KEY POINTS:
Standing in line for book signings has never appealed to me much. But when the queue to get the signature of Yang Pei Yan looked quite short, I didn't hesitate and now I bore friends by showing them the cherished logogram characters on the flyleaf of my rather cheap paperback copy of Dreams.
The book is a guide to the Terracotta Army museum in Xi'an, Mr Yang is one of the surviving discoverers and I am one of millions who have been captured by the romance of this 2000-year-old exhibition of megalomania.
The well-known story of the finding of the figures is part of the fascination. In March 1974 Mr Yang and some other farmers were digging a well near the city of Xi'an in the north-central province of Shaanxi and unearthed fragments of a terracotta warrior. That they found them at all was an extraordinary stroke of luck because their well shaft turned out to be at the extreme edge of the pits where the army was buried. A couple of metres away and they would have missed it. Also singularly fortunate was the fact that they recognised the unpromising bits of pottery as something worth reporting.
Their find was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. They had stumbled across a treasure forgotten for centuries, a complete replica of the royal establishment of the emperor Qin Shi Huang, who ruled between 246 and 210BC, and was the first ruler of a unified China.
The ability of these figures to pull the crowds is uncanny. An exhibition of just 20 of them sent on tour this year gave the British Museum one of its biggest ever hits with a record 6000 tickets pre-sold and visitors queuing from 5am to secure one of the unreserved slots. Even replicas pull in the crowds.
But the real thing is another story. Having been carried along breathlessly in the crush at some of the worlds' great tourist sites like the Sistine Chapel, we had mixed feelings about encountering what has been described as one of the many claimants to the title of the Eighth Wonder of the World. The numbers of visitors since the museum opened on the site some 20 years ago were variously given as 30 million and 50 million and whichever was right, it was a daunting prospect.
What we had not taken on board was the gigantic scale of the enterprise. The excavations so far have uncovered three of the burial pits for the figures and they are simply enormous. The first pit - one of three that have been unearthed so far - is covered by a building that stretches into the distance like an assembly hall for Jumbo Jets and, on our early morning visit at least, absorbed the crowds with ease, leaving plenty of scope to pause in wonder.
Like most people we were familiar with those shots of groups of warriors, all wonderfully crafted and detailed, each face an individual work of art. What we had not expected was the sheer impact of the numbers - ranks upon ranks of figures, staunchly paraded to defend a dead emperor in the afterlife. This is one of those fabled attractions that outstrip the anticipation.
But the fascination comes not just from the figures but from the excavation itself. What is on show is a work in progress - or to be more accurate a work in suspension. So far about 1800 individuals have been uncovered and the archaeologists believe the total is likely to be around an incredible 8000. But no work is currently being undertaken.
Major excavation has been stopped, partly because of cost but mainly to allow techniques to catch up with what is required to preserve the figures.
Originally they were not a uniform plant-pot buff but brightly, individually painted. But the paint was laid over a coat of lacquer and the moment the warriors emerge into the light from their 2000 year entombment the colour peels off. Promising methods of stabilising the colour have been tried but more testing is needed before large-scale excavation resumes.
So what is on breathtaking display at the moment includes completed figures from the parade ground army, untouched pits and, compellingly, pits as they were first presented to the archaeologists - not complete warriors but trenches full of fragments of figures smashed to bits. Evoking almost as much admiration as the craftsmanship of their creators is the collection of half-restored figures, three dimensional jigsaws, testimony to a capacity for patience and painstaking trial and error.
But if the exhibits reminded us that archaeology is less Indiana Jones and more dusty backroom slog there was magic in wondering what those early digs were like. Looking at the separate exhibitions of superb bronze chariots and weapons brought an echo of the thrill of discovering that the infantrymen were only part of a complete world with court officials, musicians, cavalrymen and archers.
The long dead had been brought back to life and the faces you were looking at bore features exactly like those of some of the visitors in their Nike jackets. But you also think about the society from which the warriors came and that brings a bigger stretch for the modern imagination.
One estimate is that more than 700,000 people were absorbed by the creation of the emperor's memorial and, like so many ancient monuments, it speaks of a world of inconceivable exploitation. Mind you, it could have been worse. Earlier Chinese rulers were not content with replicas but had desired companions killed to accompany them in the afterlife.
Modern Chinese, from a society at least nominally communist, acknowledge the toiling masses but the millions of domestic visitors are celebrating the unity of their country and a past of stupendous glory and achievement. And the values of modern China are stridently evident here too.
Although the museum complex is vast and well displayed there's not a chance missed to turn a dollar. You can buy replicas of every conceivable shape and size - and if you want a life-size warrior to fill that gnome-sized space in the garden, they can be shipped anywhere in the world. The photo opportunities span posing with replicas to having a three-dimensional morphing of your face on a warrior's torso.
And then there's the indefatigable Mr Yang putting a little added value on the guidebooks - and he probably doesn't miss the communal farming one little bit.
John Gardner travelled to Xi'an courtesy of Viking River Cruises and World Journeys Limited of Ponsonby.
Host hotels were the Shanghai Pudong Shangri-La, The Xi'an Golden Flower Hotel and The Beijing Westin.
LUXURY TRAVEL: The Viking River Cruises Imperial Jewels of China trip includes a six-day Yangtse cruise, three nights in Beijing, two nights in Shanghai and one night in Xian. Internal flights in China are included and all meals are provided. All hotels are five star.
The company also has a 16-day China's Cultural Delights itinerary which includes Suzhou and Nanjing, Mt Jiu Hua, the Dongting Lake and Jingdezhen.
Other packages incorporating a Yangtse cruise include a 16-day Roof of the World itinerary and a 17 day Silk Road adventure.
For details: www.vikingrivers.com
