The ancient army that's still growing

Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress Party, visits the museum in 2007, following in the footsteps of her late husband Rajiv Gandhi, the former prime minister of India, who came in 1988.[Photo/China Daily]

Famous visitors

The warriors never fail to impress and inspire, and to work at the museum is to find oneself a witness to many historic and private moments, according to He Hong, who first visited as a teenage girl in 1982, before becoming a museum guide 28 years ago.

"On Oct 16, 1986, two months into my work, I saw Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom. I will never forget her apple-green suit and matching gloves - it was one court meeting another court," she said.

Over the years, many world leaders and luminaries have visited the site, among them former US president Jimmy Carter. "Mr Carter has come twice; in 1981, and again in September this year," He said. "When he was here six weeks ago, he was spotted by fellow American tourists who gathered at the square outside of the exhibition halls, waved their hands and sang 'Happy Birthday'. Mr Carter, who would turn 90 on Oct 1, was visibly moved."

Other memories are tinged with sadness. In October 2007, Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress Party, visited the museum. She was following in the footsteps of her late husband, the former prime minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, who saw the warriors in 1988, three years before he was assassinated.

"Before she left, we presented her with a special gift: a handwritten piece by Mr Gandhi, describing his thoughts at seeing the colossal site, which was given to the museum at the end of his visit," He said. "The way Mrs Gandhi contemplated that piece of paper reminded me of another person: a man who had visited the museum a few years before, and had stood beside Pit 1 for hours holding a photo of his late wife.

"He told me that his wife had died in a car accident two years before, on the eve of their planned tour of the museum," the 45-year-old continued. "That gentleman may live in a different world to Mrs Gandhi, but in reliving the memories of their loved ones, they share an intense moment that transcends time."

For Xia Yin, the conservationist, "time" is the key word because it represents a major contradiction in his life. "When you are separated by more than two millennia from something you try to understand almost every single minute of your waking hours, you feel both the flow and the stillness of time," the 41-year-old said.

"The small inroads we have made into this gigantic historical conundrum over the past 40 years serve as a constant reminder of how quickly the time has elapsed. On the other hand, when you are out there piecing together a once-towering soldier from many broken shards, you are insulated from your surroundings, unaware of the passage of time."

Yuan Zhongyi still goes to the excavation site in Pit 1 once every week, where right behind the rows of restored soldiers, archeologists stoop over what appear to be warriors' torsos or limbs carefully brushing away the dust of two millennia.