Posted 2016/9/13
Xi'an, anciently called Chang'an, is the provincial capital of Shaanxi Province of China. It was authorized by the UNESCO as a world-famous historic city in 1981.
With a history of more than 3100 years, Xi'an is one of the four Great Ancient Capital Cities together with Athens, Rome and Cairo. From the 11th century BC to the 10th century A.D, there were a total of about 13 dynasties or regimes which made xian their capital. Among these dynasties, Xi'an was most prosperous during the Xizhou, Qin, Xihan and Tang dynasties. Especially, during the Han and Tang dynasties, Xi'an city was very grand and was an international city famous around the world. Xi'an was the start point of "Silk Road".
Xi'an enjoys the title of "A Natural Museum of History". There are 544 key units of cultural relic under protection and more than 5700 sites within the city. Among these, following sites are the most famous: the Pit of terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum, the most completely preserved walls of ancient city of Xi'an, Stele Forest which is known as the Stack Room of the ancient carved stones in the world, and numerous ancient famous temples of Buddhism, Taoism and Islam, such as Big & Small Wide Goose Pagodas, Famen Temple and Mosque. In addition, rare heritages of Chinese ancient culture like the Banpo Site-one of the birthplaces of Chinese Nation, the Mausoleum of Emperor Xuanyuan who was the forefather of Chinese, the Relic Sites of Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture, also, lie in Xi'an.
The ancient city of Xi'an is a miniature of Chinese history. It is said that "Xi'an is the place for one to learn the five thousand years history of China."
