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The Terracotta Warriors are China's second largest tourist destination (after the Great Wall). Most tourists say they are one of the highlights of their trip.
I didn't really like it.
That's not to say I didn't find the craftsmanship very impressive. And that's definitely not to say I didn't find the ability of the archaeologists to figure out the jigsaw puzzle of the terracotta warriors extremely impressive (only one warrior has been found fully intact, the rest had to be put together from the broken pieces).
But the whole idea of a single man making that many slaves (about 720 thousand) devote their lives to his grave and then furthermore kill a whole bunch of them in order to keep the location a secret really was not attractive to me.
When I heard of the farmers breaking in, destroying the figurines and stealing their weapons the year after the emperors death to aid their riot, wherein they destroyed many of the emperor's buildings in riot all I can really think is 'Up yours Emperor b******!'
I realise the great pity it is all those buildings and clay figurines were destroyed from a historian's point of view. But my sympathies can't help but lie with the farmers.
It might be one of the highlights of China for most tourists, but for me the highlight of the museum was the beautiful blossoming tree right outside the first pit.
I'm glad the warriors got discovered and now the emperor's soul protectors are treated with the indignity of being a tourist attraction for every Tom, d*** and Harry which stumble by. I only hope the other warriors are discovered.
Also, the museum really needs a public toilet closer to the entrance. Walking that far to the nearest toilet is just torture when you're busting to go to the loo.
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