The Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang(chin. 秦始皇陵, Pinyin: qínshǐhuánglíng) is located 35 km east of Xi'an. Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of China(259 BC - 210 BC), and his tomb remains a symbol of the infinite power and ego of China's first Emperor. The site was chosen between the Li Mountain to the south and the Wei River to the north. It is the first and largest imperial mausoleurn with the most numerous sacrificial objects in China.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang began to build the mausoleum for himself since he came to throne at the age of 13.After the unification of the country in 221B.C.the project grew large in scale. Over 720,000 convicts from all parts of the empire were conscripted as laborers. The work continued even after the emperor's death, taking in total,38 years. The fact that one of the satellite pits of the terra-cotta army, Pit NO.4,was unfinished and remained empty, suggests that the planned work was not completed.

The Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang which covers 56.25 square km, was designed in accordance with the layout of the emperor's capital. The high of the tomb today's is 1390m, in perimeter was 2087.65m. The Mausoleum is rectangular in shape and enclosed by two walls-the inner city wall and the outer city wall. The inner wall covers a area of 79sqm, and the outer wall 213 sqm. The walls no longer exist but the foundations halved remained. Both walls featured comer towers and broad gates on four sides, with the arrangement resembling a real city.

The underground palace of the mausoleum is the core of the whole buildings. Some survey indicates that the ceiling is studded with jewels depicting the sky, and mercury was pumped in mechanically to create images of flowing river. Trial digs have revealed high contents of mercury in the soil. Candles made from the fat of the walrus were said to bum for a very long time .This indicates that the interior of the mausoleum is grand and gorgeous palace and treasure house. It is said that the underground palace was brightly lit by whale oil lamps for eternity. The coffin of Emperor Qin Shihuang was cast in bronze. The palaces and other buildings within the walls of the mausoleum were destroyed. Only the huge pyramid of the mound survived the devastation, In 1987 the mausoleum was by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.