Emperor Qin's Terracotta Army

In March of 1974, Chinese farmers were drilling for water when they came across a curious discovery. Instead of hitting water they came across pieces of ancient statues. The farmers told authorities who eventually dug out the artifacts to find one, then another, then another terra cotta soldier dating back from 200 B.C. Excavation has continued ever since and their discovery ended up being the ancient burial site of Emperor Qin, and what the Chinese now claim the 8th wonder of the world.
The Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi reigned over the territory of Qin until 221 BC and then over a unified China until his death in 210 BC. Whoever said “you can’t take it with you” never talked to Mr. Qin. For his death, he had huge armies constructed to accompany him to the after life.
Emperor Qin was buried in a separate mausoleum and his armies were split into three different chambers. The largest of these chambers is thought to house up to 2,000 terracotta soldiers as well as horses and carriages.
Most of the burial site remains underground but reconstructing it to its former glory means not only digging the soldiers back up but putting the pieces of each back together in a complex puzzle. Thousands of years of the earth shifting has shattered most of the soldiers many of them stand today without heads.
Next to the sheer size of the tomb and the quantity of the soldiers, perhaps the most amazing part is that each of them is entirely unique. The soldiers differ in their facial features, hairdos, their uniforms, and even the details of how they rolled up their sleeves.
On top of that, each of the soldiers were buried with their weapons. Wooden crossbows were lost through time but cast iron arrows and swords are still found in excavation.
Incredible ancient constructions around the world all claim to be the 8th wonder of the world. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is another I’ve been lucky enough to visit myself but without comparing it to Emperor Qin’s army, I’d say they are both worthy of being called one of the world’s remaining ancient wonders.

the other Xi'an, China (the town aside from the terra cotta soldiers)

A man bikes up to a local shop to deliver beer. Inside, fires burn to cook some street food.
Elderly Chinese in town find numerous ways to 'exercise'. On a rainy Tuesday morning, couples were dancing in the park, some exercised their vocal chords with Chinese Opera, and this lady practiced hacky-sack outside her meat shop.
A large stack of dumplings cook waiting for buyers in the Muslim quarters. My Chinese is so poor it's guess the filling and hope for the best.
This man may be busy on his cell phone but that doesn't mean he's not headed to the gym to drink some weight gainer and work on his pecs.
In the back alleys I got strange looks from everyone who looked my way. Here, bicycle taxis sat unused and unlocked while a young boy and his father walked home.

How can you say you don't like it if you've never tried it?: A daily special from the Xi'an Muslim market

IF you're just dying to know what a 36 hour train ride through central China is like -and I know you are- grab a pillow

and lay down next to this slide show for the day and a half. If you want to make it even more realistic, try speaking broken Chinese to imaginary people (it doesn't matter if they aren't there, they wouldn't understand if they were), eat only strange box-bowls of spicy instant noodles, and when using the bathroom squat over the toilet.