Terracotta army recruit ejected
A German student briefly fooled irate police in China’s famous terracotta warrior museum by posing as a soldier amongst the ancient statues, local media has said.
Pablo Wendel, dressed in a military uniform and carrying a small pedastal to stand on, jumped into an archaeological pit showcasing the 2000-year old terracotta soldiers and stood, motionless and unblinking, for several minutes until he was spotted by police.
After he was noticed, Wendel refused to budge, forcing police at the museum, near China’s ancient capital of Xian, to carry him out of the pit “as if he were a log”, state news agency Xinhua said.
Wendel, 26, admitted to police that since his youth he had been fascinated by the terracotta warriors, created to protect the nearby tomb of the legendary Emperor Qinshihuang who united China more than 2,200 years ago.
“I have always dreamed of disguising myself as a terracotta warrior among the real ones,” Xinhua quoted Wendel as saying.
As Wendel’s “performance art” did not harm any of the ancient relics, he was not arrested or charged but only given “serious criticism and education,” the report said.
His costume was also confiscated and he was sent back to eastern Hangzhou city, where he studies art, it said.