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.Xi'an
Tel: 029  Population: 6,620,600
Xi'an, over a period of 2000 year has seen the rise and fall of numerous Chinese dynasties and the monument and archaeological sites in the city and the surrounding plain are a reminder that once upon a time Xi'an stood at the very centre of China.

  Today Xi'anis one of China'smajor tourist attraction. The big draw card is the Army of Terracotta Warriors (Bingmayong), but there are countless other sights scattered in and around the city There is also an Islamic element to Xi'an, found in tucked away mosques and busy marketplaces, that lends the city a touch of the exotic rarely found in Chinese cities further east.

. Xi'an History
The earliest evidence of human habitation in the Xi'anarea dates back 6000 years to Neolithic times, when the then lush plains proved a perfect area for primitive Chinese tribes to establish villages. In time, the legendary Zhou established a capital on the banks of the Fen he near present day Xi'an.

. Xianyang
Between the 5th and 3red centuries BC, China split into five separate states locked in perpetual war, until the state of Qin conquered everyone and everything. Emperor Qin Shihuang became the first emperor of a unified China and established his capital at Xianyang, near modern-day Xi'an. His longing for immortality gave posterity a remarkable legacy-a tomb guarded by thousands of terracotta soldiers.

  The Qin dynasty crumbled shortly after the death of Qing Shihuang. In 207 BC it was overthrown by a revolt led by a commoner, Liu Pang. Pang established the Han dynasty, which lasted a phenomenal 400 years, during which time the boundaries of the empire were extended deep into central Asia. But the dynasty was never really secure or unified. It collapsed in AD 220, making way fro more than three centuries of disunity and war.

  Nevertheless, then Han empire set a a precedent that lingered on in the dreams of would-be empire builders, a dream that came to fruition in the Sui and tag dynasties, which ruled from the city of Chang¡¯an.

. Chan'an
After the collapse of the Han, the north of China was ruled by foreign invaders, and the south by a series of weak and short lived Chinese dynasty. When the Sui dynasty untied the country, it built the new capital of Chang'an in AD 582 as a deliberate reference back to the glory of the Han period, a symbol of reunification.

  The Si was short lived and in 618 it was replaced by the tang. Under the tang, Chang'an became the largest city in Asia, if not the world. It attracted courtiers, merchants, foreign traders, soldiers, artists, entertainers, priests and bureaucrats, and embarked the tang on a brilliant period of creativity.

  The city'sdesign encompassed outer walls that formed a rectangle, 10km east-west and just over 8km north-south, enclosing a neat grid system of streets and wide avenues. The walls, punctuated by 11 gates, were make of pounded earth faced with sundries bricks, and were probably about 5.5m high and between 5.5m and 9m thick at the base. Within these walls the imperial court and government conducted their business. Inside yet another walled city.

  Communication between the capital and the rest of China were developed, mainly by canals that linked Chang'an to the grand Canal and to other strategic places-another system that was also developed and improved by the Tang. Roads radiated from the capital, with inns for officials, travelers, merchants and pilgrims.

  This transport infrastructure enabled chang'an to draw in taxes and enforce its power. The city became a centre of international trade, and a large foreign community established itself. Numerous foreign religions built temples and mosques, including Muslims, the Zoroastrians of Persia, and the Nestorian Christian sect of Syria.

  The growth of the government elite and the evolution of a more complex imperial court drew vast numbers of people to serve it. By the 8th century the city had a phenomenal population of two million.

  Towards the en d of the 8th century the Tang dynasty and its capital began to decline. From 775 onwards the central government sugared reverses at the hand of provincial warlords and Tibetan and Turkic invaders. The setbacks exposed weaknesses in the empire, and although the tang still maintained overall supremacy, the gradually lost control of the transport networks and the tax-collection system on which their power depended.

  The tang dynasty fell in AD 907 and China once again broke up into a number of independent states. Chan'an was eventually relegated to the role of a regional centre.

. Orientation
Xi'an retains the same rectangular shape that characterized Chang'an, with streets and avenues laid out in a neat grid pattern.

  The central block of the modern city is bounded by the city walls. The centre of town is the enormous Zhong Lou(Bell Tower), and from here run Xi'anis four major streets: Bei, Nan, Dong and Xi Dajie. The train station stands at the north-eastern edge of the central city block. Jiefang Lu runs south from the station to intersect with Dong Dajie.

  Most of the tourist facilities can be found either along or in the vicinity of Jiefang Lu or along Xi Dajie and Dong Dajie. However, many of the city'ssights like the Shanxi Lishi Bowuguan, the Dayan ta and Xiaoyan ta, and Banpo Bowuguan are outside the central block.

  Further afield on the plains surrounding Xi'anare sights such as the Xianyang Shi Bowwuguan, Famen Si, the Qin Shihuang Ling and the Army of Terracotta Warriors, ner Lintong.

. City Wall
When Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), captured Huizhou, a hermit named Zhu Sheng admonished him that he should 'built high walls, store abundant food supplies and take time to be an Emperor,' so that he could fortify the city and unify the other states. After the establishment of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang followed his advice and began to enlarge the wall built initially during the old Tang dynasty (618 -907), creating the modern Xian City Wall. It's the most complete city wall that has survived in China, as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world.

After the extension, the wall now stands 12 meters (40 feet) tall, 12-14 meters (40-46 feet) wide at the top and 15-18 meters (50-60 feet) thick at the bottom. It covers 13.7 kilometers (8.5 miles) in length with a deep moat surrounding it. Every 120 meters, there is a rampart which extends out from the main wall. All together, there are 98 ramparts on the wall, which were built to defend against the enemy climbing up the wall. Each rampart has a sentry building, in which the soldiers could protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. Besides, the distance between every two ramparts is just within the range of an arrow shot from either side, so that they could shoot the enemy, who wanted to attack the city, from the side. On the outer side of the city wall, there are 5948 crenellations, namely battlements. The soldiers can outlook and shoot at the enemy. On the inner side, parapets were built to protect the soldiers from falling off.

Since the ancient weapons did not have the power to break through a wall and the only way for an enemy to enter the city was by attacking the gate of the city wall. This is why complicated gate structures were built within the wall. In Xian, the city wall includes four gates and they are respectively named as Changle (meaning eternal joy) in the east, Anding (harmony peace) in the west, Yongning (eternal peace) in the south and Anyuan (forever harmony) in the north. The south gate, Yongning, is the most beautifully decorated one. It is very near to the Bell Tower, center of the city. Important greeting ceremonies organized by the Provincial Government are usually held in the south gate square.

Each city gate has three gate towers: Zhenglou, Jianlou and Zhalou. The most outside is Zhalou, which stands away from the City Wall and is opposite to Zhenglou. It was used to raise and lower the suspension bridge. Jianlou with small windows in the front and flanks was used as a defensive outpost. Zhenglou, in the inner, is the main entrance to the city. The wall connects Jianlou and Zhenglou Towers. The area between them within the wall was called 'Wong Cheng', in which the soldiers stationed. From Wong Cheng, there are sloped horse passages leading to the top of the city wall.

Initially, the wall was built with layers of dirt, with the base layer including also lime and glutinous rice extract. Throughout the time Xian City Wall has been restored three times. In 1568, Zhang Zhi (the government officer of that period) was in charge to rebuild the wall with bricks. In 1781, another officer, Bi Yuan, refitted the city wall and the gate towers. More recently (since 1983) the Shaanxi Provincial Government restored the city wall again. A circular park has been built along the high wall and the deep moat. The thriving trees and flowers decorate the classical Chinese architecture of the wall, adding additional beauty to the city of Xian.

.Terracotta Warriors and Horse Museum
The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Work is ongoing at this site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum, Lintong County, Shaanxi Province. It is a sight not to be missed by any visitor to China.

Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had begun to work for his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life. A group of peasants uncovered some pottery while digging for a well nearby the royal tomb in 1974. It caught the attention of archeologists immediately. They came to Xian in droves to study and to extend the digs. They had established beyond doubt that these artifacts were associated with the Qin Dynasty (211-206 BC).

The State Council authorized to build a museum on site in 1975. When completed, people from far and near came to visit. Xian and the Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses have become landmarks on all travelers' itinerary.

Life size terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations are the star features at the museum. They are replicas of what the imperial guard should look like in those days of pomp and vigor.

The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. They were tagged in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public on China's National Day, 1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back.

No. 2 Pit, found in 1976, is 20 meters northeast of No. 1 Pit. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 chariots of wood. It was unveiled to the public in 1994.Archeologists came upon No. 3 Pit also in 1976, 25 meters northwest of No. 1 Pit. It looked like to be the command center of the armed forces. It went on display in 1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses.

Altogether over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed from these pits. Most of them have been restored to their former grandeur.

The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is a sensational archeological find of all times. It has put Xian on the map for tourists. It was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world cultural heritages.

. Huaqing Hot Spring
The Huaqing Hot Springs, located about 35 kilometers east of Xi'an city at the foot of the Lishan Mountain is a must for every visitor to Xi'an. For centuries emperors had come here to bathe and enjoy the scenic beauty, and it has been a favorite spa since the Tang dynasty. Huaqing Hot Springs can be conveniently visited on returning from the Terracotta Army site

During the Western Zhou, Li Palace was orignially undertaken here as resort palaces. Later the First Emperor Qin built a stone pool and gave the name "Lishan Hot Springs," and it was extended by the Han Wudi, Martial Emperor. However, the strongest associations are with the Tang and most of the present buildings have a Tang style.

The Hot Springs Palace was built by Emperor Taizong and a walled palace was added by Emperor Xuanzong in 747 A.D. Unfortunately, it was damaged during the An Lushan Rebellion at the middle Tang. The present site was rebuilt on the site of the Qing dynasty structure.

. National Museum of Shanxi
Shaanxi History Museum is a comprehensive museum, which has 375,600 cultural relics, large quantities, full categories, high grade, in excellent order. These all provide precious materials for scientific research systematically and completely. All these relics are mainly excavations, secondly works handed from ancient times, and can be divided into stoneware, bone ware, bronze ware, pottery warrior, pottery ware, Tang tri-colored pottery, jade article, copper mirror, brick tile, other building material, gold & silver ware, mural painting, royal seal, calligraphy & painting, paper money and others. Among them, first class are 762 articles, second class are2,242 articles, third class are 4,205 articles. Time span of historical relics is over 1,000,000 years, from Lantian Apeman of 1,000,000 years ago to the Opium War of 1840. There are also large quantities of modern relics, folk relics. These all reflected lives of different ages and people of different classes from the degrees of culture, art, science and so on, and are the significant base for research of ancient history, art development, scientific development of China.

The relics of Shaanxi History Museum are best characterized and representative in Shang & Zhou bronze wares, pottery warriors of past dynasties, Tang gold & silver wares, mural paintings in Tang tombs, which reflected the prosperity and development of Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang dynasties and are well-known all over the world.

. Huashan Mountain
Huashan Mountain, also named Hua Bu Zhu Mountain, is situated at the north ¨Ceast of the city with an elevation of 197 m. Huashan Mountain is famous for its uniqueness and grace as you could see different shapes from various angles. Li Daoyuan in Northern Wei Dynasty (5th-6th century) so described it in his work Annotated Book of Waters: "Without a mountain range to support it, the peak alone stands gracefully and loftily. Its verdant cliff rises into the blue, tinting the moon with its green." Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty (8th century) wrote in a poem: ¡°Mountains and rivers are delicately beautiful; Emerald green is fresh as a lotus leaf.¡± Mountains and stones are unique in different shapes, resembling a running horse or a dog's teeth¡­The famous Campaign in Spring & Autumn Time, the campaign between Qi and Jin at An, took place here.  

At the foot of Huashan Mountain is located Hua Yang Palace with a coverage of 30 thousand square meters. It was founded on the southern side of the mountain in the Jin Period (B.C. 1220) by Chen Zhiyuan, the student of Qiu Chuji, founder of Quanzhen Religion. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) it was renamed Chong Zheng Temple for enshrining the God of Four Seasons. God Mt. Tai's Palace and San Yuan Palace were founded in the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties to worship Bi Xia God and three Gods of Heaven, Earth and Water. Inside the mountain is L¨¹ Dongbin Temple. Huayang Palace still exists now, walled, and with towering old pines and steles inside.  

On the mountain, branches wreath with wines and brooks flow smoothly. Climbing along the trail, you have to rest many times to get on top. Facing the north you see a huge bridge flying over the Yellow River. Nine resorts of Jinan decorate the foot of the mountain near or far. Such a view was depicted by Zhao Mengfu, the famous painter and calligrapher of the Yuan dynasty (1206-1368) in his painting ¡°Autumn At Mt. Que and Mt. Hua¡±.