Xi'an

China

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China facts & history in brief                 My China pages directory     Map of China Xian Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Xi'an (Pinyin: Xi'an; Wade-Giles: Hsi-An; Postal map spelling: Sian), is the capital of Shaanxi province in China and a sub-provincial city. As one of the most important cities in Chinese history, Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China for it has been the capital of 13 dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, and the Tang. Xi'an is also renowned for being the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and for the location of the Terracotta Army made during the Qin Dynasty. The city has more than 3,100 years of history. It was called Chang'an (Pinyin: Cháng'an; literally "Perpetual Peace") in ancient times. Since the 1990s, as part of the economic revival of interior China especially for the central and northwest regions, the City of Xi'an has re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial and educational center of the central-northwest region, with facilities for research and development, national security and China's space exploration program. The two Chinese characters in the name "Xi'an" literally mean Western Peace. Xi'an has a rich history of cultural significance, both natural and man-made. The Lantian Man was discovered in 1963 at Lantian County, just 50 km southeast of Xi'an. This finding dates back at least 500,000 years ago, and was followed by the discovery of a 5,000 year old Neolithic village at Banpo in 1954, just outside the current city limits to the east. Xi'an became a cultural and industrial center of China in 11th century BC, with the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. The capital of Zhou was established in Feng and Hào, both located just west of contemporary Xi'an. Following the several century long Warring States Period, Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) unified China for the first time and the capital was Xianyang, just northwest from modern Xi'an. efore his death, Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of the Terracotta Army and his mausoleum which is located in the city's suburb. In 202 BCE, the founding emperor Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty established Chang'an County as the capital; his first palace Changle Palace (Perpetual happiness) was built across the river from the ruin of the Qin capital. This is traditionally regarded as the founding date of Chang'an, or Xi'an. Two years later, Liu Bang would build Weiyang Palace north of modern Xi'an. The original Xi'an city wall was started in 194 BC, the construction took 4 years to finish and the wall measured 25.7 km in length, 12-16 m in thickness at the base. In 190, amidst uprisings and rebellions just prior to the Three Kingdoms Period, the powerful warlord named Dong Zhuo moved his court from Luoyang to Chang'an in a bid to avoid a coalition of other powerful warlords against him. The Han Dynasty saw the rise of the Silk Road, a great transcontinental route linking the Roman Empire in the West with the imperial court of China in the East. The ancient route started at Chang'an (the ancient name of Xi'an), the capital of the Han Dynasty, reached the Yellow River at Lanzhou, then skirted westward along deserts and mountains before dividing into three routes at the oasis of Dunhuang. Walking through Xinjiang, brave ancient merchants traveled westward all the way to Rome. Xi'an's most notable attractions: Big Bell Tower, (City centre), Drum Tower, (City centre), Terracotta Army Museum complex, Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum, Xi'an's city wall and watch Towers were constructed in 1370, it is the most intact city wall in the world, Xi'an Palace, Imperial City or Huaqing Palace or Daming Palace (roughly 4.5 times larger than the forbidden city in Beijing Zhuque Avenue, Da Yan Pagoda or Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xiao Yan Pagoda or Small Wild Goose Pagoda, Huaqing Hot Springs, Xingqing Palace, Lotus Palace, Ximing Temple, Blue Dragon Temple, Silk Road Monument, Xi'an's Pyramid and Sphinx, Liangbao Lou on West Street, etc. For a more information about Xian see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This page was retrieved and condensed from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xian) see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, November 2007. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details). About Wikipedia Disclaimers This information was correct in November 2007. E. & O.E. Hui Chin and I spent a few very memorable days in Xi'an. We've visited most of the attractionsin and around Xi'an, some of them by conducted tours some of them individually. Terracotta Army Museum complex and Imperial City or Huaqing Palace or Daming Palace or the Huaqing Hot Springs and a few other places we visited with guided tours and while it is a reasonable value for money spent a lot of our time was wasted visiting commercial places like the Terracotta Factory, where we expected to spend some money, so the tour organisers or the bus driver or guide will get some kind of "kick-back", commission or something. During our trips we encountered very many such tours and visiting these commercial places like jewelery factories etc., but only one person, a very likeable Tuk-Tuk driver in Bangkok asked us if we don't mind to stop at a such of place, where he gets some petrol coupons for his Tuk-Tuk, regardless whether we buy anything and we can have a bit of a rest in a air-conditioned place and some free refreshments. These things are usually available at most places and there are no real pressure on us to purchase anything. I 'mean - real pressure', because you will be 'talked to' and 'shown' some merchandise and 'tempted' by huge price 'reductions' 'just for you', but no real pressure is used on you to succumb. Xi'an was one of the best organised, clean and very ordered city we've ever seen. The streets are wide and many of the buildings built in the traditional chinese way. Some modern multi-storied buildings incoporate some traditional chinese characters - maybe just a symbolic roof or doorway or something. Very beautiful city. We taken a few trips out of town from here too, like visited Ya'nan and the Cave dwellings further up north. More about that on other pages. Xian - 2007 You can click on these photos for an enlargement. Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an

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