The queue stretched for several hundred meters outside the entrance of the History Museum of Taipei, according to Huang Yongchuan, vice curator of the museum. Only limited numbers of people were let in at a time, and the wait time was up to three hours, he said.

"About 600,000 people have visited here since the exhibit opened a month ago. Every weekend, citizens from central and southern Taiwan have gathered here in crowds," Huang said.

The majority of viewers are elementary school and middle school student groups, accompanied by teachers and parents.

Huang noted that visitors have been extremely attentive, listening closely to tour guides' run-through of the history of the life-size soldiers, funerary objects ordered by the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (BC221-BC206). More than 2,000 figures were excavated from a tomb in the western Chinese city of Xi'an in 1974.

"Although the visitors differ in age, they all sang high praise for the display that is part of the excellent Chinese culture. Many people have read about the terra cotta warriors of the Qin Dynasty in history books and they marveled at what they saw here," Huang commented.

The exhibition started December 15 last year and will last until mid-March.

(Xinhua 02/10/2001)