Nearly all of the advance tickets allotted for the London show were sold out, and hopeful exhibition-goers queued up from around 5:00 am each morning for a chance to buy the limited number of tickets that were available for that day.
Even though they showed only ten original warriors, the British Museum’s exhibition was still the largest showing of the Terracotta Army ever seen outside China, and only came about after years of negotiation.
The Times of London said the exhibition gave locals a chance to catch up with the most momentous archaeological discovery of the 20th century.
Reviewer Rachel Campbell-Johnston wrote: Not since Hitler hatched plans for an invasion of England had the arrival of an army been so anticipated in our country.
The statues in the exhibition were insured for between 750,000 pounds and 1.6 million pounds each (about NZ$2 million and $4.3 million).
The Terracotta Warriors have been major draw cards everywhere they have appeared. Approximately 40 million visitors from home and abroad have visited the Museum in China over the last 20 years.
850,000 attended the six-month exhibition at the British Museum, and a recent showing in Taiwan drew 50,000 visitors a week - a record.
A previous show in Taipei drew 1.65 million visitors during its five month run.
The Chinese government rarely allows any of the precious objects to leave - and even then only a relatively very few are loaned.
Many other objects have been found in the First Emperors complex, but none have captured the imagination the way the terracotta warriors have.
The 8th Wonder of the World!
- Terracotta Warriors of Qin Exhibition 
2024