Shaanxi

Shaanxi is one of the cradles of the Chinese civilization. The greatest excavation in Shaanxi include the Lantian Man who lived 1.15 million years ago, the 6,000-year-old Banpo Village of the primitive Yangshao Culture, the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan at the top of Mt. Qiaoshan. Fourteen kingdoms of feudal dynasties established their capitals in this province over a span of 1,500 years. The major ones are the Zhou, the Qin, the Han, and the Tang. Shaanxi also boasts a variety of historic and cultural resources, including historic sites, ancient buildings, ancient tombs, bronze ware, and stone inscriptions.

The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, located 5 kilometers to the east of Lintong County, is the first imperial mausoleum in the history of China. With its massive scale and delicate design, it is also the biggest underground imperial mausoleum in the world. Owing to its rich cultural artifacts, the mausoleum is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The site of the Mausoleum was originally called Lishan Mountain, for it looked like a natural hill with all kinds of plants growing there. According to historical records, Li Daoyuan, a geographer in Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), once said that this area lacked loess so that labors had to carry loess from afar. Thus, the Mausoleum, completely constructed by ancient Chinese people, demonstrates their wisdom and great intelligence.

The Mausoleum of Yellow Emperor

The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor stands at the top of Mt. Qiaoshan, north of the Huangling County seat. The Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, the ancestor of the Chinese nation, was honored as the “Founder of Human Civilization.” Since the fifth year of Emperor Daizong’s reign in the Tang Dynasty, it has been a place of state ceremony to pay homage to the Yellow Emperor’s Mausoleum on Chinese Memorial Day.

At the foot of the Qiaoshan Mountain stands Xuanyuan Temple, which was built in the Han Dynasty, where there are still some well-preserved stone tablets and the oldest ancient cypresses in China. With its picturesque scenery and rich cultural relics, the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor has served as the symbol of Chinese civilization.

The Huaqing Pool

Situated at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan in Lintong County, east of the city of Xi’an, the Huaqing Pool is famed for its imperial architecture, hot springs and the romantic love story of the Tang Emperor Xuanzong and his favorite lady, Yang Guifei (Lady Yang Yuhuan).

The Huaqing Pool is fascinating for its exquisite and picturesque scenery characterized by green willows, a crystal-clear lake, beautiful pavilions and terraces, magnificent halls, winding corridors, and stone tablets. Among them are the Frost-drifting Hall, the Nine-dragon Pool, the Nine-bend Corridor, the Marble Boat, the Roaring Dragon Waterside Pavilion, etc.

The Xi’an City Wall

The construction of the City Wall of Xi'an was initiated by Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, in 1374 A.D. As an extension of the Old Tang Dynasty structure, the project lasted for four years. With 13.74 Km in length and 12 m in height, the city wall represents the best preserved city wall that has survived through China’s long history, as well as the largest and the most complete city wall in the world. A moat, wide and deep, runs around the city. More recently the Shaanxi Provincial Government restored the city wall again. A circular park has been built in between the high wall and the deep moat all around the city, which has become a good spot for local residents to do morning exercises.

The Bell Tower

The Bell Tower, first built in 1384 A.D. during the early Ming Dynasty, has been the center of Xi’an city for over 600 years. The whole building is a brick-and-wood structure, which exemplifies the style of the Tang and Song architectures. The building takes a rectangular shape and shows tiers of eaves. There are two stories inside the building, with one tier of eave at the lower story and two at the upper. The eaves are supported by colored dou gong, a traditional structural system in which brackets are jointed with columns and crossbeams. There are corridors around the tower on each tier. Ever since the date it was built, the Bell Tower has been the symbol of Xi'an, witnessing the splendid history of Xi’an city.

The Tang Paradise

The Tang Paradise, located near the original site of an ancient Tang era garden, is the first royal-garden-like cultural theme park to give a full display of the Tang Dynasty's (618-907) culture. It covers a total area of 1000 mu (about 165 acres) and of which 300 mu (about 49 acres) is water, providing visitors with facilities for sight-seeing, dinning, shopping and recreation. The park features numerous buildings, squares, gardens and pavilions, with elements of traditional Chinese architecture, presenting a perfect exhibition of the grandness, prosperity and brilliance of the culture of the Tang Dynasty. In addition, there are a myriad of intriguing shows and performances, including the show “Dream Back to the Great Tang Dynasty” and the world’s foremost water film. Together with the North Square and South Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Tang City Wall Relics Park and the Tang Sleepless Town, it forms a cultural area that exhibits the splendor of the Tang dynasty.

The Qianling Mausoleum

The Qianling Mausoleum is the joint tomb of Gao Zong (Li Zhi, 628-683 A.D.), the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty and his Empress, Wu Zetian (624-705 A.D.), the only empress in Chinese history. The mausoleum lies on the Liangshan Hill, north of Qianxian County. There are gate towers and stone statues on four sides of the mausoleum. On both sides of the sacred way in front of the tomb, there are also 61 stone statues, representing the heads of the ethnic minority groups and envoys from foreign countries who attended Emperor Gaozong’s funeral. The “'Uncharactered Stele” built to commemorate Empress Wu Zetian within the Qianling Mausoleum is still a puzzle, since unlike other tablets located at the site, it has no written inscriptions. There are 17 satellite tombs around the Qianling Mausoleum; among them are the tomb of Princess Yong Tai, and the tomb of Crown Prince Zhang Huai, etc. A great number of relics were unearthed from these tombs. Frescoes, well composed and skillfully executed, illustrate the high artistic level of Tang paintings. All these relics are well preserved in the Qianling Museum.

The Maoling Mausoleum

Maoling, the Mausoleum of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, is located in Xingping County, Xian Yang city. It is the biggest mausoleum among the imperial mausoleums of the Western Han Dynasty. The Maoling Museum is located on the eastern side of the Maoling Mausoleum one kilometer (about 0.6 miles) away. Within the museum there are Huo Qubing’s tomb, large stone statues of men, stone carvings of animals, among which “'Horse Treads on the Hun'” is the most famous carving. These large groups of carvings comprise an illustrious example of the art of stone caving in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). It is the best preserved carving heritage in China.

The Zhaoling Mausoleum

Zhaoling, the mausoleum of the Emperor Taizong (Li Shimin) of the Tang Dynasty, is located on the top of Jiuzong Mountain, northeast of Liquan County in Shaanxi Province. It was the first imperial tomb set against the mountain, launching the practice of Tang emperors building their tombs near mountain peaks. It is the most sizable imperial tomb in China, with the most satellite tombs around it. The owners of the satellite tombs include famous ministers, royal families and high officials. The Zhaoling Mausoleum is characterized by its exquisite stone carvings, among which the “Six Steeds of Zhaoling” carvings gain the highest praise of all. Large quantities of unearthed artifacts are well preserved in the Zhaoling Museum.

Sima Qian Temple

Ten kilometers (6 miles) south to Hancheng of Shaanxi province, the Sima Qian Temple is situated on the southeastern hummock of Zhichuan County. It is the most popular sight in Hancheng, with Mt. Liang to the west, the Yellow River to the east, the ancient Great Wall of the Wei Dynasty to the south, and the River Zhi to the north. The view is superb and reflects Sima Qian's noble-minded personality and outstanding achievements. The Sima Qian Temple was built in 310 A.D. during the Western Jin Dynasty. Sima Qian's tomb stands at the back of the temple and is built with bricks and engraved with the Eight Diagrams and flower designs on the walls of the grave. The tomb is covered by age-old exuberant cypresses, which bring the tomb a particular sense of serenity and solemnity.

Wu Hou Temple

The Wu Hou Temple is located 4 kilometers west of Mianxian County, Han Zhong city. Opposite to it stands the Wu Hou tomb, with Hanshui River running in between. The construction of the temple was initiated by Emperor Liu Chan (207 – 271) to commemorate Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Shu Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). As the first temple initiated by an emperor and funded by the state, the temple was built in 263 A.D., i.e. 29 years after Zhuge Liang died, at the foot of DingJun Mountain, covering an area of 2 hectares. With many other historic sites, it has become a tourist destination at home and abroad.

Lady Yang’s Tomb

The tomb of Lady Yang is located at Maweipo, west of Xingping County. It is the tomb for Yang Yuhuan, the favorite lady of the Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. It is famous for its brick structure and stone inscriptions by eminent people. In 755 A.D., a military officer, An Lushan, rose up in rebellion. The Emperor Xuanzong took his courtiers and fled west in a great hurry. When they reached Maweipo, the generals and soldiers that had fought all the way with him killed Yang Guozhong, the chancellor. Then they forced the Emperor to order Lady Yang to commit suicide. Helpless and despaired, Lady Yang hanged herself.

Zhou Gong Temple

Zhou Gong Temple, located at the foot of south FengHuang Mountain, 7.5 kilometers away from Qishan County, was built in 618 A.D. to commemorate Zhou Gong, a statesman in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It covers an area of 900 mu (148 acres), with the main Hall for Zhou Gong, the side halls for other ministers and generals of the Zhou Dynasty. On three sides it is sheltered by hills, with ground land only to the the south, forming the shape as a dustpan. It is recorded that it had already been a tourist resort as early as the Western Zhou Period. It was nominated as one of the key protected cultural relics of Shaanxi Province in 1957 and as a provincial scenic spot in 1992.

Sanyuan Cheng Huang Temple

Sanyuan Cheng Huang Temple is located at Qu’an Street, east of Sanyuan County, Xian Yang City. It was built in 1375 A.D., with a total area of 13,000 square meters. Having gone through nine times of reconstructions since then, it has become one of the best-preserved ancient buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. It is believed by Taoists that Cheng Huang is the town God to guard the town, therefore Cheng Huang temples were built from the Three Kingdoms period to the end of the Qing Dynasty. The Sanyuan Chuang Huang temple was built to worship Li Jing, the famous general of the Tang Dynasty. With its large-scale construction and magnificent decoration, it best represents the style of ancient architecture in China.

Welcome to China2Go, the talking Chinese phrase book for Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Palm OS. Featuring crystal clear voice recorded by a real person, this product is a great travel companion and an ideal tool to learn Chinese! With our cutting edge voice compression technology, this product includes more than 1000 phrases, their Chinese translation, and the voice in only a few megabytes. Supports all Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. H&H China2Go Talking Phrase Book for Windows Mobile