Xian
As one of the six ancient capitals in China, Xian served as the seat of 12 imperial capitals for 1,120 years and also a world-famous tourist city, a treasure house of cultural relics. Xian located at 33
north and 107 east, in the southern part of GuanZhong Plain in Shaanxi province with Qinling Mountains to the north and the Weihe River to the south. With an elevation of 500 metres, the Weihe Plain extends between Baoji in the west and Tongguan in the east and borders the Qinling Mountains in the south and the Huangtu Plateau in the north. Lying in the warm zone, the plain has a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. It has 6.62 million people and the area is 16,808 sq km. Its average Temperature is13.3C annually and the rainfall is 604.2mm annually.
Museum of Qing Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses
Museum of Qing Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses
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 work begun on 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' tinerary.
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 Terracotta 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.
Big Goose Pagoda (Dayanta)
The Big Goose Pagoda is situated in the Da Ci'en Temple, four kilometers away from the center of the city. It is one of the city's most distinctive and outstanding landmarks, possibly the most beautiful building left in Xian today.
Known as the best-preserved Buddhist temple complex, the Da Ci'en Temple was initially built in 589, during the Sui Dynasty (581-618). At that time, it was named as Wulou Temple. Later in AD 647 of the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi (who became Emperor Tang Gaozong in AD 649) ordered to rebuild this temple in memory of his late mother, Empress Wende. The temple subsequently gained its present name "Da Ci'en Temple". Within the temple, there is a small bell tower from which a bell, which was used for telling time to the monks in ancient times, hangs. Daxiongbaodian is the main hall of the temple.
In AD 652, the Big Goose Pagoda was built to store the sutras and the figurines of Buddha, which were brought from India by a famous Buddhist translator and traveler Tang Sanzang, also known by his Buddhist name as Xuanzang. At the age of 28, he set off to India to study the sutra and then brought back most of the scriptures to Chang'an, present Xian city. Altogether, he spent 17 years for a round trip and experienced many hardships. Upon his return he wrote a book entitled "Journey to the West", recording the customs of different places he visited and his experiences. Subsequently the great novelist of the Ming Dynasty Wu Cheng'en, collected the materials handed down and wrote a novel titled "Pilgrimage to the West" which later became one of four greatest novels in China. As a result, the Television Series about this story was made and became world-renowned. In memory of Xuanzang, his statue is placed in front of the Da Ci'en Temple.
During the early days, the pagoda boasted a brick structure of five storeys and about 60 meters (197 feet) high. Between AD 701 and AD 704, at the end of the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, five more storeys were added to the original pagoda. Damage by the war reduced it to seven storeys, to what it is today. With a height of 64 meters (210 miles), the pagoda occupies a base 25 meters by 25 meters (82 feet) square. The Big Goose Pagoda is a brick-tower architecture, sturdy and simple. Walls and doors are carved with vivid and exquisite figures of Buddha, reflecting the profundity in the paintings f the Tang Dynasty.
According to historical records, the monks living in the Da Ci'en Temple had no meat to eat. They longed much for it so one of the monks started to pray to the Gods to bless them. At that very moment, a group of wild geese flew over the temple. Their heads dropped to the ground and they died. The monks were all surprised and thought it was the result of the Buddhist spirit so they decided not to eat meat forever. A pagoda was ordered to be built in this place, hence the name "Big Goose Pagoda".
Xian City Wall
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.
Huaqing Hot Springs
Located at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan in Lindong County of Shaanxi Province, 30 kilometers from Xian, Huaqing Hot Springs is a state place of interest as well as scenic spot.
According to the record, as early as the Dynasties of Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang, temporary imperial abode was constructed here. In the 6th year of Emperor Xuanzong, Reign in the Tang Dynasty(747) it was expanded on a massive scale by turning the hot springs into bathing pools, ringing the Mount with palace buildings, which were to be protected by an outer circular defensive wall and renamed it Huaqing Palace. As the palace was built upon the hot springs, it was also called Hot Spring Pools. In 756, it was reduced to ruins by the flames of war. Most of the existing buildings were constructed in the Qing Dynasty and after the liberation of China.
Huaqing Pools is fascinating for its exquisite and picturesque scenery characterized by pink peach blossoms, green willows, dense foliage, beautiful pavilions and terraces, magnificent halls, rolling towers, winding corridors and long verandas, Jiulong(Nine Dragons) Lake is crystal clear and mirrors the pavilions and towers.
Huaqing Hot Springs was very famous and used to be bathing site for imperial families during the Zhou, Qing, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties. Lady Yang, the highest-ranking imperial concubine was also rivileged To Bathe in Huaquing Pool, In Time Of Freezing Spring, And In Slick Hot Spring Water, Rinsed Her Soft Creamy Skin? As the poem goes. At the present, there are four springs flowing out with a total capacity of over 110 tons of water per hour at the constant temperature of 43 degrees centigrade, which is good for bathing.
Tang Dynasty Dancing Show
Tang music and dance not only inherit the songs and dance of the preceding dynasties but also assimilate the new and exotic cultures that came along the Silk Road. Xi'an was at the crossroads where travellers, merchants and indigenous minority tribes converged to trade within the Tang cultural predominance of this great ancient civilization. The Tang Dynasty was distinguished as the most progressive and prosperous era in the history of China and its music and dance symbolize the splendour and the glory of the Chinese civilization.
Traditional Chinese folk dances originate from sacrificial rituals, where rhythmic movements and prayers combined to appease the gods and progressed with the development of Chinese culture. It was during the flourishing Tang Dynasty that these dances became a graceful art form. Combined with authentic Tang musical instruments - bells, drums and zithers - the show is a cultural experience that is both extravagant and entertaining.