西安 Xi'An: The Ancient City

Xi'An (西安 meaing "west peace")--or as it was known until the Ming Dynasty, Chang'An (长安 eternal peace)--is one of the ancient capitals of China. The most visible remaining sign of its history is the city wall.

The original city wall was begun in 194 BC and enclosed a huge area (36 square km/14 square miles) to the northwest of the what is now Xi'An. The current walls were begun in 1370 during the Ming Dynasty (restored recently) and enclose a smaller area (14 square kilometers/5.4 square miles). The wall is 13.7 miles long and wider than the local highway in Jietou. Apparently they hold a yearly marathon on top of the wall, and, more relevantly, they rent bikes at the gates, so my cofellow and I biked all the way around, stopping at each gate, corner tower, and a few spots in between. It made for a splendid evening.

South gate (南门). where we climbed up and rented our bikes.

The phoenix post and pennant mark the south wall.

My cofellow through the crenelations.

Looking north towards East Gate.

Looking back the way we came, towards South Gate.

The southeast corner tower.

East gate.

A dragon marks the east wall.

North gate.

Some unknown ungulate marks the north wall.

The side of the archery tower at the North Gate. All those windows are for shooting out of.

Moat! (Or as the Chinese word literal means: protect castle river.)

All of a sudden I saw these gold roofs rise out of nowhere. It is the Guangren Temple. It is the only Tibetan Buddhist Temple
in Xi'An. It was built in 1703 during the Qing Dynasty by edict of Emperor Kangxi.

Just as we reached the northwest corner,
the lights turned on.

A tiger marks the west wall.

West Gate.

The front of West Gate. Note, again, all the windows for shooting out of.

North gate, seen from the south wall.

South Gate.

The bell tower, at the center of the city.

Another look at the bell tower.

And the matching drum tower.

South gate from outside the city, receding into the distance.