The museum housing the thousands of terra cotta warriors and horses that were buried along with Chinese emperor Qin Shihuang nearly 2,000 years ago had 1.56 million visitors last year, up 12 percent from 1998.

The museum's revenue totaled 95.76 million yuan (11.3 million U.S. dollars) in 1999, an increase of 17 percent over the previous year, and ranking second only to the Palace Museum (Forbidden City)in Beijing, according to the museum's curator, Wu Yongqi.

This year, the museum plans further excavations at the site in cooperation with several archaeological teams to prepare for the construction of a relics museum.

Repair work on the relics unearthed will be accelerated, said Wu.

The museum, 37 kilometers east of Xi'an, the capital of northwestern China's Shaanxi Province, opened to the public 21 years ago. It houses over 7,000 life-sized terra cotta warriors and horses first discovered in 1974.

The lifelike soldiers and horses have been referred to as the 8th wonder of the world. They were made over 2,200 years ago during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 207 BC) and were buried less than a mile from the emperor's tomb to insure his glory in the afterlife.