National treasure

China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a sovereign state located in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The PRC is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The PRC also claims Taiwan – which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity – as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War.

The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.

The figures, dating from around the late third century BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits near by Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were also found in other pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

 Shaanxi (help·info) (simplified Chinese: 陕西; traditional Chinese: 陝西; pinyin: Shǎnxī; Wade–Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal map spelling: Shensi) is a province of the People's Republic of China, officially part of the Northwest China region. It includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qin Mountains (Qinling) across the southern part of this province. Shaanxi is the historical home, along with Gansu of the dialect of the Dungans, of the Hui people, who emigrated out of China to Central Asia.

The Qin bronze chariot (銅車馬) or (秦銅車馬) is a two-piece Qin dynasty bronze artifact. The first piece "bronze chariot one" (一號銅車馬) consist of a driver with two seats in the chariot with a bronze umbrella. The second piece "bronze chariot two" (二號銅車馬) is a separate carriage. Both are about 50% the size of a real horse. The chariot was unearthed in 1980 at the Qin Shi Huang mausoleum. It is one of 64 designated historical artifacts that can never leave Chinese soil.

When the artifact was first found, it was in broken pieces. It took five years to restore both the chariots together. Today the chariot is stored at the "Museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang" (秦始皇兵馬俑博物館) in Shaanxi. In 2010 the piece was showcased at the Shanghai Expo as an exhibit inside the China Pavilion building.