They say that good things come to those who wait so I wondered, as I was waking up at 7am this morning to get to the British Museum to line up for the walk-in tickets to The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army exhibition, whether it was going to be worth it. I arrived at about 7.45 to find a line easily 200-300 people long and stretching all the way along the front of the BM gates and around the corner to about halfway around the block. As one of the ladies behind me commented it was almost like being in the line for Wimbledon tickets. Once the BM gates opened at 8 we trotted into the museum proper to buy our tickets. The end of the line for me ended up on the other side of the museum and into the Africa room. It moved fairly steadily but I did start to wonder whether I would get a ticket. By the time I was part of the established line it was fairly entertaining to watch the faces of the people only just joining the queue – hopeful that once they turned the corner the end of the line would be there but disappointed to find that the line stretched, and stretched, and stretched.

It only took an hour to finally get my tickets.

Amazingly, I managed to get tickets to enter the exhibition straight away which was the best result for me as I didn’t really want to have to traipse back and forth between home and the BM or, worse, have to fill in time on a Sunday morning when nothing was open until lunch!

So, what about the exhibition proper. I have to comment on the fact that it was absolutely heaving. I guess with only a few weeks to go until the exhibition closes and on a weekend I had to expect that. Like all exhibitions the first part of the exhibition was packed – all the spaces around the glassed exhibitions were at least 2-3 people deep so trying to read the little information squares (most of them in ridiculously tiny writing) was darn near impossible. However, once you moved through this section the crowd got a little more sparse and you could actually get closer to the displays.

I honestly didn’t know much at all about this terracotta army, let alone about the history of the Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, who created it which is such a shame considering just how much he contributed to the world – he founded the country that we now know as China, he built this amazing tomb complex (his eternal empire underground), established a uniform currency and script, and also created the Great Wall of China. That he was also cruel, ruthless, .. well, you’ll just have to make up your own mind about him.

Qin Shihuangdi was obsessed with the eternal life and did all he could to prolong his life. He spent more than 30 years building the 56 square kilometre tomb which houses what is essentially an undground kingdom filled with entertainers, civil officials, musicians, birds, horses, an apparently flowing river of mercury – all guarded by the Terracotta Army, of which 7,000 have been discovered to date.

Although there are bits and pieces displayed all around the exhibition the centrepiece is certainly the 12 complete warriors. Although seeing the display couldn’t quite demonstrate the vastness of the real thing in China instead you get to appreciate the intricate detail in the statues and the wonder of the uniqueness of each statue – clothing, hairpieces, facial features etc. are different on each statue. Pretty amazing skill considering it was two millenia ago when they were created.

Overall it took me about 40 minutes to work through the exhibition – most people average about an hour. It was frustrating trying to get through the crowds all of whom are of course entitled to have their time in the exhibition but just served to get in my way – ha ha. I’m not sure this is for everyone – at £12 I guess its quite hefty for an hour’s entertainment but if I never make it to China at least I can say I’ve witnessed something a bit special today. And all by 9.30am …. 🙂