Tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi ........ 221-209 BC

China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, searched obsessively for the secret of eternal life. And perhaps he found it; although he died aged only 50, the extraordinary legacy of his burial chambers lives on.

In 1974, local farmers in Xi'an, China, discovered a vast complex of underground tombs while drilling for water. They have by chance stumbled upon the burial ground of Qin Shi Huangdi, First Emperor and the unifier of China.

According to legend, the First Emperor was buried with great treasure in a tomb decorated with pearl-ceiling (in a pattern that represents the cosmos) and channels dug in the ground with flowing mercury to represent the rivers in China. But the most famous feature is the tomb terracota Army, about 8,000 lives and life as a soldier-sized figurines buried with Qin Shi Huangdi to help the Emperor in the afterlife.

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