Pieced together by experts, the Xi'an warriors and their steeds now stand in formation inside a few huge hangar-like buildings that enclose the diggings.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Visions of China: Xi'an

The road began as the result of a scam back in the Klondike days of 1898, when thousands of prospectors were scrambling to get to the diggings in the Yukon.

BBC: Journey into the Alaskan wild

Many less fit and able men perished, while thousands more lived in appalling conditions in overcrowded camps back in Valdez, unable to go on to the diggings or afford the extortionate passage back home.

BBC: Journey into the Alaskan wild