Xi'an - Fortification of Xi'An 西安古城墙

6/22/2014 Xi'an, Fortification of Xi’an (西安古城墙)

south gate

beautiful night of the south gate

The fortifications of Xi’an (西安城墙), an ancient capital of China, represent one of the oldest and best preserved Chinese city walls.  Construction of the first city wall of Chang’an (an ancient name for Xi’an) began in 194 BCE and lasted for four years. That wall measured 13.74 kilometers (8.54 mi) in length, 12–16 meters (39–52 ft.) in thickness at the base. The existing wall was started by the Ming Dynasty in 1370.

 

night view of bell tower
seeing from the south gate

Aaron:

We visited Fortification of Xi’an. It has 4 gates, the west gate (安定门), north gate (安远门)，east gate (长乐门)，south gate (永宁门).  We went in from the south gate. The city wall is very high, very thick, and long. It is as high as 5 to 6 stories building, as wide as 3 lanes of traffic, and 13.74 kilometers (8.54 miles) long. The only 8 pairs of stairs were all very steep and tall. It was so well defended that Xi’an was never conquered!

guards changing ceremony

rent a bike

When we got to the top, we saw a show was about to begin. The show was a guard changing ceremony. After watching the show, we rented a bike. The bike had 2 seats; one for my dad and one for me. My little brother Gordon couldn’t go because he was too young. My mom decided to go with Gordon on an electrical tour van. When we started biking, I was super excited because we were going to bike on the ancient city wall. We never stopped at any point except for the gates. The view from the city wall of Xi’an was very nice. Daddy and I had been pedaling for around 90 minutes to finish the whole square of 13.74 kilometers (8.54 mi).

completion of the whole
square on bike

By then, the sun went down and the moon went up. The whole city wall was decorated with lights and lanterns. I felt like I was back to the ancient Chinese civilization time. At the end, we saw an exhibit about the ancient Silk Road (古丝绸之路). I found out that Xi’an was the starting point of the Silk Road. During the Qing Dynasty, a German scientist saw part of the Silk Road and identified it as the road the Chinese used to trade silk. That is why it is called Silk Road.



bell tower

We also visited the Bell Tower (钟楼)，and Drum Tower (鼓楼). The Xi’an Fortification was remarkable.



east gate

 

Gordon:

door way

south gate

We went to the Xi’an City Wall from the late afternoon till night. The City Wall which sits around the old Xi’an city is well preserved. It takes about one and half an hour to finish the whole square of the wall if you use a vehicle or bike. The Xi’an City Wall is about 5 stories high and 30 to 40 feet thick. It protects the city and no one had ever successfully broken into it before. It even had bright lanterns that make it more beautiful at night. Lanterns light up at 8pm to decorate the wall and buildings. The red lanterns means good luck. I also like the Tang Dynasty soldiers show at there. It was cool. The soldiers looked powerful. All of them had a sharp sword and strong armor. The Xi’an City Wall is beautiful and fun to walk around. I wish we could go again!