Red Lantern: Army of Terracotta Warriors

Most visitors come to Xi'an to see the Army of Terracotta Warriors. The site is massive and you need a lot of time to see it and to travel to and from it. It is one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen and it is of unbelievable beauty.

From Xi'an you need to head to the downtown train station and find the bus station. There look for the buses that take you to the site. There are frequent buses, every ten or so minutes, and tickets cost as little as one pound sterling. The journey lasts for about an hour (if the shabby bus won't break down, like in our case - then we had to wait for the following buses to pick us up) and you get off at the very last stop. Once at the Army of Terracotta Warriors site, the bus will leave you far away from the entrance, next to a car park. Walk towards the car park (or follow the Chinese who seem to know the way), go to the end of the car park and continue walking through food stalls, restaurants, coffee shops (yes, Starbucks and the like are all there) and eventually you'll get to the entrance. Try not to eat or drink or buy anything there, as it is quite expensive.

The site consists of three pits, with Pit 1 being the largest. You'll see thousands of warriors and horses and carriages. You can't really go anywhere near the exhibits, but in Pit 2 are five of them on display behind glass. There is a kneeling archer, a standing archer, a cavalryman and his horse, a general and an officer.

All three pits are very fascinating and you will notice that they soldiers' faces differ from each other. They all look different, surreal and as if they were alive. Legend has it that Qin Shi Huang believed that he would rule and reign in the afterlife and needed an army to guard and fight for him.

The site was found in 1974 by sheer accident, when a few peasants drilled the earth to build a well.

This is next to a shop in downtown Xi'an.