The year was BC221 when Qin Shihuang - the first emperor of China - started to build a royal tomb for himself despite his infatuation with immortality. Through the prodigious endeavours of more than 700,000 forced labourers, the mausoleum was completed 37 years later. Legend has it that, to ensure utmost secrecy, all those who worked on the project were buried alive with the dead emperor. There were no survivors. Over the next two thousand years, historians, tomb-raiders, and happy- go-lucky adventurers alike have been homing in on the royal treasure buried within. However, no one has ever succeeded in locating the entrance to the mausoleum. Thus the bulk of the first emperor’s treasure, including his much-fabled elixir of youth, remains intact.
