China's famed Terracotta Warriors to awe museum-goers in select US states

A Terracotta Warrior from the tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang, China's first emperor. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's famed "Terracotta Warriors" will go on display in a rare exhibition to be hosted by two US museums.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) will be the first host, the museum announced Monday.

"This exhibition is an exhibit of beauty and history. It is a way to celebrate those thousands of years of cultural history from China," Alex Nyerges, VMFA's director, said at a press conference at the Chinese embassy here.

Titled "Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China", the exhibition will feature more than 130 artifacts, including 10 life-size Terracotta Warriors.

These full-size statues were part of the baked earth army sculpted by artisans for decades so that they could be buried with Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China (260-210 BC), and serve him in his afterlife. The site in Xi'an city in northwestern China, where the statues were excavated, along with clay chariots and horses, has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and is now part of a museum.

Other artifacts spanning from China's Western Zhou Dynasty, which ruled from 11th century to 771 BC, and the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) will also be on display.

The exhibition "will bring us together as people and the two most important countries in the world that have ever been and ever will be," Nyerges said.

Wu Xi, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese embassy, said the 130 cultural relics will serve as a window for people in the United States to learn about Chinese history and culture.

The exhibition will be at VMFA from Nov 18 to March 11, 2018, after which it will move to the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio.