Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Terracotta Warriors Museum.
The famous Terracotta Warriors Museum is a heritage of the world and he is "deeply impressed" with the way it has been preserved, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in the visitors' book after his visit there on Thursday.
PM Modi had visited the museum after reaching the ancient city of Xian, the first stop on his three-day maiden visit to China. The city is the hometown of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who in a departure from protocol, had hosted him there.
The Prime Minister spent about an hour going around the museum and inquired about the excavation work being undertaken there.
"The Terracotta Army is a heritage of the world. It is a testimony to China's civilisational achievement," the Prime Minister wrote in the visitors' book. "I am deeply impressed by the extraordinary care with which this precious heritage has been preserved."
The museum complex houses a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor who unified the country in 221 BC. It also houses the emperor's mausoleum.
Qin was the first in China to construct a mausoleum city, to build coffin chambers and subordinate palaces in the mausoleum. The first emperor also started the ritual of building chambers for those buried alive with the owner of the tomb on a large scale.
The terracotta sculptures are a form of funerary art, which were meant to protect the emperor in his afterlife.
Scientists estimate that there are about 8,000 warriors in three different pits and many of those warriors remain buried underground, besides 130 chariots, 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals and also include warriors chariots and horses.
Other terracotta non-military figures are also found in pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.
Scientists believe that it took about 700,000 workers to build this army.