Terra-cotta warriors museum gets makeover

A project to improve the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, kicked off on Thursday.

As part of the construction of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors Cultural Attraction, the project includes construction on the north gate and a square of the museum, which will measure a total area of 73,909 sq meters, with planned buildings measuring 4,934 sq meters in floor area. The project aims to be completed in April, 2016.

The Qin Terra-cotta Warriors Cultural Attraction consists of two major parts: the museum area and the cemetery area, and improvements will be made to better serve tourists and improve heritage protection.

The Qin terra-cotta warriors and horses were made in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) and discovered in March, 1974, and are a world-famous tourist attraction receiving millions of visitors every year. In 2013, more than 4.55 million tourists both home and abroad visited the world heritage wonder.

In 2013, the provincial government issued a document to further promote the cultural and tourism industry and 10 construction projects were slated to be carried out. The construction of the Qin Terra-cotta Warriors Cultural Attraction is one of the 10 projects.