Terracotta Army

What do you do when Sydney is a blistering forty one degrees? Head for air conditioning! My venue of choice was the Art Gallery of NSW to visit their First Emperor exhibition.

The thought of the Terracotta Army has always amazed me. I'd love to see it in China one day. I was kicking myself for not getting tickets to see the exhibition at the British Museum a couple of years ago. Therefore when I read before Christmas that there was going to be an exhibition in Sydney this year I was determined to visit.

I was a little disappointed when I discovered that they 'only' have ten statues in Sydney. Despite the small size of the exhibition it has been very well done. The eight soldiers and two horses stand in formation in the centre of the room allowing you to walk all the way round them. I stood gazing at the soldiers for a long time, captivated by their detail and imagining what it must be like to see a thousand of them together. A bit like my visit to the Taj Mahal, I didn't want to leave.

Aside for the terracotta figures there are a few magnificent bronzes in the exhibitions. I particularly liked the swans and two chariots, one of which you can see above. $20 a ticket is a bit on the expensive side, but it is certainly a lot cheaper than an air fare to China.