These photos of PM Modi at China's Terracotta Warriors Museum will make you smile

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday began his official visit to China from the historic city of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, going round the Terracotta Warriors Museum and the ancient Da Xingshan Buddhist temple where he offered prayers.

Modi, who landed in Beijing early on Thursday on the first leg of his three-day China visit, went to the Terracotta Warriors Museum that houses neat rows of terracotta sculptures, depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.

The museum has a collection of over 8,000 life-size clay warriors.

Attired in a white kurta-churidar with a brown shawl draped around his shoulder, Modi went around the museum and listened attentively to the guide.

He spent an hour at the museum. The museum complex, a UN World Heritage site, also houses Qin's mausoleum and was built in the 2nd century BC.

He wrote in the visitors' book: "The terracotta army is a heritage of the world. It is a testimony to China's civilizational achievements. I am deeply impressed by the extraordinary care with which this precious heritage has been preserved." (IANS)