- +86-13267351235
- info@globalstourtravels.com
Located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, Shaanxi is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation. There, early Chinese settlers developed a great civilization comparable with that of ancient Egypt, India and the area lying between Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Xi'an, also known as Chang'an (Eternal Peace) in ancient times, has a history of 3,100 years.
The City of Xi'an lies on the "Guanzhong Plain" in the central part of Shaanxi Province with an average elevation of 400 meters above sea level. The annual temperature here averages 13. 3 degrees centigrade and its annual precipitation is 600 millimeters. Why is it called "Guanzhong"? It has different sayings about it. Some say it's because the region lies in the middle of the four famous ancient passes, namely the Hangu Pass in the east, the Dasan Pass to the west, the Wu Pass at the south and the Xiao Pass by the north. Others hold that it is because the region is located somewhere between the Hangu Pass and the Long Pass in the west.
The city flower of Xi'an is that of pomegranate and the city tree the Chinese scholar tree. The city emblem is composed of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the sun and the ancient city wall.
Under the jurisdiction of the Xi'an Municipality there are nine districts and four counties.
The nine districts are as follows;
The three districts of Xincheng (New City), Beilin (Stele Forest) and Lianhu (Lotus Lake) are in the city proper. The rest six are the Baqiao (name of an ancient bridge) District in the eastern suburb, the Yanta (Goose Pagoda) District up in the south, the Weiyang ( name of an ancient palace of the Tang Dynasty ) District to the west and still another Yanliang District located some 43 kilometers away to the northeast, and Lintong District, Ghang'an District.
The four counties are the Lantian County, Gaoling County, Huxian County and Zhouzhi County.
Xi'an is also an important industrial city in China. A comprehensive industrial system has taken shape in the city. Its industries include aviation, space flight, power transformation and distribution equipment, electronics, instruments and metres, machine building, and textile.
Xi’an is one of the bases for developing the sophisticated science and technology — aeronautics and astronautics in China.
In addition, Xi'an is still the central point of the standard time of China, the core of the Beijing Standard Time.
Nearly 1.2 million years ago, the Lantian Man lived at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi. In the Banpo Museum and the Jiangzhai Village Site in the suburbs of Xi'an, ruins of large Neolithic matriarchal commune village, which date back more than 6,000 years, are well-preserved. In the Qiaoshan Mountains in the northern part of Shaanxi is the mausoleum of the legendary Yellow Emperor, why is believed to be the ancestor of the Chinese nation.
Xi'an is one of the seven ancient cities where most of the feudal dynasties made their capitals and had a longer duration of their rules here counting from the 11 century BC. Xi'an is the modern name of the ancient city Chang'an (former name for Xi'an). It had been the capital of 13 dynasties and kingdoms such as Western Zhou (1046-771 BC), Qin (221-206 BC), Western Han (206 BC-AD 25), Xin Mang (8-23), Western Jin (265-316), Early Zhao (319-329), Early Qin (352-394), Xia (407-431), Later Qin ( 386-394 ), Western Wei ( 535-557 ), Northern Zhou (557-581), Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties and served as the political, economic and cultural centre of China for 1,152 years, leaving behind 35,750 sites of historical importance.
Xi'an, the eastern point of departure for the Silk Road, has been attracting millions of tourists from home and abroad with its long, glorious history and rich cultural heritage. A countless number of fascinating archaeological relics have yet to be discovered above or underground in and outside the city proper.
The name "Chang'an" was used long ago. Formerly it used to be the name of a county under the administration of Xianyang. For instance, the King of Qin entitled his son Chengjiao as Lord of Chang'an. And the name of Chang'an used as that of a capital city was started in 200 A. D. the 7,h year of Emperor Gaozu's reign in the Western Han Dynasty while the name of Xi'an began to be used in 1369, the 2°d year of Emperor Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty. At that time General Xu Da was marching his army upon the Fengyuan Prefecture and the name of the Prefecture was changed to "Xi'an Prefecture," hence the name of Xi'an.
In the period of 1,100 years, 13 dynasties had Xi'an (former name for Chang'an) as their capital, leaving behind a rich cultural heritage in Shaanxi and turning it into a natural museum of history. Xi'an is considered as a historical and cultural treasure house in China. The historical and cultural relics and sites in and around the Xi'an City are numbered the most in China. So far as the cultural units of importance under protection are concerned they come to a total of 238 places, of which 20 are under the protection of the state and still the 60 of them are under the protection of the province. Up to now the ancient sites and tombs already excavated have come to over 4.000 of them with more than 120,000 pieces of findings.
There are many scenic attractions and historical sites in Xi'an. Tourists frequently pass China's best-preserved city walls. The majestic-looking walls, which bear testimony to the splendour of ancient empire, were built in the Ming Dynasty. For calligraphy lovers, Xi'an means China's largest stele forest museum, displaying more than 7,000 steles from different dynasties. On the steles are inscriptions of many master Chinese calligraphers.
The main attractions also include re mainly the Big Wild Goose Pagoda,, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, the Banpo Museum, the Bell and Drum Towers the Stone Stele Museum, the Museum of History of Shaanxi Province the Tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang, the Museum of Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, the Yangling Tomb of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and the Huaqing Hot Spring, etc.
Xi'an is the largest city along the completed Eurasian Continental Bridge, which connects Rotterdam of the Netherlands and Lianyungang of China. The Xi'an Railway Station and its 12 switching stations have made the city the largest railway transportation centre in northwest China. The network of expressways, national and provincial highways have connected the city to other parts of China. Xi'an Xianyang International Airport has opened more than 100 domestic flight routes and direct flight routes to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macao.