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Xi'an,
the historical city, was called Chang'an in ancient
times, and is now the capital of Shaanxi province.
Xi'an is situated in the centre
of Weihe Plain with the towering and verdant Mt.Qinling
in the south, with the meandering and rolling
Beishan mountain system in the north and eight
rivers around it, all of which are at Guang Zhong
Plain (the centre of passes). Historically, it
was famous for being called "a gold city
stretching a thousand li" with its fertile
soil, mild climate, adequate rainfall and rich
products.
Xi'an has a long history. Since
the earliest societies, humanity lived and multiplied
here. It served as a capital for twelve dynasties,
including the Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han,
Sui and Tang dynasties, spanning over 1120 years.
It became the oriental cultural centre of the
Silk Road.
Many dynasties kept the city
beautiful and magnificent. More than two hundred
and seventy palaces and temples, for example,
were built in the Qin dynasty, in the Han dynasty
the "Three Han Palaces", namely Changle,
Weiyang, Jianzhang Palaces, and numerous other
palaces and watch towers were built. In the City
of Chang'an of the Sui and Tang dynasties, luxurious
palaces sprang up like tree, of which Taiji, Daming
and Xingqing Palaces and the forbidden garden
of the Tang dynasty to the north of the town were
very large. Now, from these architectural sites
people still can imagine the general picture of
what Chang'an City was like, then. All the emperors
of the Qin, Han, Tang and other dynasties had
their magnificent mausoleums built. Qin Shi Huang's
mausoleum at the foot of Lishan Hill in Lintong
county, for example, is the earliest example of
a grand mausoleum for an emperor in ancient China.
The twelve emperors of the Western Han dynasty
were mostly buried on the plateau to the north
of the Weihe River. Their tomb-mounds were man-made
and quite imposing, but emperors of the Tang dynasty
began to have their bombs constructed into hills.
They are scattered in the counties to the north
of the Weihe River and called the "Eighteen
Tang Mausoleums". In front of these mausoleums
were erected huge stonecarvings, while inside
them were exquisite funeral objects and colourful
murals, a feast for one's eyes. Some of the monasteries
and Buddhist pagodas constructed in many dynasties
have remained well preserved, including the most
famous ones, as the Big Wild Goose (Da Yan) Pagoda
in Ci'en Temple and the Small Wild Goose (Xiao
Yan) Pagoda in Jianfu Temple. The bronze wares
of ancient China are an important example of the
splendid culture that reflect this slave society.
Feng and Haoin the Xi'an area, which were the
capitals of the Western Zhou dynasty, have been
acclaimed as "the Home of the Bronze wares",
as a wealth of bronze items unearthed from there,
over the years. It was quite popular to put up
stone tablets in front of tombs to record the
merits and achievements of the departed, in many
dynasties, and a great deal of stone tablets and
calligraphy data remain to this day. So Xi'an
is also famous for being "the Home of Calligraphy".
Aside from being a major tourist
destination and historical city, today Xi'an is
an important industrial and manufacturing center.
Despite the incredible history that Xi'an carries,
it is a modern and prosperous area. The nightlife
here is pretty up to date and Xian's University
is considered to be one of the best in China.
As a result, the city has a large student population
who contribute to the cultural life of the city,
making Xi'an one of the most pleasant cities in
China and an ideal place to break the journey
between Beijing and Shanghai.
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