Things I am going to love about China: 6 of 100

The Terracotta Army

Over 2,000 years ago an emperor had an idea: "Hey," Quin Shi Huang thought to himself, "I've already got a real army, now I want a toy army".

When I was a boy the most disappointing thing about my Star Wars Kenner action figure collection was that I only had one Stormtrooper! I mean, I had all the other good guys; Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, Ackbar- hell, even Nien Nunb. But who are they going to fight against? One storm trooper?

Now Quin Shi Huang had it right. Not only did he commission an army of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, 520 horses, and 150 cavalry to be built for him- they were life size- bigger even! And they were each individualized. The original Kenner action figure collection fit for an emperor! Even Palpatine would have been jealous!

Quin Shi Huang liked his collection so much that they were buried with him, for two millennia, until they were unearthed in 1974 by some local farmers.

Today, the collection remains unearthed at the resting place of Quin Shi Huang in Shaanxi province, not so far from where I live now, but even closer to where I am going to be living next fall. So will this manufactured wonder warrant a trip from yours-truly? You bet your clay-based-unglazed-ceramic ass it will! Maybe I’ll even bring along my lone plastic Kenner storm trooper.