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Xi'an: Encyclopedia - Xi'an

Location of Xi'an Xi'an (Chinese: 西安; Hanyu Pinyin: Xī'ān; Wade-Giles: Hsi-An; literal meaning: "Western Peace"), is the capital of Shaanxi province in China and a sub-provincial city. One of the most important cities in Chinese history, Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China because it has been the capital of 13 dynasties such as Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang. Xi'an is the eastern end of the Silk Road. The ...

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Xi'an - Public Transportation

Xi'an - Miscellaneous

Xi'an - Colleges and universities

Xi'an - Additional Images

Xi'an - Bell and Drum Towers

Xi'an - Great Goose Pagoda

Xi'an, Xi'an - Additional Images, Xi'an - Bell and Drum Towers, Xi'an - Colleges and universities, Xi'an - Culture, Xi'an - Demographics, Xi'an - Economy, Xi'an - Geography, Xi'an - Great Goose Pagoda, Xi'an - History, Xi'an - Miscellaneous, Xi'an - Public Transportation, Xi'an - Sights

Xi'an: Encyclopedia - Xi'an

Xi'an

Location of Xi'an

Xi'an (Chinese: 西安; Hanyu Pinyin: Xī'ān; Wade-Giles: Hsi-An; literal meaning: "Western Peace"), is the capital of Shaanxi province in China and a sub-provincial city. One of the most important cities in Chinese history, Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China because it has been the capital of 13 dynasties such as Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang. Xi'an is the eastern end of the Silk Road. The city has more than 3,100 years of history. It was called Chang'an (长安/長安 pinyin: Cháng'ān), meaning "Perpetual Peace", in ancient times.

Xi'an is the largest and most developed city in the central to the northwestern part of China and is ranked among the 10 largest cities in the nation.

Xi'an - History

Zhou Dynasty established its capital in Feng (沣/灃) and Hao (镐/鎬) between the late 11th century BC and 770 BC, both located west of contemporary Xi'an.

Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC) constructed its capital in the north shore of Wei River, which was burned by Xiang Yu at the end of the dynasty.

202 BC: Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, established Chang'an County as his capital; his first palace Changle Palace (长乐宫/長樂宮) was built across the river from the ruin of the Qin capital. This is traditionally regarded as the founding date of Chang'an and Xi'an.

200 BC: Emperor Liu Bang built Weiyang Palace (未央宫) in Chang'an.

194 BC: Construction of the first city wall of Chang'an began, which did not finished until 190 BC. The wall measured 25.7 km in length, 12-16 m in thickness at the base. The area within the wall was ca. 36 km².

AD 582: Emperor of Sui Dynasty ordered a new capital to be built southeast of the Han capital, called Daxing (大興, great excitement). It consisted of three sections: the Palace, the Imperial City, and the civilian section. The total area within the wall was 84 km², The main street Zhuque Avenue measured 155 m in width. It was the largest city in the world. The city was renamed Chang'an (長安, everlasting peace) in Tang Dynasty.

7th century: Buddhist monk Xuan Zang, well-known as Tang Sanzang in China, established a sizeable translation centre after returning from India with Sanskrit scriptures.

AD 701: Construction of Da Yan Pagoda (大雁塔, Great Wild Goose Pagoda) began. It measured 64 m in height. This pagoda was constructed for the storage of the translation of the Buddha Sutra obtained from India by the monk Xuan Zang.

AD 707: Construction of Xiao Yan Pagoda (小雁塔, Little Wild Goose Pagoda) began. It measured 45 m in height. After the earthquake of 1556 AD, its height was reduced to 43.4 m.

AD 904: The end of Tang Dynasty brought destruction to Chang'an. Residences were forced to move to Luoyang, the new capital. Only a small area continued to be occupied after the destruction.

AD 1370: Ming Dynasty built a new wall to protect a much smaller city of 12 km². The wall measures 11.9 km in circumference, 12 m in height, and 15-18 m in thickness at the base.

This city was the site of the Xi'an Incident in 1936 during World War II. The Xi'an Incident brought the Communist Party of China and Kuomintang to a truce so the two forces could concentrate on fighting against Japan.

Xi'an - Geography

The city is nested between a flood plain created by 8 surrounding rivers and streams, most of which have been too polluted to be used as sources of fresh water.

Xi'an borders the northern foot of the Qinling Mountain Ranges to the south, and the banks of Wei River to the north.

The city covers approximately 16,808 km² of urban area.

Xi'an - Demographics

Its population is around 7.5 million. About 4 million people live in the city area. Xi'an has a large Muslim quarter which is home to the beautiful 1250 year old Great Mosque of Xi'an.

Xi'an - Culture

Historically, Xi'an has been one of the most important cities in the world. The culture of Xi'an is inherited from the traditions of one of the world's earliest civilizations. The Guanzhong Ren (关中人/關中人) were the cultural antecedent of Xi'anese, their cultural features are drawn from the Ten Specialities of Guanzhong Ren (关中十大怪/關中十大怪). Another major part of this culture is Eight Great Sights of Chang'an (长安八景/長安八景); storied scenic areas in the region.

The drama of the original Xi'anese culture, Qinqiang (秦腔, Voice of Qin) is the oldest and most extensive Chinese Opera of the four major types of Chinese opera. The dialect of Xi'anese is Shaanxi Hua, which is being assimilated by Standard Mandarin, but still retains much grammar and pronunciation from the Classical Chinese. Because of its long development as a culture, the cuisine of Xi'an is extensive as well. It is the representative of food of Northwestern China. The most well known local food is the Xi'anese snack, a traditional food of the Hui people. Hui-style snacks feature beef and mutton because the Hui people do not eat pork. Baked beef and mutton, buns with beef, mutton pancake and mutton soup are some of the tasty Hui dishes you can enjoy in Xi'an.

Xi'an - Sights

The city is surrounded by a well-preserved defensive wall which was re-constructed in Ming Dynasty.
The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) and his Terracotta Army are located 40 km to the east of the city's suburbs.
The city's Muslim quarter is home to the Great Mosque of Xi'an.

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and Small Wild Goose Pagoda are both spectacular towers and both are well over 1000 years old and have mostly survived great earthquakes. The former is next to a large square with many fountains that rise and fall in time to music during one of the daily performances.

The Bell Tower and Drum Tower, located at the city center.
The Stele Forest is famous for its numerous historic inscriptions and stoneworks.
The Shaanxi History Museum has a large collection of artifacts both modern and ancient.
The Banpo Neolithic village is located outside the city.

Xi'an - Economy

Xi'an's GDP per capita was ¥27893 (ca. US$3397) in 2003, ranked no. 39 among 659 Chinese cities. Xi'an is the most industrialized and developed city in the Northwest of China.

Xi'an - Public Transportation

A subway construction project was planned in 2002 to be completed by 2006. The projected Xi'an subway (No. 1 line) would start from the northwest area of Xi'an city and stop at the Xi'an Textile City with a total length of 19.74 km. The previous feasibility study didn't get the approval from the Beijing Central Government. In 2004 a new Feasibility study was carried out by the Spanish consortium SUE (Spanish United Engineering) integrated by INOCSA, EUROESTUDIOS and PROINTEC, with a total length of 26.22 km, including 15 stations, a train depot and a multifunction base. According to this Study, the Line 1 will be completed in 2009.

Xi'an - Miscellaneous

Xi'an is the sister city with Kyoto (Japan), Pau (France), Québec (Canada), Lahore (Pakistan), Dortmund (Germany), and Kansas City, Missouri (United States).

Xi'an - Colleges and universities

Xi'an is known as one of the academic centers in China. The number of institutions is the third only after Beijing and Shanghai. The private institutions are famous in the country.

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