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  • EXHIBITION: The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor exhibits a repaired terracotta warrior with its original purple color restored (XINHUA)
  • RESTORATION: Broken clay pieces are put together in the restoration lab of the Mausoleum. In order to prevent the paint from peeling due to humidity loss, staff wraps the statues with plastic film (XINHUA)
  • NUMBERING: The clay pieces are numbered for further treatment in the restoration lab of the Mausoleum (XINHUA)
  • WORKMANSHIP: A section of clay shows signs that fingers and implements had applied paint to it (XINHUA)
  • RECORDING: A staff sketches the outline of a broken piece for data collection in the restoration workshop of Pit No. 9901 in the Mausoleum (XINHUA)
  • PRESERVATION: Restoration continues in a workshop in Pit No. 9901 of the Mausoleum (XINHUA)
  • PASTING: A staff glues a fallen piece of lacquer onto a broken statue in the restoration workshop of the Pit No. 9901 of the Mausoleum (XINHUA)
  • CONSOLIDATION: Special chemicals are used to reinforce the remaining paint on the sculpture in the restoration workshop of Pit No. 9901 in the Mausoleum (XINHUA)
  • CONSOLIDATION: Special chemicals are used to reinforce the remaining paint on the sculpture in the restoration workshop of Pit No. 9901 in the Mausoleum (XINHUA)
  • OBSERVATION: A staff repairs the pigment of a statue in the restoration workshop of Pit No. 9901 of the Mausoleum. As the workshop is built in the pit, tourists may observe restoration work from a short distance (XINHUA)
  • EXCAVATION: Technicians survey Pit No. 1 of the Mausoleum. The broken clay pieces are numbered for further excavation (XINHUA)
  • RUINS: Fragments bear labels in Pit No. 1 of the Mausoleum (XINHUA)
  • MATRIX: The restored statues are sent back to Pit No. 1 of the Mausoleum for exhibition (XINHUA)

The terracotta warriors are a collection of sculptures interred in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, Qin Shi Huang (259-210 B.C.). Local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an City, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, discovered the site in March 1974.

As the self-proclaimed first emperor of a unified China, Qin ushered in two millennia of successive imperial rule by different dynasties.

In 1987, the Mausoleum was listed as World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and became known as a wonder of the world.

Now as the evacuation work proceeds, more and more sculptures are being unearthed. At the same time, enormous progress has been made in the preservation and restoration of the relics. Specialists are trying to revive the faded sculptures and exhibit them in their original colors.

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