During your stay, stop by to say hi to Mr. Yang Xinman…

Then visit the warriors in pit 1…

You can look at them up close…

You can also grab them…

Punch them…

Admire them…

Seriously admire them…

and stand with them!

To be completely honest, I was not all that excited to see theses guys. I am not one to get excited for statues because they don’t move or do anything. However, I will say that after setting eyes on this unbelievable army I was mesmerized. I found it incredibly interesting that these warriors were uncovered only 40 years ago by 4 farmers who were just building a well.

We were told by our guide that the farmer, Yang Xinman, who owned the land was then moved to a different farm with less fertile soil, given a basket of eggs, and a monetary reward of what equated to less than $10. That is no way to show your appreciation government! Now, Mr. Yang sits in gift shop all day signing books and looking (in my opinion) miserable.

I wonder what it is like to be him? To sit there, on what used to be his land, and to see millions come see these soldiers he and his brothers uncovered. Anyway, Mr. Yang was nice enough to take a photo with us and before we left I made sure to send good karma his direction.

Anyway, back to the Terracotta Warriors. Fun Facts:

• Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered 700,000 men to complete his tomb, creating a city for his afterlife.
• No two warriors are alike and each has a unique signature by the artisan who created them.
• Horses, acrobats and archers are some of the other types of terracotta statues created for the tomb.
• Each warrior was colorfully painted in lacquer. However when they uncovered the tomb, the lacquer paint turned to dust within hours once exposed to air.
• There are three pits to view the warriors. Pit 1 is the largest and the most interesting. Try viewing the pits in reverse order, starting with Pit 3. That way you build up to the last one as the grand finale!

Let’s talk about Emperor Quin Shi Huang for a second. I do not believe he was very well liked when he ruled. Yes, he unified China which is a great thing for them today. However, when he was alive he forced everyone to learn the same language, forced a new universal currency upon them, and forced many of them to create his tomb. Without him, China would not be the same. Maybe this is why his tomb is so fascinating.