Xi'an 西安 is the capital city of Shaanxi Province 陕西省, which is located in Central China. It was the capital of the Chinese Empire during the reign of ten dynasties. The first emperor of the Qin Dynasty 秦始皇 was the first ruler to unite and control the whole of China. He ordered the building of his own mausoleum complex soon after he got to power. He wanted his own army to be buried with him when he died. Thus, this mausoleum complex includes not only his tomb but also over 8,000 terracotta figures. It took 39 years, from 246 BCE to 208 BCE, to finish the project which involved a tremendous amount of manpower and materials.

The terracotta figures were all handmade and include all ranks of soldiers, officers, horses and chariots. The figures were equipped with real weapons and positioned in the same layout as in the Qin army itself. Even the figures facial features were modelled from real soldiers making each one unique.

The terracotta soldiers, having been buried for 2000 years, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers. When they were shown to the modern world for the first time the weapons and uniforms still boasted their bright colours, but unfortunately the colours disappeared quickly after being exposed to the atmosphere so that now people see just the plain terracotta figures.