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10 Apr

16:37

Terracotta Warriors

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On Friday morning we got up early to get a head start on the thousands of Chinese people we suspected would compete with us to get on the bus to the Terracotta Warriors. We got to the bus station at about half past nine, only to discover that our efforts had been in vain. The square was already full of people who all had the same plan as us.

However, I've have to say that this was the most well-ordered line I've seen so far in China. Mostly people push, shove and do everything in their might to squeeze past you. Not here though. The queue coiled across the square in perfect two people-wide loops, under strict supervision of guards with megaphones. There would be no skipping here. Thankfully, queueing only took about an hour and we were soon on our way.

Well in the museum, the crowd was thick. The museum is divided into several buildnings, located around a huge square. Before getting to the actual sights we had to pass through a long stretch of souvenir stands and restaurants. With the thought that we had to carry everything we bought up a mountain in mind, we skipped buying a life-sized replica of a Terracotta warrior. As our co-worker Rina said; we can always buy them online. Kind of missing the point of buying souvenirs though.

Since we were going directly to the mountain afterwards, we did't have that much time to walk around the museum. Therefore, we went almost directly to Pit 1, which is the pit that has been most thoroughly excavated. It was here that everything started in 1974, when seven farmers found the head of a warrior when they were digging a well. The 8000 warriors were buried with the emperor Qin Shi Huang 300 B.C.