The
Terracotta Army in Xi'an, aka Terracotta Warriors and Horses, is
a super large collection of life-size terra cotta sculptures in
battle formations, reproducing the mega imperial guard troops of
Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 - 210BC), the first emperor of the
first unified dynasty of Imperial China. Being the most
significant archeological excavations of the 20th century and a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Terracotta Army is no doubt a
must-see for every visitor to Xi'an. Originally the ancient
funerary project for Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the Terracotta
Warriors China are now displayed in a live museum built on the
site, officially named Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site
Museum, showing the life stories of the emperor and the once
powerful Qin Empire (221 – 207BC) in those days of pomp and
vigor.
The
Bell Tower, is a stately traditional building, that marks the
geographical center of the ancient capital. From this important
landmark extend East, South, West and North Streets, connecting
the tower to the East, South, West and North Gates of the City
Wall of the Ming Dynasty. The wooden tower, which is the largest
and best-preserved of its kind in China, is 36 meters (118 feet)
high. It stands on a brick base 35.5 meters (116.4 feet) long
and 8.6 meters (28.2 feet) high on each side. During the Ming
Dynasty, Xi'an was an important military town in Northwest
China, a fact that is reflected in the size and historic
significance. The tower was built in 1384 by Emperor Zhu
Yuanzhang as a way to dominate the surrounding countryside and
provide early warning of attack by rival rulers.
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (Dayan Pagoda)
As
the symbol of the old-line Xi'an, Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (also
called Big Wild Goose Pagoda) is a well-preserved ancient
building and a holy place for Buddhists. It is located in the
southern suburb of Xi'an City, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles)
from the downtown of the city. Standing in the Da Ci'en Temple
complex, it attracts numerous visitors for its fame in the
Buddhist religion and its simple but appealing style of
construction. Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is rated as a National Key
Cultural Relic Preserve as well as an AAAA Tourist Attraction.
In addition, it was added to the World Heritage List on June 22,
2014, together with other sites along the ancient Silk Road.
This whole scenic area include the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Da
Ci'en Temple, and the various squares, gardens and other
facilities around.
The
Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, regarded as 'the pearl of
ancient dynasties and house of Chinese treasures', gives a
miniature overview of the thousands of years of Chinese history
and the splendid ancient cultures of olden times. Situated on
Xiaozhai East Road on the northwest side of Giant Wild Goose
Pagoda, the Shaanxi History Museum is the first modern national
museum. It was built in 1983 and opened to the public in 1991.
Shaanxi History Museum covers 65,000 square meters (16 acres),
of which 11,000 square meters (207 acres) belong to the
exhibition halls and 8,000 square meters (about 2 acres) are
used as warehouses for storing relics. Now 370,000 exhibits in
the museum vividly show the history of over a million years from
prehistoric times (1,150,000 years ago - 21st Century BC) to
about 1840 AD.
Xi'an
City Wall, also known as the Fortifications of Xi'an, is the
most complete city wall that has survived in China, as well
being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in
the world. 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, which were
built to defend against the enemy climbing up. 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 wall, there are 5,948 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.