Home - Information - Xian Travel Information
The City Wall

It was the Tang Empire that set its capital at the present site of Xi’an, with a perimeter of 35 kilometers long city wall. 

The City Wall of Xi’an is just at the center of Xi’an municipality, in a rectangular shape and with the length from east to west a little longer than that from south to north. The perimeter of the city wall is 11.9 kilometers, with four gates constructed in the four directions of east, south, west and north. The construction system of the city gates is in a four-rampart and 12-gate style. The Northern City Gate is called Anyuan Gate, the Southern City Gate is called Yong’an Gate, the West City Gate is called Anding Gate, and the East City Gate is called Changle Gate. It was rebuilt and extended on the base of the original Tang Dynasty Palace Wall from the seventh year to the eleventh year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (from 1374 to 1378 AD). It has a history of 600 years up to now and it is also the most large, solid and complete city wall which has survived through the long history in China. 

Xi’an is called Chang’an in Chinese history. Chang’an, as an ancient organizational capital city, has a history of over 3,000 (called Haojing in Zhou Dynasty, Xianyang in Qin Dynasty and Chang’an after Han Dynasty up to the time before the Ming Dynasty). It was the Tang Empire that set its capital at the present site of Xi’an, with a perimeter of 35 kilometers long city wall. Such a large-scale city wall construction is rarely found in the world history. Therefore, it is regarded as one of the four ancient capital cities together with the Italian city "Rome", "Athens" of Greece and "Cairo" of Egypt. The Tang City Wall was ruined in a war at the beginning of the 10th century AD. At the end of Tang Dynasty, in the first year of Tian You Period (904 AD), the city governor Hanjian of the security army which settled in Chang’an rebuilt the city wall on the base of the inner city wall of the Tang Dynasty Imperial Palace of the Tang Chang’an city. This is the original shape of the present city wall. In the second year of Hong Wu in the Ming Dynasty, the founder of Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang occupied "Fengyuanlu" (the new city rebuilt by Hanjian) and changde the name of "Fengyuanlu" into "Chang’an Fu", hence the name "Chang’an" has been used ever since. Meanwhile, he nominated his second son Zhushuang as "King Qin" to govern this area, and ordered an inner city "King Qin’s Palace" ("New city" where the Shaanxi Provincial government is now located) built inside the city of Xi’an. In the seventh year of Hongwu Period (1370 AD), Zhushuang started to widen and make higher the city wall rebuilt by Hanjian, and extended the northern city wall and the eastern city wall outwards in a degree of one-third, thus formed the present scale of the city wall. 

The city wall of Xi’an is 12 meters high, 15 meters wide on the top and 18 meters at the bottom, with battlements of 1.65 meters high. Laid on the top are three layers of bricks, which make it convenient for drainage. In the four directions, there is a city gate tower and arrow tower each. Each city gate tower has 3 ramparts and 3 entrances, which make up 4 inner cities (or compounds). In front of each inner city (or compounds), there is a Zhalou (rampart with a suspense bridge. The three ramparts standing in a line, with upturned eaves up into the sky, make up a magnificent scene. The surrounding moat just outside the city wall makes it imregnable.


PREVIOUS BACK TO LIST
More China Travel Information
China Tour Guides
Floyd Kondo on the First Trip with His Friends

The reward after this trip was the Panda Reserve. For most this was the highlight of the trip. What fun and something I'll cherish and remember for the rest of my life.

Floyd Kondo on the First Trip with His Friends
Marcus Sierra Family of Five on Their China Trip

I feel that we received a great deal of quality and value for our money and that you provided us with the type of direct and first-hand service that only a reliable tour operator in China can provide

Marcus Sierra Family of Five on Their China Trip
Roy & Lyn Jamieson on Their China Trip

We would thoroughly recommend Success China Tours to anyone visiting China.

Roy & Lyn Jamieson on Their China Trip
Floyd Kondo Comes from America for His Second Trip

Once more than expected travel,I would like to thank you for organizing such a good trip for my friends. They all have a good time, all of my comments show that this is their best trip / holiday. So be proud of your work because you have done a great job and everyone has got their money worth and more.

Floyd Kondo Comes from America for His Second Trip
Barry and Laura Had a Woderful Time in China

It was all because of the very high quality of the guides that you arranged for us.  Each of them had their own styles, which we enjoyed very much.

Barry and Laura Had a Woderful Time in China
How to Work with
Success China Tours
  • Step 1  |  Send an Inquiry
  • Step 2  |  Get a Customized Itinerary
  • Step 3  |  Finalize the Itinerary and Quote
  • Step 4  |  Deposit Is Required for Booking
  • Step 5  |  Full Payment before the Tour Starts
  • Step 6  |  Confirmation and Reconfirmation
  • Step 7  |  Service Voucher & Feedback
NAME
EMAL
MESSAGE which includes pax & tour dates
OUR CONTACTS
Success China Tours North America
Department Beijing Golden Peak
International Travel Service Co., Ltd
Telephone:86 10 83065275
Email:info@successchinatours.com
Address:Room214, Zone A, No.4-6
BaiguangRoad, Xicheng District, Beijing
China City Tours

Professional Travel Service for All Your China Travel Needs

Copyright © 2001 - 2018, Success China Tours