A Terracotta Warrior on display in New Zealand, Dec 13, 2018. 

　　A new exhibition opened at New Zealand's Te Papa museum in Wellington on Saturday, offering a rare opportunity to have an intimate and immersive encounter with some of the ancient Terracotta Warriors from the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC). For more than 2,000 years, the warriors have guarded the tomb of Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor.

　　The exhibition Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality features more than 120 sets of items, including eight warriors standing 180 centimeters tall, two full-size horses from the famous terracotta army, as well as gold, jade and bronze wares unearthed from ancient times.

　　The exhibits were selected from more than 20 museums in Shaanxi province in Northwest China.

　　Wagons on display at New Zealand's Te Papa museum in Wellington on Dec 13, 2018. 

　　Speaking at the exhibition's opening ceremony on Dec 13, Wu Xi, Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, said, "The Terracotta Warriors are among the eight wonders of the world, and representative of traditional Chinese civilization."

　　"This will be a dialogue between ancient China and an audience of New Zealanders that transcends time and space," she added.

　　The opening of the exhibition also featured performances of traditional Chinese dances and folk instruments such as the guzheng, or Chinese zither.

　　As the exhibition's opening ushers in the coming year of 2019, which is also the China-New Zealand Tourism Year, Guo Zongguang, director of the China Cultural Center in New Zealand, said, "Through this exhibition and a series of cultural events under the framework of the Tourism Year, we hope to present more Chinese cultural elements to New Zealanders so as to promote cultural exchanges between the two peoples."

　　The exhibition runs through April 22.

　　Chinese dancers perform at the exhibition's opening ceremony on Dec 13, 2018. 

　　Chinese dancers perform at the exhibition's opening ceremony on Dec 13, 2018.

　　Local dancers perform at the exhibition's opening on Dec 13, 2018.

　　Wu Xi, Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, speaks at the exhibition's opening on Dec 13, 2018. 

　　Guo Zongguang (right), director of the China Cultural Center in New Zealand, takes a photo with Evan Williams, chair of Te Papa's Board, Dec 13, 2018.