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Bell & Drum Tower Hotel
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Bell & Drum Tower Hotel is a 3 star business hotel which is located in the center of Xian. It is...
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China: Search for areas
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Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
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The Terracotta Army (Traditional Chinese: 兵馬俑; pinyin: bīng mǎ yǒng; literally "military servants") or Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses is a collection of 8,099 life-size terra cotta figures of warriors and horses located near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Chinese: 秦始皇陵; pinyin: qín shǐ huáng líng). The figures were discovered in 1974 near Xi'an, Shaanxi province.
The terracotta figures were buried with the first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang) in 210-209 BC. Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as "Qin's Armies".
The construction of this mausoleum began in 246 BC and is believed to have taken 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete. Qin Shi Huang was interred inside the tomb complex upon his death in 210 BC. According to the grand historian Sima Qian, the first emperor was buried alongside great amounts of treasure and objects of craftsmanship, as well as a scale replica of the universe complete with gemmed ceilings representing the cosmos, and flowing mercury representing the great earthly bodies of water. Pearls were also placed on the ceilings in the tomb to represent the stars and planets, etc.
The tomb of Qin Shi Huang is near an earthen 76 meters tall pyramid and nearly 350 squaremeters. The tomb presently remains unopened and has not exactly been located. There are plans to seal-off the area around the tomb with a special tent-type structure to prevent corrosion from exposure to outside air. However, there is at present only one company in the world that makes these tents, and their largest model will not cover the site as needed.
The terracotta figures were manufactured both in workshops by government laborers and also by local craftsmen. It is believed they were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would make it a factory line style of production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired as opposed to crafting one solid piece of terracotta and subsequently firing it. After completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits outlined above in precise military formation according to rank and duty.
The terracotta figures are life-like and life-sized. They vary in height, uniform and hairstyle in accordance with the solders' military ranks. The colored lacquer finish, molded faces (each is individual), and real weapons and armor used in manufacturing these figures creates a realistic appearance and stands as a testimonial to the amount of labor and skill involved in their construction. It is also proof of the incredible amount of power the first emperor possessed to order such a monumental undertaking as the manufacturing of the Terracotta Army.
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