This museus is definately worth a visit and was a lot better than I expected, when i walked into the first room where the warriors were situated i just stared in awe, it is an amazing sight and much better than I had imagined it would be.
The warriors were created to protect the mausoleum of the first emperor of the Qin dynasty. The statues are life-size and they are all unique which makes it so amazing to be able to see in real life - the sheer effort and craftmanship that went into making them.
The statues were late destoyed not long after they were built, many of the statues were smashed up and a fire was started so the amount of work that has been put in to restoring the site is also quite remarkable. Many of the statues are still in pieces as you can imagine the amount of work involved in finding the pieces belong to each individual warrior, all of which have their own individual characteristics.There are different sites throughout the museum which have been excavated and can be visited indivually, although they are all included in the same price of the ticket.
Being a history student this musem was naturally of interest to me, although I believe that most people would enjoy looking around the museum as it is at times breath-taking. There are other places within the museum to look at apart from the actual rooms containing the statues, for example there is a 360 degree cinema room which shows a film giving more information about the site. This film is in english and so is accessible to an english audience.
The warriors are situated in rows in the room, to protect the emperor, although there are also examples of the different ranks of guards, including those on horses whichare displayed along the edge of the room so that it is possible to get a better look than is possible from the edges, behind the barrier. There are several guards standing around the room to make sure that noone touches the figues and also to keep watch because of the photography ban, although this on the main part, appears to be ignored.
I went as part of a tour provided by the youth hostel that I was staying in which cost around 100 yuan (around £6.70) and permitted me enterance into another two museums which were severly lacking in interesting artefacts and covered my travel costs to and from the museums. We were also taken to an expensive resteraunt where we were obliged to buy food and a shop which sold replicas of the warriors. (a similar over priced gift shop is contained within the museum itself.) As a result of this, I would recommend to check the itinerary of any tours and actually avoid them if possible, although this often relies on your level of chinese, as if you are lost or appear clueless this could be pretty pricey! On top of the cost for our tour, we paid for our own tickets which were 90 yuan. (in April 2006)
Overall, I would say that the museum is worth a look and the costs wont be as much of a pain to you as they were for me on my volunteer wages! The sites that you see will be memorable and I would recommend the museum although I urge you to watch out for people trying to rip you off, particularly people outside trying to sell dodgy replicas of the warriors or 'lucky boxes'. A guide can be a help or hindrance in this matter!
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