One of the original terracotta warriors, fallen with time.
One of the original terracotta warriors, fallen with time. Andrew and Annemarie/CC BY-SA 2.0

Police in Xi’an, capital of China’s Shaanxi Province recently raided an illegal replica of the world-famous Terracotta Army, and leveled it to rubble. That’s what happens when you try to fool tourists.

As reported in The Irish Times, the counterfeit soldiers were discovered at the Suyuanqinhuangling resort in Lintong, not a great far from the actual historic statuary army. The large resort, covering 600 square meters actually had a pretty good scam going until the cops got tipped off thanks to an online complaint.

The resort was working in conjunction with local guides and taxi drivers to bring gullible tourists to their attraction instead of the real deal. These con artists would then collect a commission on delivering their marks. In addition to scamming visitors out of an authentic experience, a local official also noted that it hurt tourism in the area in general.

Officers destroyed around 40 statues, leveling them to bits. Hopefully this will send a message to other imposter tourist attractions: watch your back.