London - Arts & Entertainment - Museums
Totally agree with annyeap - you really need to try and get along to see this exhibition, or indeed event. There have never been this many of the figures outside of China and in one place before, so it's a unique experience (unless you have been to China of course...).
The exhibition itself is brilliantly curated and really underlines how amazing Qin Shihuangdi, the first Emperor of China, really was. His achievements are remarkable - starting as head of one of the provinces of China and then conquering the others to create the basis for modern day China. In his spare time he sorted out one currency, one set of weights and measurements and built the original great wall. All in the space of about 35 years. The exhibition tells this story fantastically well and really takes you on a journey through it, showing how everything interconnects and then finally you come across the figures at the centre of the display - they are stunning.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect is that the huge tomb which the First Emperor is buried in remains untouched. Various techniques have shown there are two massive buildings underneath the artificial hill created over it, and there are huge mercury deposits which have led people to speculate there are rivers of mercury in there...intriguing and yet the Chinese seem almost frightened to investigate it. Instead they focus on excavating the pits around the tomb where the Terracotta Army themselves were found.
Even though there is not long left the British Museum is putting 500 tickets on sale first thing in the morning each day so you still have a chance to get along. The only slight problem being you will not know what time slot you are going to get as it's a time allocated visit.
Check out my review of Terracotta Army at British Museum - I am scottishwolf - on Qype
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