Holiday Destination: Xian

Xian is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty. Xian is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang. Xian is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home to the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses. Since the 1990s, as part of the economic revival of interior China especially for the central and northwest regions, the city of Xian has re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial and educational centre of the central-northwest region, with facilities for research and development, national security and China's space exploration program. It's now one the most populous metropolitan areas in inland China with more than 8 million inhabitants, including urban parts of Xianyang. According to a July 2012 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, it was recently named as one of the 13 emerging megacities, or megalopolises, in China. The report pinpoints and highlights the demographic and income trends that are shaping these cities development.

Climate

Summer 32.1 °C (89.8 °F), Winter 4.8 °C (40.6 °F)

Tourist Season

Winter season is the best for tourism.

Accommodation

Hotels and Apartment .

General Information Of Xian

• Land Area: 3,854 sq mi (9,983 km2)
• Population: 84 Lakh.
• Capital City: Shaanxi.
• Language: Chinese, Guanhua and English.

Tourist Attraction in or Near by Xian

Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses

The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife, and to make sure that he had people to rule over. The figures, dating from 3rd century BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers in Lintong District, Xian, Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits near by Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non military figures were also found in other pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xian, Shaanxi province, China. It was built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty and originally had five stories, although the structure was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick facade was renovated during the Ming Dynasty. One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by the Buddhist translator and traveler Xuanzang. The monk Xuanzang's statue stands in front of the temple area. From the fist five layer structure to the seven layer architecture now, this pagoda has experienced hundreds of year and seen the change of several dynasties, Now, it leans very perceptibly to the west.

Xian City Wall

The first landmark visitors will encounter in Xian is the ancient City Wall, which stretches round the old city. It is also one of the most famous attractions in Xian. Today, this wall represents one of the oldest and best preserved Chinese city walls, as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. The first city wall of Changan was begun in 194 BCE. The South Gate and North Gate are the two main entrances to the inner city. The city itself is neatly arranged along the city wall. This impressive structure is just a precursor to the remarkable discoveries awaiting visitors to Xian. The blue brick wall is well preserved. Lofty and magnificent structures with blue and green paintings were constructed on the four city gates.

Shaanxi History Museum

Shaanxi History Museum, which located to the northwest of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in the ancient city Xian, in the Shaanxi province of China, is one of the first huge state museums with modern facilities in China. The museum houses over 300,000 items, including murals, paintings, pottery, coins, as well as bronze, gold, and silver objects. The modern museum was built between 1983 and 2001 and its appearance recalls the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty. Shaanxi was the ancient imperial capital of China, having been the seat of more than 13 feudal dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties. The province is rich in cultural relics. With the completion of the Shaanxi History Museum, it collected over 370,000 precious relics which were unearthed in Shaanxi Province, including bronze wares, pottery figures, and mural paintings in Tang tombs.

Banpo Museum

Banpo is an archaeological remain discovered in 1953 and located in the Yellow River Valley just east of Xian, China. It contains the remains of several well organized Neolithic settlements dating from 5600/6700 BP according to radiocarbon dating. It is a large area of 5-6 hectares and surrounded by a ditch, probably a defensive moat, five or six metres wide. The houses were circular, built of mud and wood with overhanging thatched roofs. They sat on low foundations. The settlement was surrounded by a moat, with the graves and pottery kilns located outside of the moat perimeter. Many of the houses were semisubterranean with the floor typically a metre below the ground surface. The houses were supported by timber poles and had steeply pitched thatched roofs.

The Bell Tower

The Belltower was an American alternative rock band from New York City often associated with the shoegazing scene, with members who later joined Luna and Fountains of Wayne. With several large bronze cast bells from the Tang Dynasty, it is an unique architecture built by bricks and timbers. The tower is a splendid sight with its dark green glazed tiles, blue and green paintings and touches of gold. Many citizens were injured and they had found the reason of these frequent earthquakes. It was the dragon in the river which was flowing across the center of Xian city. In order to lock the dragon, the Bell Tower was built by the government. One of the officials believed that this tower could suppress the dragon firmly and bring the happiness to the city.

Great Mosque Xian

The Great Mosque of Xian located near the Drum Tower on 30 Huajue Lane of Xian, Shaanxi province, China. Its four courtyards cover an area of more than 12,000square meters with an area of 4,000 square meters .The still intact wooden memorial arch with two sculptured dragon stone tablets on both sides in the second yard was built at the turn of the 17th century. With glazed tiles, spectacular corners and upturned eaves, it stands about 9 meters high and has a history of about 360 years. Unlike Arabian mosques with splendid domes, skyward minarets and dazzlig patterns, this mosque possesses much Chinese tradition in both design and artistic outlook. It assumes the striking features of Chinese pavilions, with painted beams and engraved ridgepoles.

Stele Forest

The Stele Forest, or Xian Beilin Museum is a museum for steles and stone sculptures which is located in Xian, China. Founded in 1944, it was the principal museum for Shaanxi province on the site of what was formerly an 11th century Confucius Temple. Then because of the large number of steles, it was officially renamed as the Forest of Stone Steles in 1992. All together, there are 3,000 steles in the museum, which is divided into seven exhibitions halls, which mainly display works of calligraphy, painting and historical records. It was first constructed in 1087 to preserve Kaiyuan Stone Scriptures of the Tang Dynasty. And in order to preserve these works well and pass them down to later generations, the rulers ordered them to be carved on these stones. The Forest of Steles is a treasure house of the Chinese calligraphic art.

Muslim Street

Muslim Street Located in the center of Xian City, the Muslim Street is a fantastic place to wander. All shops and restaurants in the street are operated by Muslims. The stalls flanking the narrow alleys sell almost everything you can imagine. There are even a number of stalls selling parts of aircraft. If you are prepared to bargain you will be amazed at the final prices. A variety of Muslim food and snacks can be tried here, tasty and very cheap, including the locals favorites, roasted beef, roasted fish, and pancakes. The title a street for gourmet is deserved.

Famen Temple

Famen Temple is located in Famen town, Fufeng County, 120 km west of Xian City, Shaanxi province. It was widely regarded as the ancestor of pagoda temples in Guanzhong area. This temple is famous for discovery the fingers bones of Sakyamuni. And historical records reveal that eight emperors of the Tang Dynasty once welcomed the finger bones of Buddha to the palace and donated a large number of treasures to the underground palace of the temple.

Qian Mausoleum

The Qianling Mausoleum is located in Qian County, Shaanxi province, China, and is 85 km northwest from Xian, formerly the Tang capital. Built by 684, the tombs of the mausoleum complex house the remains of various members of the royal Li family. This includes Emperor Gaozong of Tang, as well as his wife, the Zhou Dynasty usurper and China's first governing empress Wu Zetian. The mausoleum is considered to be the most representative and best preserved of all 18 Tang mausoleums. The ground relics here mainly include stone carvings. Each of the four gates has a pair of stone lions. Outside the North Gate stand three pairs of stone horses.

Accessibility

Bus Terminal in or Near by

Xian Bus Station

354 Jiefang Road
Xincheng, Xian, Shaanxi, China

Xian Bus Station

13 Fengqing Road
Lianhu, Xian, Shaanxi, China

Lantian Bus Station

Xiangyang Road West Section
Lianhu, Xian, Shaanxi, China

Chang'an Bus Station

South Chang'an Street
Changan, Xian, Shaanxi, China

Airports in or Near by

Xian Xianyang International Airport: For international flights.

Railway Stations

Xian Railway Station

Huan Cheng Bei Lu, Xin Cheng Qu
Xian, Shaanxi, China

Xianyang West Railway Station

Xizhan Road
Qindu, Xianyang
Shaanxi, China

Xian East Railway Station

Huaqing East Road
Xian, Shaanxi, China

Xian South Railway Station

Chang'an
Xian, Shaanxi, China