Seen many pictures of them and never thought the Qin Emperor’s Mausoleum would be that huge. In May/June this year (2016), we landed ourselves in Xi’an, China, and really wanted to see these warriors. We were blown away. What we saw was only a small fraction of what has been uncovered! It’s amazing! Back in in the day the emperors were really extravagant!
Interesting to know that that the warriors were only discovered in 1974 by farmer Yang Zhifa when he was digging a well, and this large piece of history is still being restored. Yang Zhifa is still alive and was initially given maybe around $50 for his discovery and his land was taken over by the Chinese government. He was left with really nothing… until in 1998 when the then President of the United States Bill Clinton visited the site and realised that Yang Zhifa was still alive. They met and Bill shake Whiff’s hand and from then on, he became famous and everyone wanted to know who Zhifa is and also take a picture with him. He now visits the site everyday and sits in his ‘office’ (where official souvenirs are sold as well) and he will sign his picture book and also take a picture with you for a small fee. Imagine the number of people from all over the world going through that office, and you can imagine how how much he is getting just from shaking hands and taking pictures! Good life! …yes, we did take a picture and have our book signed too!
