Shanxi Province - Xi’an 西安市 - Other Scenic Spots 其它景点

Banpo Museum 半坡遗址

Located on the eastern outskirts of Xi’an, the Banpo Museum is the first on-location prehistoric relics museum in China. The five excavations lasted from 1953 to 1957. Banpo is one of the largest villages of Yangshao Culture仰韶文化(c.5000-3000 BC), a Neolithic culture characterized by a fine painted pottery; named after Yangshao, Henan Province, where remains were first discovered in 1921. Visitors from home and abroad can see how villagers in a matriarchal clan community lived in the Yellow River reaches some 6,000 years ago. Encompassing some 50,000 square meters, the museum consists of dwelling areas, a pottery-making center, and a burial ground. The size of the habitation area is about 30,000 square meters. One fifth of the whole village (an area of 10,000 square meters) has already been exhumed with a surrounding moat about 5 meters deep and 6 meters wide. The cemetery is located north of the moat. To the east of the moat is the pottery-manufacturing center. The distribution of the habitation area, the pottery manufacturing center and the cemetery reflects the Banpo people’s idea of planning. Among the ruins are 46 dwellings, two domestic animal pens, more than 200 storage pits, six pottery kilns and 250 graves, including 73 burial jars for children. About 10,000 artifacts have been exhumed, together with a large number of animal bones and fruit pits. The museum is composed of three exhibition halls for cultural relics, a main exhibition hall on the site and a temporary exhibition hall. Exhibits on display include tools and utensils. The museum was set up and opened to the public in 1958.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔

Situated inside Ci’an (Thanks-giving) Temple, four kilometers south of Xi’an City, is one of the famous Buddhist pagodas in China. Sponsored by Tang Emperor Gaozong (628-683, reigned 650-683), the temple was first built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty as a symbol of thanksgiving to his mother for her kindness who had suffered an early death. To protect the scriptures and statues he brought back from India, Xuan Zang (602-664), a famous Tang monk, made a proposal to the court for a pagoda to be built inside the temple. The proposal was accepted and a pagoda, named the Big Wild Goose Pagoda was first erected in 652 during the Tang Dynasty. The pagoda experienced many vicissitudes in the past centuries. The present structure boasts five storeys with 59.9 meters in height and the base of the pagoda is 4.2 meters totaling 64.1 meters in height. Legend relates that one day a group of big wild geese flew over, suddenly one of them dropped from the sky and died on the ground. Monks were at a loss and did not know what to do. They said that the dead wild goose was a Buddha. They buried the goose and a pagoda was erected, hence the name, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda of Xi’an is a structure of imposing grandeur. 西安大雁塔气势雄伟

Imperial Palace---E' fang Palace 阿房宫

E’ fang Palace, the Qin-dynasty’s largest imperial palace, build in 212 BC and destroyed by a fire in 206 BC, has been rebuilt in the western suburbs of Xi’an capital of Shaanxi Province and one of the bustling tourist destinations in China, with an investment of 130 million yang (US $ 15.7 million) and five years of labour. Encompassing 34.53 hectares (85.32 acres), the palace brings back to life the ancient glory and brilliance of China’s first dynasty and provides yet another attraction for tourists both at home and abroad. The newly built palace opened to the public on October 2, 2000.

The Bell Tower 钟楼

Located in the intersection of East, West, South, and North streets, the Bell Tower was first built in 1384. Its original site was in Guangji Street and the tower was renovated in 1582. It has been the symbol of Xi’an. There used to be a huge bell hung in the tower for reporting time everyday. Hence the name Bell Tower. The fifteenth-century iron bell, weighing 2.5 tons, now rests on the northwest corner of the base.

The brick foundation of the Bell Tower is square, 35.5 meters on each side and 8.6 meters high. Above the brick is a tower of three layers with graceful caves. Not a single nail is used in this Ming style wooden architecture, for the columns and crossbeams are joined by mortise and tenon joints. This is called dougong斗拱 construction—sets of brackets on top of the columns supporting the beams within and roof eaves without (each set consisting of tiers of outstretching arms called gong, cushioned with trapezoidal blocks called dou), and more simply it is called a system of supporting brackets inserted between the top of a column and a crossbeam.

The entire structure is 36 meters high. In the base are four arched doorways, each six meters square. The first floor is beautifully appointed with ornate Qing furniture. The Ming and Qing designs are found on the ceiling and roof. Two grand flights of stairs lead to the top of the Tower. The climb to the second-storey balcony is rewarded a magnificent view over the whole city of Xi’an.

The City Wall of the Ming Dynasty 明代西安长城

The City Walls were built in the period 1347 to 1378.They were placed on the foundation of the wall around the Tang Dynasty. Since the location of Xi’an gives it strategic military importance, the Walls are very tall and were fortified. The eastern wall measures 2,590 meters, the western wall is 2,631.2 meters, the southern wall measures 3,441.6 meters, and the northern wall is 3,244 meters, totaling 11,906.8 meters. Much of the magnificent 600-odd-uear-old wall is still standing and it is one of the best examples in China of an outstanding traditional city defense system and urban design. A total of 13.74 kilometer-long wall was connected by the end of 2004.

The brick city wall forms a rectangle running 3.4 kilometers east-west and 2.6 kilometers north-south. Its circumference is 14 kilometers and it encompasses 11.5 square kilometers. The wall is 12 meters tall; it measures 15-18 meters in width at the base and 12-14 meters on top. On each side there is a city fate, over which the various towers majestically stand. There are four gates such as the East Gate (Everlasting Happiness长安), the West Gate (Eternal Stability安定), the North Gate (Pacifying the Outlying Areas安远) and the South Gate (Eternal Peace永宁). The West Gate (Eternal Peace) is the most impressive. The double gate system played an important role in repulsing enemy attacks. If the first gate were breached, the enemy would still find themselves outside the city wall and would be fired upon from the tower over the inner gate. Together the watchtowers, ramparts, and ninety-eight defense towers form an extremely tight system for military defense of the city.

The Great Mosque 清真寺

During the prosperous Tang Dynasty (618-907) large number of Moslems traveled the world-famous Silk Road to Chang’an (former name for Xi’an) bringing Islam to China. With the support of the Tang emperor Xuanzong唐玄宗(Li Longji李隆基, 685-762, reigned 712-756), they established the Great Mosque in 742. It is a well-preserved example of cultural merging, having been renovated several times and preserved by the Chinese Government.

The Mosque exhibits the signification of overseas architecture. From the carvings and furniture inside to the eaved pagoda for the minaret, Chinese influence is apparent. However, Arabic and West Asian styles prevail in the Great Hall of the Mosque, which was built mainly in the 14th century. Inscriptions are in Arabic, but the characters are sometimes arranged like Chinese characters. The library includes many books in the Arabic style, which were actually written in China. It is the largest of the four mosques still in operation in the city of Xi’an. Encompassing approximately 4,000 square meters, it is still an active Moslem temple.

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda 小雁塔

About one kilometer south of the South Gate stands the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. The Pagoda was built on the promises of Felicity Temple荐福寺.The temple was founded in honour of the Second Tang emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi; 628-683, reigned 649-683) in 684, the year after his death. It was built by his widow who aggressively took over control of China as the Empress Wu Zetian (624-705, reigned 690-705). A famous Buddhist center, Felicity Temple accommodated 200 resident monks during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Its most celebrated resident was the pilgrim Yi Jing义净法师 (635-713), who settled down there in 705, much like Xuan Zang (602-664) did in the Temple of Grace慈恩寺, to translate Buddhist scriptures he had brought back from India. The Temple was destroyed except for two large bells from the original temple courtyard. The two buildings presently beside the pagoda are the Ming structures now used as administrative offices.

The Pagoda was constructed in the period 707 to 709, though it acquired its present name only after its large neighbour to the southeast became known as the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Its function was also to house Buddhist sutras. Although with a height of 43 meters it is shorter than the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it has more tiers. In 1555 a big earthquake damaged the original 15-storey pagoda in the Ming Dynasty: A crack ran from the top to the base and the upper two tiers toppled off. Though the crack was revamped, the two top stories were not replaced during the renovation. The present 13-tier pagoda is a tribute to some Tang architects, showing their skill in building a pagoda, which has witnessed dozens of other earthquakes during the last 200 years and is still standing. It was completely restored in 1965 and at the same time lightning arrestor and lighting equipment were installed on the pagoda. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda is a square brick construction, with each side measuring 11.38 meters. Its style is fine and delicate with a rhythmic series of projecting eaves. Above the north and south arched doorways on the first storey are the Tang engravings of ivy designs and Buddhist figures. Ming inscriptions describe the earthquakes, which the pagoda survived.

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