Home to the Terracotta warriors, Xi'an is feeling the impact of a sharp drop of foreign tourists this year, local tourism operators said yesterday.

And if tourism continues to dip in the Northwest city, there is good reason for the warriors to turn into Terracotta "worriers", they said.

The ancient capital of 13 dynasties, with a history of more than 3,100 years, received only 551,000 international tourists (including arrivals from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) in the first 10 months of this year, according to statistics on the official website of China National Tourism Bureau (CNTA).