Getting to the Terracotta Warriors
Highlights (tl;dr):
- From the Xi’an train station, take 306(游5) or 914, the Terracotta Warriors will be the last stop
- Look for these characters “兵马俑”
- Adult/student ticket price: 150/75元
- Recommended path: Theatre–>Pit 3–>Pit 2–>Pit 1–>Museum
- Time: 3 hours
The long version:
The official name of this UNESCO World Heritage site is 秦始皇 兵马俑 博物馆 (qínshǐhuáng-name of the first emperor and whose army this is) (bīngmǎyǒng-terracotta warriors and horses) (bówùguǎn-museum). For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to the museum as Terracotta Warriors.
As the Terracotta Warriors are regarded as the greatest archaeological find in the 20th century, it is significantly easier to get to, than say, Emperor Jingdi’s Tomb. There are two buses that leave from the Xi’an train station [西安 火车站 (xīān)(huǒchēzhàn)] (different than the Xi’an North train station [西安 北 火车站 (xīān b ě i )(huǒchēzhàn)] that you might’ve arrived at), so the first step is to get to the Xi’an train station.
1. Getting to the train station – 西安 火车站
Outside of using Baidu maps (百度地图)(bǎidùdìtú) or asking your hostel staff, you can walk around and find the nearest bus station, keep in mind the train station is in the north just inside the old city walls, and make sure you are on the right side of the road. Look for the characters 火车站 and make sure the arrow underneath is going in that direction. Local buses are 1元(yuán), best to have exact change.
2. Bus to the Terracotta Warriors (306/游5 or 914)
Once you arrive, there will be a giant map on the side of the train station (walk around a bit, you’ll find it), and you want to find bus #306 (also called 游5(yóu)) or bus #914. I will also tell you where it is, once you arrive, cross the street and go north through the city wall, then turn east and walk for a minute or two and you will see a parking lot with a bunch of buses. You pay on the bus, after you are seated and the bus has departed.
- Runs from 8:00-18:00 (8 am to 6 pm)
- Frequency: every 4 minutes
- Ticket price: 8元
- First stop: 西安 火车站 (xīān)(huǒchēzhàn)
- Last stop: 临潼 兵马俑 (líntóng)(bīngmǎyǒng)
- Return: same place, same bus > 3. Buy your entrance ticket
Once you arrive, there are plenty of signs to guide you to the ticket office (售票厅-shòupiàotīng), it is about a 5 minute walk.
FYI:
- buy your student ticket at windows 2-4
- your student card may be checked at each entrance, keep it handy
- the trolley ticket office is right in front of the big ticket office
- once you pass through the first ticket check, it is a 15 minute walk to the entrance, or you can take the trolley inside the first ticket check
- it is a nice walk through a park with many diverging paths, but they all eventually converge > 4. Recommended path
Theatre–>Pit 3–>Pit 2–>Pit 1–>Museum
Time: 3 hours
Lonely Planet and about every other online resource recommends viewing Pit 1 the last because the largest and most impressive. If you see it first, you will find the others small and unimpressive. They also recommend viewing the on site video first, then seeing the pits in reverse order; I concur. Personally, I recommending seeing the museum last because it houses artifacts like the bronze weapons that the warriors were holding and it’s easier to imagine once you’ve already seen the empty handed soldiers.
The cinema (环幕电影)(huànmùdiànyǐng) meaning 360* screen cinema, however, was a little hard to find. It is to the left of Pit 1, which is directly in front of you when you enter. The cinema is actually a little unpleasant because there are no seats, you must crane your neck, and the film quality is poor. Nevertheless, you should still see it because, if you’re like me, you’ve never seen a panoramic movie before and it shows a wonderful reenactment of the history of the tomb. Although it’s on loop, wait until the beginning because it’s a little confusing and hard to acclimate to a panoramic movie.
Upon exiting the cinema, walk along Pit 1 to find Pit 3 in the back, use your map if need be. Here you will find the officers headquarters and a few scarce remains. In front of that is Pit 2, where you will find a vast open pit mostly filled with broken remains. The highlight of this pit is that it houses 5 archetypal statues (kneeling archer, middle-ranking officer, high-ranking officer, cavalryman with his saddled war-horse, and standing archer) that you can view up-close, children’s lips suctioned on the glass close.
Finally, what you’ve been waiting for, Pit 1. When I was on my way to Xi’an, I imagined myself walking through rows of Terracotta warriors, but perhaps it was naive of me to think they’d let tourists that close to these delicate 2,000 year old relics. Some people are disappointed that you are kept at quite a distance. Nevertheless, it really is an inspiring site to walk in and have the Terracotta Army facing you, especially if you have an appreciation of Chinese history. You may be surprised because you’ll have heard numbers like 6,000 warriors, but there won’t be that many in tact. The well put together ones (literally) are front and center. You can walk around the pit and you’ll see the excavations are still in progress, in the back they include some information on the restoration process, and my personal favorites were the not put together yet warriors–the ones with half their torsos missing held together by metal rib caging, plastic wrap, string, or glue. You’ll see tiny bits and piece and wonder in awe how the archeologists managed to put so many together from these broken bits of ceramic. Truly the world’s most challenging puzzle, I’d say.
If you do feel unimpressed when you see the warriors, just think that they were untouched for 2,000 years, that an (imo) maniacal emperor had them created so that he could rule the afterlife just as he had unified and ruled China, that most were found in pieces, but years of careful archaeological work brought you the army you see today, and of course the ingenuity that every warrior has unique facial features and that the ethnic demographics of the army reflect China’s current ethnic demographics.
Historical Resources Recommendations
An understanding and appreciation of Chinese history is necessary to fully enjoy the Terracotta Warriors. Here is a list of resources that I recommend for you to listen to on your plane, train, or automobile journey.
- Personal favorite: Laszlo Montgomery, a businessman with decades of experience in China, from Claremont, California started The Chinese History Podcast. His website contains hundreds of great podcasts, but his episode on “ Qin Shi Huang” is most relevant to the Terracotta Warriors. He actually talks more about the emperor himself than the warriors, but nevertheless, it is a great historical introduction of the time period that the warriors came from. I like him because he delivers an interesting historical narrative without getting bogged down with useless chatter or speculation. Warning: For those of you not well acquainted with Chinese or Chinese historical figures, he does zoom through family relations at lightning speed. Available for download here.
If you can stand the strong accent, this podcast titled, “ Mercury and Immortality: Afterlife in China”, looks at the terracotta warriors from that perspective. This podcast is not terribly fact oriented, but instead shares an ironic theory as to the cause of Qin Shi Huang’s death. Available for download here.
This article provides a very thorough overview, titled, “ Introduction to the Terracotta Army”. Available for download here.
Although I have not finished this book, I did thoroughly enjoy the beginning. This book is brimming with entertaining historical factoids, some seemingly completely irrelevant to the terracotta warriors, but highly entertaining. The Terracotta Army by John Man available for purchase on amazon.com.
Useful Chinese Phrases
