Tourists salute a terracotta army hotel that is flushed with success
Print Edition
Try to picture life-sized terracotta sculptures by your side as you eat, sleep and use the bathroom. A hotel in Xi鈥檃n offering this fully immersive experience has become popular among both Chinese and foreign guests.
The three themed suites, ranging from 80 to 100 square meters each, are located in downtown Xi鈥檃n, home to the terracotta army.
Discovered in 1974, the army is one of China鈥檚 biggest tourist attractions, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. It was built by Emperor Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221 -206 BC) who unified China for the first time.
The Airbnb-style hotel is owned by Guo Zhihua, a 53-year-old Xi鈥檃n local. A taxi driver in the 1990s, Guo spent most of his life driving tourists to see the warriors in the Emperor Qinshihuang Mausoleum Site Museum.
鈥淢any of my colleagues parked their cars, smoked and chatted with each other,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut I preferred to go to the pits with my passengers to tell them stories about the warriors, like a tour guide. Over the years, I have grown to like the warriors very much.鈥
Guo placed more than 200 warrior replicas in the three hotel rooms, which he named pit one, two and three.
The sculptures are under the beds, the wash basins, in front of toilet seats and in the walls. Tiles and pillowcases are also painted with images of the stern-faced soldiers.
As the bed light shines through a specially-coated cover, the images of the warrior formations multiply so that the guests can feel like an emperor reviewing his troops, Guo said.
Guo鈥檚 rooms, costing US$100 to US$200 a night, have drawn thousands of visitors from 30 countries and regions since it opened in 2008.
鈥淚 was banking on the growing interest in Chinese history,鈥 Guo said.
The hotel is fully booked until May. 鈥淥ne day, I received 400 reservations in two hours,鈥 he said.
Xi鈥檃n is a popular tourist site. During the three-day New Year holiday, the city received 2.453 million tourists, up 17.16 percent year on year. Tourists spent 983 million yuan (US$143 million), up 24.24 percent.
However, the hotel is not to everyone鈥檚 taste. Some visitors described it as cheesy replica and said it was horrifying to sleep in a tomb. One complained in a viral video that he could not sleep with warriors staring him down.
Guo remains unfazed.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to offer more history-themed hotels with Han and Tang dynasty decorations so overseas tourists can truly experience Chinese history and then, back home, tourists can carry on the Chinese culture,鈥 he said.
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