Home Tag Archives: terracotta warriors

Tag Archives: terracotta warriors

Waiting to Exhale

terra cotta warriors at an excavation, Xi'an, central China

I find myself in the centre of a massive pit, surrounded by thousands of rigid warriors tall enough to look down on me. Posture perfect despite their years – twenty-two centuries – they stand in defiant battle formation. Overwhelmed, I back up to photograph a wiseacre standing behind a warrior who is missing his head. I accidentally bump against the warrior behind me. Down he goes. Then down go a hundred, like dominos.