Xian's Terracotta Army belongs to the 10 or 20 most iconic sites that have been placed on the World Heritage List. Most people will have seen images of it. One can even come across some of these terracotta warriors outside of China: currently (2007-2008) a number of them are on display in a large exhibition at the British Museum in London. I saw a few myself last year in the Art Museum in Bonn, Germany. So what they look like is no surprise. To see them in their original surroundings, as the statues are left in situ, is another story.

Although I had been in Xian already for a couple of days, I had deliberately chosen early Monday morning as the time of my visit: the quietest time of the week that I could think of. And I proved to be right as I had plenty of freedom to look around and take pictures. I've read somewhere that the site can see 50.000 visitors on a busy day. For me personally, after weeks of visiting Chinese WHS as one of the few foreigners, it was remarkable to notice that western visitors almost outnumber the Chinese here.

After watching the elementary explanation video, I started my round at Pit 3. This is believed to have been the army headquarters. It has only a few statues but all the features including horses. Wandering here I realized that these statues weren't found intact, a lot of them were (and are) just bits and pieces. The warriors also used to have weapons (believed to have been stolen early on) and colouring. Pit number 2 is mostly covered. At the rear, there are examples of the various military ranks, like a high-ranking official, a cavalryman and a standing archer.

Pit number 1 is the largest and earliest one, and that's where you can see the warriors stand in battle formation as they do in the most well-known photos. Even this pit isn't fully excavated. I loved to watch the different facial expressions of the warriors here. There are so many details to look at. The concept does resemble the Buddhist arhat hall, where statues of monks are brought together also each with their own personal expression.

I ended my tour at the museum near the exit, where the two famous bronze chariots are displayed that were also found nearby. All in all a great site that has to feature on everybody's travel wish list.