[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Gang Gang, a 13-year-old with autism

In the eyes of Gang Gang, a 13-year-old with autism from the northwestern Chinese city of Xi'an, his hometown's most recognized symbols, the Terracotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) army, aren't just the monochrome sandy yellow figures visible to most observers.

"He stared at what lay in front of his eyes in a way a 3-year-old would at a new toy. That lasted a few seconds, before he ran forward, pressed himself against the railing that separated him from the soldiers in the pit and stretched out an arm," said Ma Lingzhi, a museum guide who watched the youngster's first encounter with the 2,000-year-old clay-based figures.

"He didn't say much, but he must have a miraculous vision of his muted dolls," she said. "When asked to paint a soldier at the end of the tour, he painted a figure in a rainbow of colors on the sheet of paper."