Han Terracotta Army Museum (Xuzhou)

The Han Terracotta Army Museum sits on the Shizishan hillside in Yunlong District, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, and displays warrior figurines excavated from pits near the tomb of a Western Han dynasty king of Chu. Xuzhou was an important centre of the Han dynasty, and the figurines date to the second century BCE, roughly a century after the Qin terracotta army of Xi'an. Unlike the life-size Qin soldiers, the Han figures are much smaller, about 50 centimetres tall, and were made in large numbers to accompany the king. Several thousand were found in the pits, arranged in ranks of infantry, cavalry and chariots. The museum is built over the excavation site so visitors can look down into the pits from a walkway and see the figures in place in formation. The soldiers show individual details in hairstyle, clothing and facial expression, and many still retain traces of the original paint. Nearby galleries hold related grave goods, including pottery, bronze items and jade. The size of the museum makes it manageable in about one and a half hours, and its intimate scale is an advantage over larger sites. The Shizishan area also contains the tomb of the king of Chu, and the Xuzhou Museum and Han Stone Relief Museum are in the same city. Weekday mornings are calm, whereas weekends and school holidays bring groups. The museum is closed on Mondays, and Didi from Xuzhou East Station takes about twenty minutes. Exhibits include Chinese and some English text, and guides can be arranged at the entrance.