Xi’an Travel Guide: Explore China’s Ancient Capital

Xi'an in Brief

As the birthplace of Chinese civilization, Xi'an is a city with long history and brilliant culture. As one of the World’s Four Great Ancient Capitals (others are Rome, Cairo and Athens), Xi'an is also a popular tourist destination with high reputation all over the world. 兵马俑02_副本.jpg

Xi'an is the starting point of the famous Silk Road. In the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wudi dispatched Zhang Qian on a mission to seek an alliance with peoples west of China against the northern ethnic tribes in 138 B.C. From then on, the Silk Road became an important channel for political, cultural and economic exchanges and communications between China and other countries of Central, West and South Asia. Xi'an was also became the largest and most prosperous city in the world.

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Known as “Chang’an” in the past, Xi'an had been a capital for 13 dynasties, including well-known Western Zhou Dynasty, Qin Dynasty, Western Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, spanning more than 1,120 years. Therefore, Xi'an has lots of important and amazing cultural relics and places of interest. Praised as “Eighth Wonder of the World”, the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is one of the greatest discoveries in the history of World Archaeology. Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is the first remain listed on the World Heritage List in China. City Wall of Xi'an is the most well-preserved and the largest ancient city wall ruins in the world. Banpo Site, with a history of over 6,000 years, is the witness of the development of matriarchal clan society in the period of New Stone Age. Built during the period of Ming Dynasty, the Museum of Stone Steles Forest, with more than 3,000 stone steles, is considered as “the home of stone steles”. Heritage reserves of Shaanxi Provincial History Museum rank the first in China. Big Wild Goose Pagoda was the place for translating the Buddhist Scriptures by the Eminent Monk Xuanzang in Tang Dynasty. Located in the Huajue Lane, the Great Mosque is the mosque with the longest history in Northwest of China. Besides, Daming Palace, Famen Temple and Huashan Mountain are also worthy of visiting.

As one of the hottest tourist destinations and historical city, Xi'an is not only an ancient city, but also a modern city with convenient transportation, perfect tourist facilities and colorful nightlife. In a word, Xi'an is an ideal place to break the journey between Beijing, Guilin, Shanghai and Hong Kong.