XI'AN - Bronze chariots that belonged to the first Chinese emperor will get new luster when they are lifted from a cramped subterranean showroom at a major museum to a new exhibition hall above ground.

Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, home to the 2,000-year-old Terracotta Warriors, will build the new hall for the horse-drawn chariots as part of an overhaul this year designed to accommodate a surge in visitors to the site, said Zhou Kuiying, deputy director of Shaanxi Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Zhou said that the underground showroom is too crowded during peak season.