infantry pulling up the rear, all are arranged according to the proper military procedures of the day."
"Further discoveries were made in 1976 when another 1000 warriors and various other sculptures were dug up. Archaeologists also believe that there is possibly a larger and more impressive army still buried beneath the Emperor's tomb." http://www.sinohotelguide.com/xian/tour/sight/sightx.html#Terracotta"All 8,000 troops are housed in three separate chambers for each section of the army: active duty troops in the largest chamber, reserves in another smaller chamber, and a small group of 68 commanders and elite officers in the third. The army faces the east guarding Shi Huangdi's tomb from the enemies he vanquished who supposedly came from that direction."
"The three chambers are themselves part of a much larger burial complex located approximately 3/4 mile from Qin Shi Huangdi's pyramidal, still unexcavated, tomb. (See the blog Emperor Qin Shihuang's Tomb.) The complex is designed much as a city: with protecting walls, a palace, and even a cemetery, to be Shi Huangdi's capital during his adventures through the afterlife. Built mainly underground, carved out of low mountain top (according to legend), the construction itself took 700,000 prisoners of war and slaves over 36 years to construct and covers approximately four square miles. The as-yet-unearthed palace is reputedly of legendary grandeur."
Pit Two is not open to the public, however there is a museum that houses some of the artifacts found within the burial site. It contains the remains of two chariots (the wooden parts disintegrated, but they replicated what they could, using the same materials) and the horses, examples of each type of figure, weapons, and other artifacts housed for the Emperor in the afterlife.
The third pit is open for viewing, but is not completely excavated. Most of it is not easy to view and pictures are almost impossible. The army is located very deeply under the surface.
The most amazing part of this to me, is that no 
one had any idea that this kind of thing existed. Information was not passed down through history. Not surprising in some ways, when we know now that the Emperor ordered everyone who worked on it to be thrown into the tombs alive after he died. It will take decades to uncover everything that researchers suspect are there. 
one had any idea that this kind of thing existed. Information was not passed down through history. Not surprising in some ways, when we know now that the Emperor ordered everyone who worked on it to be thrown into the tombs alive after he died. It will take decades to uncover everything that researchers suspect are there. 
Outside Pit Three: Notice the Topiary
By the time we were finished exploring, my tour guide and I were tired....I didn't want to watch the film about the warriors, so we didn't get to sit down. We decided to splurge a whole $1.30 to have a ride back part of the way in a horse drawn carriage.
The downwind smell was bad, though and I wasn't sure if it was the horse or the driver. I went most of the way with my head sticking out to the side. The carriage was in fine shape though.
As I've been travelling through these past few months, I've seen some amazing historical man-made sites and today was extraordinary.
