国内英语新闻:More terracotta warriors discovered in NW China

In addition to the No. 1 Pit, the 9901 Pit, covering 880 square meters in the southeast part of the Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang, is another excavation site.

The terracotta figures unearthed from the 9901 Pit are totally different from the warriors and horses in the No. 1 Pit. One terracotta figure is holding his left arm with his right hand, and another one is half-crouched.

According to Yu Chunlei, associate researcher at Shaanxi Archaeology Institute, the excavation of the 9901 Pit started in August last year, and one of the three tunnels has been opened and more than 20 terracotta figures have been unearthed.

Yu said the figures were badly damaged, so they were all discovered in fragments and archeologists have been busy repairing them.

The 20-plus terracotta figures were standing face-to-face. The figures facing south look quite strong and fat, while those facing north are much thinner, said Yu.

Meanwhile, a giant figure from the pit has attracted people's attention. The headless figure is 2.2 meters tall and its foot, which was found nearby, is 32 centimeters in length.

Experts said this figure is bigger than other ones in the pit and it could be as much as 2.5 meters tall if the figure's head were present, which would make him the Yao Ming, the famous Chinese basketball player, of the Qin Dynasty.

Zhao Huacheng, a professor of archeology from Peking University, said judging from the gestures and shapes of the terracotta figures and the appliances found in the pit, the figures were performers entertaining the emperor.

Zhao added that it remains unknown what, specifically, they were performing.