Visiting The Terracotta Army

This little soldier has been keeping watch over the soap dispenser in my bathroom for years.  Not a soul passes without a thorough hand washing.  My husband brought him back from a work trip to China a few years ago as he knows how fascinated I am with the story behind the Terracotta Army.

When I was putting together my 40 Before 40 List of adventures, I knew visiting the Warriors had to be on it.  I needed to see the full size version of the little guy I’d been saying “good morning” to for so long.

Sometimes a place we have dreamt about doesn’t live up to our expectations, but isn’t is wonderful when it does.  It really was awe-inspiring.  The amount of tedious work that went into creating each solider and the fact that it was discovered only 44 years ago is amazing.

Read more in my bucket list write-up.

What was the activity?

Visiting the Terracotta Army✅

Who participated?

My husband (Scott) and our fantastic tour guide Coco (photographer). 

When was it completed?

March 14, 2018

#30 on list
7th 40 Before 40 Bucket List item completed

Where was it completed?

The Terracotta Army is located in Xi’an, China.  The army is a collection of over 8,000 terracotta soldiers depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Each sculpture is unique with detailed facial features and armor.  The terracotta army was buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE.  The belief was that the army would protect the emperor in his afterlife.

Why did I choose to put this item on my bucket list?

The short answer is this coffee table book…

This book (along with a coffee table) was one of the first things Scott and I bought after we purchased our first home.  Many nights have been spent flipping through the pages and dreaming about visiting each place.  I had never heard about the Terracotta Army before seeing it in this book.  I was captivated by the story.

Now my two kiddos flip through the pages and point out where they want to go-which is everywhere. I love that!

How did I find out about this activity? How would one go about making arrangements to do this activity?

We initially planned to find our way to the Terracotta Army via public transportation.  This would have been easy enough, but we decided to hire a private guide/driver so that we could get the most out of the experience.  Also, our past few days of travel had been heavily independent and intense.  Sometimes you just need a day when someone else does all the thinking.  We booked the Private Customizable Terracotta Warriors Day Tour through TripAdvisor.  In addition to visiting the Terracotta Army, the tour included our choice of two area attractions.  We chose to visit the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and the Huaqing Palace.

Our tour guide Coco was excellent and spoke fluent English.  She met us at our hotel at the beginning of the day, quickly navigated us around attractions to avoid crowds and walked us through security to catch our train to Beijing at the end of the day.  We felt that the $180 US we paid for the tour was worth it.  However, the cost of the tour did not include entrance fees into attractions, souvenirs, lunch, or tips for the tour guide and driver.  It ended up being a pretty expensive day.

Interesting tidbits and tips:

• The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 by a farmer, Zhi-Fa Yang, who was drilling a well.  Present day, he can sometimes be found in a souvenir shop outside of the museum signing copies of his book.  We were lucky to catch him on a day he was there.  
• The tomb of the emperor, which the Terracotta Army guards, has not been excavated.  Legend has it that a mercury river flows through the tomb, and it is set with booby traps.  You can read more about the history and legends surrounding the tomb at Ancient Origins.
• I had expected to be able to throw my arm around a warrior for a photo.  Yeah…not going to happen.  As it would make sense, all of the soldiers are behind glass or standing in the pit where they were excavated.  You can pay $10 to take your photo with fakes.  We chose to pass.

Bucket List Rating:  2 buckets.  Having a private tour guide and driver made our day of sightseeing effortless.