Hank,

Notes on my recent trip to China.

In Qin Province is one of the most amazing archeological discoveries of the late 20th century. Known as The Terracotta Warriors it is reputed to be the burial place of the first emperor of China and dates back to 221 B.C. And to think that little of this has been uncovered! The main tomb has been excavated and in fact they have no plans to do so, this over 25 years after its discovery! The main dig has been in a part of the site known as Pit #1 it is two football fields long and is made up of columns of soldiers. Each column is four to six warriors wide and there are eleven columns! The columns also include horse drawn chariots. It’s stunning to stand in the sun drenched plains of western China ad see these ancient warriors, their horses, and their chariots waiting for attack and ready to defend. It is said over 700,000 prisoners were forced to work on this burial site. I highly recommend seeing it.

Yers,

Bryce

Editor’s Note: The author has been to China, but never near the terracotta warrior site. All information, as far as is known, was gleaned through the author’s visit to the traveling museum exhibit, The Terracotta Warriors, on his visit to it at The National Geographic Building in Washington, D.C. on March 26, 2010.