Discover Xi'an
Han Yangling Mausoleum Museum
汉景帝阳陵博物院
The tomb complex of Han emperor Jingdi, where you walk on glass flooring directly above open excavation pits of miniature painted figurines, livestock and granaries. A quieter, more intimate counterpoint to the Terracotta Army, and many visitors prefer it.
The story
What makes this place special
The joint tomb of Emperor Jing of the Western Han, who died in 141 BC, and his empress Wang, about 20km north of central Xi'an on the north bank of the Wei river, near the airport. Construction is dated to roughly 153-126 BC and the complex spreads over a very large area with 81 subsidiary burial pits around the emperor's mound. The figures here are nothing like the terracotta soldiers: they are around a third life size, reported in the tens of thousands, and they are not an army but a household and a state - servants, eunuchs, officials, grooms, dancers, concubines, and enormous numbers of domestic animals. They originally had movable wooden arms and were dressed in silk, all of which has rotted away, leaving naked armless torsos.
What you’ll discover
The main exhibit is an underground hall built directly over a group of the excavated pits, described as China's first underground museum. You put plastic covers over your shoes and walk on a thick glass floor above and alongside the open trenches, looking straight down at figures, pots and animal bones lying where they were found, in dim, carefully controlled light. Sources differ on exactly how many pits are shown - about ten or eleven of the 81. Above ground there is a separate display museum of finds, the burial mounds themselves in open parkland, and the remains of the ritual precinct.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- This is the thinking person's alternative to the Terracotta Army, and it is a fraction as busy. If you are an hour from the airport with time to spare, or the army's crowds have put you off, come here instead - it is about 20 minutes from the airport.
- The glass-floor hall is the attraction; the above-ground museum is ordinary. Go underground first while the light-adapted calm is uninterrupted.
- No flash photography, and the light is deliberately very low to protect the finds - a phone will struggle. Look rather than shoot.
- The point to grasp before you go is that these pits are a model of a court household, not an army. Once you know that, the pigs, dogs, sheep, grain jars and kneeling servants become far more interesting than another rank of soldiers.
- The site is spread over open country and the walk between the underground hall, the museum and the mounds is substantial, with shuttle carts at some times of year. There is almost no shade and nothing to eat nearby.
- Combine it with a late flight out of Xianyang airport rather than squeezing it into a Terracotta Army day - the two sites are on opposite sides of the city.
When to come
Any time of day on a weekday - crowds are rarely a problem here. Spring and autumn for the open parkland; the underground hall is cool in summer and the one comfortable part of the site in August.
Getting around
The underground hall is unexpectedly good: it is reached by lift and ramp, the glass walkway is level and wide, and a wheelchair can do the whole circuit, which makes this the most accessible major archaeological site near Xi'an. The shoe covers apply to wheels too, so ask at the entrance. The weak points are the distances outdoors between the hall, the museum and the burial mounds, and the unpaved or gravelled paths around the mounds, which are not pushable. Low lighting underground is worth knowing about for poor eyesight.
Worth knowing before you go
The underground museum is kept cool and the glass walkway can be slippery - wear flat shoes, and bring a layer even in summer.
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