Wednesday night, a crowd of nearly 100 assembled in the lobby of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce (RCC) for the unveiling of the first of 10 seven-foot-high fiberglass Terracotta Warriors.
Local artist Herman Zheng undraped his statue to thunderous applause.
The symbolism behind his soldier is the connection between China and Canada.
He painted the front of the sculpture to represent the building of the railway by Chinese immigrants as an ode to his grandfather, who helped build sections of the Canadian Pacific Railway in B.C.
On the back of the sculpture is one of China's most beloved landmarks - the Great Wall of China.
The RCC sponsored Zheng's statue as part of the Terracotta Warrior Arts project, a fundraising initiative of the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities and Easter Seals, benefiting children with disabilities.
Richmond will be home to 10 of the 35 warriors - all of which will stand at various high-profile spots across Vancouver and Richmond.
Zheng's Terracotta Warrior is now on display outside the RCC office, located at the corner of Cooney and Ackroyd roads.
This limited edition public art project will run from April 24 to October 2012.
Each of the society's past arts projects has raised between $300,000 and $500,000, all going to the Easter Seals houses and camps for children, as will be the case for this project.
"This is a limited edition project confined to the Lower Mainland, and we hope to raise at least $100,000 when we auction them off later this year," said Stephen Miller, president and CEO of the BC Lions Society.
"We are very excited with this art project."
The society hopes to auction them off on Sept. 20 during a banquet dinner and auction.
Meanwhile, three Richmond artists took part in this project - Tinia Kaczor, Jeanette Jarville and Zheng.
For more information about the BC Lions Society Terracotta Warriors or to download a map of where each warrior will be displayed, visit www.terracottawarriors.ca.
