The Chinese Emperor's army is ready to charge.

The soldiers, thousands of them, are lined up row after row as far as the eye can see.

However, the army will never attack.

The soldiers are not real.

They are the size of real soldiers, but they are made of terracotta, a strong kind of clay.

They are more than 2,000 years old.

Amazingly, no two soldiers are alike.

Their faces are different.

Some are old.

Some are young.

Some look tired.

Some look like they can't wait for the battle to start.

Their uniforms are different.

The uniforms are exact copies of what real soldiers wore.

The archers and foot soldiers were the lowest-ranking soldiers, so they have the plainest uniforms.

The generals, of course, wore the most elegant uniforms.

Some of their caps had feathers.

Sometimes their shoes turned up at the toes.

Their armor had small iron rings that looked like fish scales.

Here you see an image of a clay general.

It shows how he looked 2,000 years ago.

Every single soldier in the Emperor's army was painted with bright colors.

So were the terracotta horses.

Now, most of the soldiers have only tiny traces of paint left.

Scientists are trying to create a special varnish to brush over painted figures to hold the paint in place.

Today, craftsmen near the pits where the soldiers were found make copies of the soldiers.

This helps archaeologists learn more about how people made the original army.

Modern craftsmen have much better kilns than those in ancient times.

Kilns are ovens that bake clay until it hardens.

Yet no copies ever come out as hard or shiny as the originals.

Why?

Nobody knows.

It is a mystery.

An even bigger mystery is what lies inside the Emperor's tomb.

Nobody knows the answer because the tomb has never been opened.

The Chinese government plans to keep it closed for now.

Work will not start until archaeologists are sure the tomb can be opened without damaging any of the treasures inside.

As for the Emperor's body, according to historical records, it rests in a heavy bronze coffin.

In ancient times, the custom was to dress the dead body of someone important in a suit the Chinese made from hundreds of pieces of thin jade.

At that time, jade was more precious than gold.

The Emperor died when he was 49 years old.

Three years after his death, peasants rose up against the Empire.

One of their leaders started a new royal family.

Yet now, millions of people come to the Emperor's burial place.

They visit the covered pits to see the clay soldiers.

The Emperor lives on in the memory of all who see his amazing hidden army. you