China's famous Terracotta Army gets digital boost

China's world famous Terracotta Army attraction has been given a digital boost thanks to the Chinese web-based encyclopedia Baidu Baike, in partnership with the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum.

Together they've created a large-scale, high definition "digital museum" for the country's UNESCO World Heritage site, reports China News Service.

A screenshot of the online "digital museum" for China's world famous Terracotta Army attraction launched by Baidu Baike. [Screenshot: baike.baidu.com]

The digital museum went live on May 18, 2017, to coincide with the 41st International Museum Day. 

The move is aimed at providing visitors to the site with an experience that is "closest to the true collections", said Hou Ningbin, president of the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum.

Created by Baidu Baike, the online museum showcases Pits 1 and 3 of the four main pits that have been excavated in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province. 

A screenshot of the online "digital museum" for China's world famous Terracotta Army attraction launched by Baidu Baike. [Screenshot: baike.baidu.com]

Visitors can take a virtual tour using their phones or computers, thanks to 360 degree panoramic photography with 20 billion pixel image resolution available.

Produced by the Chinese search engine Baidu, Baidu Baike is planning to integrate the country's museum resources using the latest technology and via the internet. 

So far it's worked with 220 Chinese museums, according to the search portal.

Baidu Baike has set itself an ambitious goal of building a bridge of knowledge to help people from all over the world access China's historical collections easily, according to Chen Hechun, a company representative.