Han Yangling Mausoleum

Underground Museum At The Tomb Of Emperor Jing Of The Han Dynasty And His Empress · Xianyang, Shaanxi

The tomb of the Han emperor Jing and his empress, north of Xi'an near the airport, and one of the most unusual museum experiences in China. Jing ruled in the second century BC during the quiet, prosperous decades before Emperor Wu's expansion, and his burial complex reflects that: instead of the life-size warriors of the Qin tomb, his pits hold tens of thousands of figures about a third life size, naked and armless as excavated, since they were originally dressed in silk robes with wooden arms that rotted away. They include soldiers, servants, eunuchs and, remarkably, women and domestic animals - pigs, dogs, sheep and oxen - a whole household and farm sent into the afterlife. The underground museum is built directly over the burial pits, with glass floors and walkways so that visitors walk above the figures lying where they were found, in dim light and cool air, looking down into the earth. It is far less visited than the Terracotta Army an hour away, and for many people the more affecting of the two.

Han Yangling Museum, Weicheng District, Xianyang, Xianyang, Shaanxi, China

Daily 8:30-19:00 from March to November with last entry 17:00, and 8:30-18:00 from December to February with last entry 16:30.

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