【英文原声朗读】Bronze horses, chariots from Qin Dynasty get new home

Bronze horses, chariots from Qin Dynasty get new home

①If China's first emperor, Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), were still alive, he might notice that some elements of his underground army have left their Terracotta Warrior comrades this week.

②A newly built museum designed to exhibit the bronze chariots and horses excavated from the emperor's mausoleum will open to the public in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on May 18. The artifacts had been moved there by Wednesday.

③The idea is to highlight the objects' historical value and enable tourists to more easily and clearly understand the period. Previously, the chariots and horses were exhibited in a showroom of the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum and not far from the renowned Terracotta Warriors, where tourist traffic was heavy. The new museum is expected to ease congestion.

④The new museum is just 240 meters from the chariot excavation site, which helps give visitors a firsthand experience at an archaeological dig.

⑤For the move to the new museum, the Qin bronze chariots and horses were disassembled into some 100 parts or assemblies, packaged in soft padding and then sealed in dozens of boxes.

⑥As with the Terracotta Warriors, the bronze chariots and horses are burial objects and are widely believed to resemble the real imperial chariots and horses used by Qinshihuang.