Sunday

This Qin Dynasty guy must have been crazy! Today, I went to an archaeological site where thousands of terracotta soldiers are being dug out of the ground. Here's the story:

Basically, Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Before he died, he wanted all of his soldiers to be buried with him when he did die so they could protect his tomb. So, he had thousands of soldiers make thousands of terracotta soldiers so that no two statues' faces would be the same. However, he also didn't want anyone to know about this at all, so everyone who made the soldiers or knew about them was killed.

Now, after over 2,000 years, they have been discovered. Soldiers weren't the only things though. Among the soldiers were tons of horses and pottery that were also buried with the king.

This whole thing started as soon as the king inherited the throne, at the age of 13! It took a full 11 years to finish all of the soldiers. So, naturally, there is a museum on the site and they are world-famous.


I came to the front of the museum and took a deep breath. As I walked inside, I instantly noticed the change in smell: outside and fresh air to museum and old-timy air. It certainly was a change. Although, that's basically what all museums are like, so I didn't think much of it.

I walked through the museum waiting to find where the soldiers were. When I did, I immediately knew that it was the right place. There was a giant arch covered with intricate paintings and beautiful carvings. I entered and what I saw amazed me.

Thousands of soldiers stare unseeingly at the wall in front of them. All in perfect rows and everything. They were all at attention and it was kind of eerie looking at them. None of them moved, but I could have sworn they were about to start marching outside.

I stared, transfixed, for a while, then I finally looked away at the horses. Same eerieness there too. All stood stock still. All looking like they were just waiting for an order and they would move. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I had to leave. It was really cool.