The two things on this trip which were right at the top of our list of things to see were the three gorges and the terracotta warriors. These two justify the trip hands down.

Background

NOTE: Qin is pronounced "chin". 

250 years before Christ, China was fragmented into many kingdoms. Qin was one of these. A young man named Yingzheng came to the throne in 246 BC. He unified China, and became the first emperor. Our word "China"  comes from the name of his dynasty, the Qin dynasty.

Qin Shi Huang Di (the name he took as emperor) created China. He unified the written language, standardized family names, promulgated a legal code, established uniform coinage, weights, and measures, and abolished feudalism. Among his public works projects the largest was his mausoleum (larger than the pyramids it is buried under a hill near Xi'an awaiting excavation) but he tied together a set of smaller defenses into the first Great Wall. His ten year reign was a pivotal period for Chinese history.

The first emperor had a dark side too. He was a tyrant who lived in fear of assassins. He particularly feared the educated people so he is remembered for burning books and murdering scholars. For more information you can go to one of these links:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/terra_cotta_army/qin_shihuang_1.htm or http://www.yutopian.com/history/qin.html

When he died he took an army with him, made out of terracotta, a brick-like mixture. The thousands of life-size figures were painted realistically, fully armed and arrayed in brick-paved trenches 15 feet deep. Pine beams were placed across the trenches, mats on top of the beams, and the trenches were filled in. In the wars which followed his death, troops broke in, disarmed the army, smashed many of them and set fire to the entrance.\

The warriors are arrayed as if guarding the emperor from an uprising by subjugated eastern peoples. For a detailed description of the formation, see http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/7547/article.html

The site was lost for the next 2,000 years until, in 1974, a farmer (who now makes a very pleasant living signing books in the gift shop) was digging a well and came up with some pieces of the figures. This is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the primary tourist Meccas.

NOTE: Later rulers (Han dynasty) also had terracotta warriors buried with them but not on such a grand scale. These were about a foot high, rougher and more stylized.

Pit One

The original site, called pit one, is estimated to contain 6,000 warriors. Of these 2,000 have been excavated and only 1,000 have been restored to a standing position.

Pits Two and Three

These two pits were discovered a couple of years after pit one, but excavation did not start until 1994.

The Bronze Chariots

The museum also houses two half-life-size chariots that were unearthed near the emperors tomb in 1980. The glass cases and subdued lighting made it impossible for me to get any usable pictures of these two artifacts, so I am posting some pictures purchased from another source.