The Terracotta Army

Discovered in 1974 by farmers digging a well, the army is some 8,000 life-size soldiers, horses and chariots sculpted to guard Qin Shi Huang — China's first emperor — into the afterlife. Three pits sit under aircraft-hangar roofs 35km east of the city; start with Pit 1, the vast main phalanx, then double back to the smaller Pit 3 (the command post) and the bronze chariots in the exhibition hall. Hire a guide or rent the audio set — bare, the rows of figures don't explain themselves. Every face was individually modelled; no two are the same.