The Terra Cotta Warriors
The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Work is ongoing at this site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum, Lintong County, Shaanxi province. It is a sight not to be missed by any visitor to China.
The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. They were tagged in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public on China's National Day, 1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back.
No. 2 Pit, found in 1976, is 20 meters northeast of No. 1 Pit. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 chariots of wood. It was unveiled to the public in 1994.Archeologists came upon No. 3 Pit also in 1976, 25 meters northwest of No. 1 Pit. It looked like to be the command center of the armed forces. It went on display in 1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses. Altogether over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed from these pits. Most of them have been restored to their former grandeur. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a sensational archeological find of all times. It has put Xian on the map for tourists. It was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world cultural heritages.
Huaqing pool
Huaqing Pool is located at the foot of Lishan Mountain, about 35 kilometers east of Xian city. It can be conveniently visited on returning from the Terracotta Army site. On arriving at the Huaqing Pool, one is struck by the distinctive features of traditional palaces of the Tang Dynasty. The palace is called Huaqing Pool because it has many pools and hot springs. Willow branches droop gracefully down to the water of the pools. Pavilions, bridges and pools together constitute a most elegant palace. It was a rainy day when I went there and the whole palace was enveloped in mist: it made the scenery even more beautiful.
It is famous for high-ranked imperial concubine Yang in Tang Dynasty.Yang Guifei was bathing in this place and was loved by the emperor ,so he built a lot of beautiful and magnificant palace there!
The City Wall of Xi'an
The City Wall of Xi'an is one of oldest existing Chinese city wall. It is based in Xi'an, an ancient capital of China.The construction of the City Wall of Xi'an was initiated by Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who was in regime between 1370-1378 AD. The Ming Xi'an City is in the shape of a rectangle and it covers an area of 11,5 square Km. The circumference of the city wall is 13,49 Km long. On each side of the city wall there is a gate comprising three multistoried towers,i.e. the gate tower, arrow-shooting tower and the drawbridge tower, which look huge and magnificent. The city wall is 1é meters high and 15 meters wide on the top. On the city wall there is a range of outward parapets interrupted by as many as 5984 crenels, and there are altogether protruding ramparts. On each of the 4 corners of the city wall there is a watch tower. The city wall is surrounded by a moat, which is 18 meters wide and 6 meters deep.
The Bell Tower
The Bell Tower, a classical building with carved beams and painted rafters, has been served as the symbol of Xi’an. It stands in the center of the downtown area where the north street, the south street, the west street and the east street meet. And the tower house a huge bell which in ancient times was use to strike the time every morning. This is how the tower got its name. now it is an important historical monument in shaanxi Province.The Bell tower was first built in Ying Xiang temple in 1384 during the Ming dynasty. It was moved to its present site in 1582 as a result of the city‘s expansion program.
Shaanxi History Museum
Shaanxi History Museum, which located in the northwest of the Dayan Pagoda of ancient city Xi'an, is the first huge state museum with modern facilities in China, and given the reputation of "bright pearl of ancient city, treasure house of China."
Conformed to last wish of former Primer Minister Zhou Enlai, Shaanxi History Museum was built from 1983, and was finished on June 20th, 1991 and open to the public. The museum has an area of 65,000 square meters, building place 55,600 square meters, cultural relics storerooms of 8,000 square meters, exhibition halls of 11,000 square meters with a collection of 370000 pieces of relics. The museum is an architecture of Tang style, "Hall in center, storied buildings in corners", elegant and dignified, magnificent scale, combination of traditional architecture and modern science, which completely embodied folk tradition, local feature, and epoch spirit.
The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Chinese pinyin: Dàyàn Tǎ), is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. It was built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty and originally had five stories, although the structure was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick facade renovated during the Ming Dynasty. One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by the Buddhist translator and traveller Xuanzang.
Famen Temple
Famen Temple is located in Famen Town 120 kilometers northwest of Xi'an. Although this Temple is a fair distance from Xi'an, it is a fascinating place with an intriguing history and it is worth making the effort to get here.
Legend has it that in 147 AD King Asoka of India traveled throughout Asia, distributing Buddhist relics as atonement for his sins and war like attitude. In China, he built this Temple and left the fingers of Buddha to be enshrined here.
Tang Dynasty Emperors revered this sacred relic and regularly walked through the streets with the fingers followed by a huge worshipping procession. The Tang Emperors offered wonderful gifts to the fingers in an attempt to better their predecessors offerings. This legend was actually dismissed until 1981 when heavy rains revealed the crypt, shrine and underground palace completely by accident. The crypt contains the Buddha's fingers and gifts from the Emperors. The site is still seen as an important place of pilgrimage for Buddhists today.
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