Includes an eye witness report by Vincent van Vilsteren, the accompanying curator from the Drents Museum.

During spring and summer, visitors were able to enjoy a highly exceptional dual exhibition in the Netherlands, featuring Chinese archaeological finds; the famous Terracotta Army of Xi’an in the Drents Museum in Assen; and Antique Bronzes, masterpieces from the Shanghai Museum, in the Groninger Museum.The bronzes date from 2000 to 3800 years ago. Although this period is aptly referred to as the ‘Bronze Age’, craftsmen were already also using such materials as jade, ivory, turquoise, lacquer and silk. The Terracotta Army is part of the vast mausoleum that the first Emperor of China had built for himself and which was finally completed in 208 BC, two years after his death.

Only in particularly exceptional circumstances are these artefacts permitted to leave China, and the dual exhibition was composed exclusively for the Netherlands.