The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army at The British Museum, London

"The (Children's) Terracotta Army"

After a long wait, we finally went to see The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army exhibit at the The British Museum. We booked our tickets about six months ago and have been looking forward to it since. The exhibit turned out to be well worth both the wait and the ₤12 price of admission.


The layout of the exhibit provided a very good history of both the first Emperor of China and his Terracotta Army. There were many interesting artifacts such as: coins, weapons, bells, etc...all of which provided a good context for different bits of life back in the time the Army was made. There was also a very interesting display on how the Terracotta Army was constructed which added to our appreciation of the overall exhibit.


The exhibit was more than just terracotta soldiers, but also included terracotta acrobats, horses, civil officials, even a strongman! The statues were very well preserved and it was amazing to look at them and think they had been created so long ago. We were surprised at the size of the soldiers, as they were all around 6 feet tall. The fact that the figures have different facial features and expressions was also very impressive.


While there is only a small selection of statues in the exhibit, you get an idea for what the actual site in China must be like where there are thousands upon thousands of statues, and supposedly rivers of mercury, surrounding the tomb of the Emperor. Overall, they were definitely some of the most interesting artifacts we have seen in quite sometime.


While overall we really enjoyed the exhibit, there were several things we found annoying:

1. The exhibit was far too crowded! Entry into the exhibit was done based on specific timed entries (chosen online when purchasing the tickets) but once you are inside you are free to stay as long as you want. All of the displays were packed with people which made it very difficult to read the posted descriptions. I realize demand for the exhibit is extremely high but the overbearing crowds really do make it hard to enjoy. We did go in the afternoon but as tickets were so limited, we didn't have a choice.


2. In true Communist fashion they strictly controlled entry and didn't allow you to take pictures inside the exhibit (hence why the picture at the top of the post is not from inside the actual exhibit). But, in true capitalist fashion charged ₤25 for the softcover guidebook! ₤35 for the hardcover (on sale from ₤40)! And, the audio guide was an extra ₤3.50 on top of the ticket price. If we had both opted to get the audio guide and the exhibit book, which we usually buy, the whole trip would have cost over ₤50, which is a lot more than we like to spend to visit a museum.

Overall Grade: B+