Full-Day Xi'an Museum Tour: Terracotta Warriors and Banpo Neolithic Village

The Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses

The Terracotta Warriors are the main reason for visitors coming to Xi'an. Of course they are a highlight! You can find loads of information about the Warriors on websites, for they were an astonishing archaeological discovery.

We, however, would like to introduce you to a different Terracotta Museum, one that can't be googled. We understand that the stories behind the warriors are really fascinating. 

Emperor Qinshihuang's craftsmen made more than 8,000 life-sized warriors in the 11 years between about 220 and 209 BC. This is nearly unbelievable, because even in modern times, a warrior factory could only make about 500 warriors of that size in a year. How could craftsmen of 2,200 years ago make them so quickly? 

Xi'an is cold in winter but hot in summer. How could they keep so many clay warriors from cracking? 

Originally warriors were painted with different colors. Most colors were natural, but the purple was very special, because it came from a chemical reaction. How did craftsmen have such skills at that time? 

Your guide will explain such secrets to you and then accompany you to a local cave dwelling where a craftsman makes warriors in the traditional way. You will have an opportunity to learn how to make warriors, and to try to make a little one on your own, with your host's help.

Qinshihuang's mausoleum was about 56.25 square kilometers in area, equal to about 78 Forbidden Cities. The Terracotta Army is just one corner of the whole project. Qin was the first emperor, and as such he set down a marker for modern China. He would not have known how powerful his impact on the nation, and on the world even, would be in the long term.

Banpo Museum

Banpo Museum is the first prehistoric excavation site museum in China. Banpo (half slope) Village was a typical Neolithic Matriarchal community of the Yangshao (Respect Splendid) culture (5000-3000 BC) around 6000 years ago. Banpo Museum consists of two exhibition halls and an excavation site hall. The first exhibition hall mainly displays the tools used by the Banpo people, including stone knives, sickles, fishhooks, specula and so on. These exhibits present visitors a general image of the Banpo people's activities. The showpieces in the second exhibition hall are major inventions and art items which reflect the fork culture and social life of that time. Artifacts in this hall include a fish-and-human-face-design pottery basin, a pointed-bottom bottle, a pottery steamer and children's burial jars.