The famous terracotta soldiers were discovered in the 1970s by some farmers digging a well

The famous terracotta soldiers were discovered in the 1970s by some farmers digging a well. The discovery set off a massive archaeological excavation which is still going on.
	I was there during the May Day holiday, which accounted for the heavy crowding, but I suspect most days have a large number of visitors. The original Quonset hut shelter which covers the original pit is still the most important. There are two other excavation sites, but they don't contain anything like this spectacular display.
The location of the tomb is about an hour outside of the city. The tomb itself has not been excavated, only the area containing the terracotta soldiers, who were supposedly intended to protect the emperor in the netherworld. It has been determined that the soldiers were originally realistically colored.
Marauding soldiers from rival troops supposedly broke into the area housing the soldiers, destroying many and setting fire to the logs providing the protective cover. This led to the severe deterioration which the archaeologists discovered.