I have never been so overwhelmed. When we walked in and saw the first display–just the head of a warrior–I really thought I would pass out. Heart palpitations, couldn’t catch my breath…and THEN I started crying and I CRIED through the entire exhibit. I was excited about seeing it but holy cow…I had no idea I’d be so ridiculously emotional about the whole experience. My son says he doesn’t think I’m up to museums.
It was just so amazing. If you live within driving distance, it is really truly worth a visit. I think the whole shebang will be leaving the US after run ends Nov. 2. I wish I’d gone earlier in the year so I could visit again and maybe again after that.
I saw them too. Big, aren’t they? I had always heard they were “life size,” and I was thinking, ancient world, east Asia, I bet they’re about five feet tall. No, they’re all well over six feet. Incredible.
They are big! And just amazing detail. I took a closeup of one warrior’s hands and arms, and the musculature and veins are amazing.
I so want to go back. I had to buy myself a little statue, and a book. And a chess set for my son (early Christmas gift.) What a wonderful day. I’m still sorta tearful. Silly, but I can’t help it!
Yes, there was a horse! And also a smaller replica (I think it was a replica) of a bronze horse-drawn carriage, and a replica cast of another horse. There were…6-8 warriors, I think. Also many smaller artifacts, showing the amazing carvings and casts. Really cool.
That must have been beyond cool, Mangosteen!
There are pictures online of the pits when they were being recovered. I found a bunch on pinterest and google. The sheer enormity of the project is breathtaking.
I can’t even imagine being able to see that. I’d probably have to lay down until I could breathe again.
As much as I was disappointed by the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Army in Xian certainly lived up to expectations.
One of the things I found interesting, visiting in person, is that only a fraction of the largest pit has been excavated and only part of what’s been excavated has been restored. Most warriors lie broken in pieces. And yet, just the part that’s standing is awe-inspiring.
Seeing the army, and then driving past the mound of the Emperor’s tomb I couldn’t help imagining what sort of wonders are still buried there.
I visited twenty years later and they did allow pictures by then. My anecdote is about the book I got signed. The farmer that went down the well and discovered them had a job signing the coffee table books sold in the gift shop. The books are available in multiple languages and there’s photos of him with various dignitaries and celebrities who have visited on the wall. Before we left, I wanted to get him to sign the book I bought. He was on a tea and cigarette break and I waited for him to return and finally got my book signed.
I was expecting a Chinese character or two for his name. When I looked, there was a single squiggle, sort of S-shaped. Our tour guide looked at it and said “He stopped school very young and his handwriting is not so good.”
I had a very similar reaction to the Ishtar Gate at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. But then, I’m also the kind of person who cries at cute and sappy commercials!
For me it was not being able to sleep in Manhattanan and walking into Central Park during sun rise - on a whim (I had never been - except during “The Gates” and only went in far enough to photograph a gate and get one of the samples they were handing out) - when I saw literary walk I was so moved.
It is still my favorite place to be in the world.
So how do the warriors compare to the ones at P F Changs?
I also am curious as to what it was that moved you so much (if you care to share) - often I don’t even know/understand.
I saw them a couple of years after you. Very impressive sight.
Interesting to think that the actual man buried there was, in fact, the ancient Chinese version of Hitler - that is, widely hated for his atrocities by subsequent generations.
My teenage son saw them on Tuesday during a field trip to the museum. He could possibly have been there at the same time papergirl was there. His reaction, as a teenage boy, was a little more subdued than papergirl. I asked him about the field trip and he proceeded to tell me about how his lunch bag fell apart. That was the lede. Not the warriors, his lunch bag. I may have to rethink our memberships at several museums including the Indy Children’s museum.
I was there around the same time. It was an incredible sight, wasn’t it?
I remember being surprised at the size and number of soldiers, standing in the dirt trenches. We could only look down into the area from an elevated walkway, but we were close enough to see the facial features and the details they uncovered. Fascinating.
We were then led into another large building via a muddy path, and into a room with individual large wooden chairs placed around the perimeter. We sat against the walls, with a vast open space in the center of the room, and listened to a lecture about finding the soldiers, and the process they went through to display them.
I also remember having to wade through throngs of people waving souvenirs in our faces and shouting “Hello! Hello!” as we made our way to the parking area. A rainy, muddy cacophony, but totally memorable and wonderful.
