XIAN

This ancient city, once at the very centre of Imperial China, is home to one of China's major attractions, the Army of Terracotta Warriors (World Heritage). There are three halls at the museum, but it is the first hall which is the most awe-inspiring. Six thousand warriors, life-size and individual, positioned in formal military layout guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang, the first Emperor of unified China. Found inadvertently in 1974 by a farmer digging a well, they have, inevitably, been damaged over the last two thousand years but archaeologists are in the process of painstakingly re-constructing the warriors. Xian is one of the few remaining cities in China with a complete city wall. It forms a rectangle, 14km in circumference with a gateway on each side. Visit the South Gate for a birds-eye view of the city. At the centre of the city is the Bell Tower, dating back to the 14th Century, its iron bell used to mark the time of day. Just outside the city wall is the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, over 60m high, it was originally built in AD 652 to house Buddhist scriptures brought back from India by Xuan Zang, a travelling monk.