1.Things To Know Before You Go
Xi'an City Wall is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient city walls in China, it is located in the central area of Xi'an City and regarded as the first batch of national cultural relics protection units and a national 5A-level tourist scenic area.
Xi'an fortifications was built from the seventh to the eleventh year of the Hongwu reign in the Ming Dynasty (1374 - 1378), and it was expanded on the basis of the imperial city of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty and Fengyuan City in the Yuan Dynasty. It has a closed rectangular outline with a wall height of 12 meters, a bottom width of 18 meters, a top width of 15 meters and a total perimeter of 11.9 kilometres.
Nowadays, the magnificent Xi'an City Wall has become one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the urban area. From the west gate to the east gate, a number of tourist attractions such as the Peony Garden, the Pomegranate Garden, the Cherry Blossom Garden, the Hanguang Pavilion, the maze, the Yuan Ladder and the drawbridge have been successively built for tourists to visit. In addition, its night views are also very appealing and wait for tourists to take pictures and check in.
2.Why Is Xi’an City Wall So Special?
2.1 The Tangible Benefits Bring To Tourists
The Scenic Area of Xi'an City Wall is a ring-shaped scenic area integrating the moat, the ring-shaped forest belt and the roads along the city wall. The total planned area is approximately 4,530,820 square meters. Visitors can enter the city wall through Yongning Gate (the South Gate), which is the entrance where tourists gather most with convenient transportation and it allows them to experience the essence of the Fortifications of Xi'an.
Moreover, tourists can also choose to visit the city wall on foot or by bike. Along the way, they can enjoy a wealth of historical sites and cultural landscapes, the city wall is surrounded by a moat, the famous Bell Tower and Drum Tower of Xi'an are located in the center of those area, thus visitors can visit them along the way to add a unique travel experience.
2.2 Attractions Overview
2.2.1 History Backgrounds
The history of Xi'an City Wall can be traced back to the Han Dynasty and the initial city wall was built during the reign of Emperor Hui. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the city wall underwent multiple expansions and renovations. In the Ming Dynasty, it was reconstructed and reinforced on a large scale, taking on the scale and layout as it is today. What is worth mentioning is that the city wall is not only a paragon of the ancient Chinese military defense system but also an outstanding representative of ancient Chinese urban planning.
2.2.2 Tourism Resources
Xi'an City Wall, also known as Xi'an Ming Dynasty City Wall, is the most intact ancient city wall existing in China, ranking second in length across the country. It is listed alongside Pingyao City Wall, Jingzhou City Wall and Xingcheng City Wall as one of the four best-preserved ancient city walls in China.
In addition, Chang'an Ancient Music Culture Week has also been successfully held in this ancient city wall, the themed lantern show of "The Nightless City of Shangyuan Festival in Tang Capital", the Mid-Autumn Festival moon-viewing event, the New Year's blessing activity of "The Prosperous Age with Bell Ringing, Praying for Chang'an" together with Xi'an City Wall International Marathon and so on. Every year, more than ten large-scale cultural tourism activities are carried out, making it a unique tourist and cultural scenic spot.
2.2.3 Architecture Characteristics
Xi'an City Wall encompasses a series of military facilities such as moats, drawbridges, gate tower with sluice gates, embrasure watchtowers, main towers, corner towers, enemy towers, parapets and so on, forming a strict and complete military defense system. There are city gates on all four sides of the wall, the one in the east is named "Changle", the one in the west is named "Anding", the one in the south is named "Yongning", and the one in the north is named "Anyuan". Each brick and stone of the city wall carries rich historical information and serves as important physical materials for the study of ancient Chinese urban defense architecture.
3. How To Get To Xi’an City Wall
The public transportation information is as follows:
Bus: Take Bus No. 12, Bus No. 208 / K208, Bus No. 600 and get off at the South Gate Station and then reach the destination on foot.
Subway: Take Line 2 to reach the South Gate.
Ticket prices: 54 yuan per person;
Bicycle rental: 45 yuan for a single bicycle and 90 yuan for a tandem bicycle;
Combined ticket: 100 yuan per person.
Remarks: There are five bicycle rental points in total, they are located on the east and west sides of the South Gate, as well as at the West Gate, North Gate and East Gate respectively. The deposit is about 200 yuan and the rental price is approximately 45 yuan for a single bicycle and 90 yuan for a tandem bicycle.
Service hours: The bicycle rental stations on the east and west sides of the South Gate are open from 8:00 to 22:00 (from November 1st to March 31st of the following year, they will close at 20:00 in advance). The other bicycle rental stations are open from 8:00 to 0:00 throughout the year.
4. Highlights Of Xi’an City Wall
There are eight entrances for ascending the city wall, namely Yongning Gate (South Gate), Changle Gate (East Gate), Anding Gate (West Gate), Anyuan Gate (North Gate), Wenchang Gate, Hanguang Gate, Zhongshan Gate and Jianguo Gate. Among them, the four gates of Yongning Gate, Anyuan Gate, Changle Gate and Anding Gate are the original gates of Xi'an Ming Dynasty City Wall. Due to the military defense requirements at that time, they all had a single gate opening and three layers of city walls were built, and between two layers of city walls, barbicans were formed. Except for Yongning Gate, the other three gates now are only with two layers of city walls left. By the period of the Republic of China, the city gates gradually lost their original military defense functions and people newly built gate openings on both sides of the original four gates for the convenience of transportation. Therefore, the current Fortifications of Xi'an is composed of the main wall, parapet (also known as crenel wall), battlement wall, paved surface on the top of the wall, enemy platforms, corner platforms, horse ramps, city gates, outer city walls, barbicans, embrasure watchtowers, main towers and enemy towers, etc.
4.1 Changle Gate 长乐门
Changle Gate is the main east gate of Xi'an City Wall, it was opened up in the Ming Dynasty. The existing gate tower, barbican, as well as six gate openings on the north and south sides respectively. To the north of Changle Gate is Zhongshan Gate, and to the south is the southeast corner of the city wall. Before the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang once organized the instructor team and the student soldier team on the gate tower of Changle Gate, now it has been turned into a memorial site for the Xi'an Incident. As the east gate with profound historical deposits and an ancient architectural style, tourists can overlook the beautiful scenery of the whole Xi'an city and feel the charm of the ancient capital when they ascend the city wall here.
4.2 Anding Gate 安定门
Anding Gate is commonly known as the West Gate, it was originally the middle gate on the west side of the imperial city in Tang Dynasty, and then it was expanded in the Ming Dynasty, its position was slightly moved southwards, after that it was named Anding Gate, which implies peace and stability in the western frontier. This gate was originally equipped with three layers of gate towers: the main gate tower, the embrasure watchtower, and the gate tower with sluice gates, there were also three layers of city walls. Among them, the embrasure watchtower was in the middle with the main gate tower inside and the gate tower with sluice gates on the outside. There were arched gate openings under each gate tower with a height and width of 6 meters.
In addition, there was a square barbican between the main gate tower and the embrasure watchtower, it was an access passage in peacetime and a crucial place for defense during wartime. On the north side of the main gate tower, there is an observation platform built when the Emperor of Japan visited Xi'an, it is open for tourists to visit and also belongs to the national key cultural relics protection units. The embrasure watchtower at the West Gate is the most intact ancient castle preserved in China so far, inside the city gate is the West Street, and outside the gate is Zhenjie Street in Xiguan. Tourists can take pictures at the Anding Gate, the ancient trees in the barbican, the embrasure watchtower and the city gate are all excellent spots for photography, plus the evening view of the city wall under the sunset is breathtakingly beautiful, so it is well worth a visit.
4.3 Yongning Gate 永宁门
Yongning Gate is the main south gate of Xi'an City Wall, it was first built in the early Sui Dynasty. As one of the three gates on the south side of the imperial city and located slightly to the east, it was originally named Anshang Gate and then renamed Yongning Gate in the Ming Dynasty. Currently, there is a roundabout traffic layout in Yongning Gate, South Gate Square outside the gate and South Avenue inside the gate, also it connects Zhenjie Street in Nanguan.
Regarded as an important scenic spot, band performances and shows are often held on the city wall. One of the classic examples is the performance of "Dream of Chang'an - Grand Tang Welcoming Ceremony", it takes the etiquette culture of the prosperous Tang Dynasty as its theme, making people seem to travel through time and return to ancient times, tourists can feel a strong cultural atmosphere here. In addition, visitors can also enjoy the beautiful night views and the gorgeous light show here.
4.4 Anyuan Gate 安远门
It is commonly known as the North Gate, as the gate built in the Ming Dynasty, the two characters "Anyuan" inherit the conciliatory and pacifying policy adopted by the imperial court of the Han ethnic group towards the ethnic minorities in remote areas, hoping that they would be grateful to the imperial court and submit to it. During the 1911 Revolution, when the revolutionary army attacked the Qing Dynasty, the fighting at the Anyuan Gate was very fierce and the gate tower of the North Gate was burned down in the battle, when the city wall was renovated in 1983, the original embrasure watchtower was restored.
4.5 Zhongshan Gate 中山门
Zhongshan Gate is commonly known as the Small East Gate and it was first opened in early 1927 at the initiative of General Feng Yuxiang and got its name in memory of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the National Revolution. On May 1, 1927, General Feng Yuxiang led his troops on the Eastern Expedition and set out from the Zhongshan Gate. There were two gate openings side by side, so Feng Yuxiang named them "Eastern Expedition Gate" and "Triumph Gate" respectively.
4.6 Enemy Platforms 敌台
Every 120 meters along the city wall, there is a pier platform that protrudes outside the main body of the city wall and is level with the top of the wall, which is called the enemy platform. In ancient times, it could extend outward to prevent the arrows shot from the front below the wall from hurting people, so that the soldiers could fight on the pier platform without worries. The distance between each pier platform is 120 meters, and the central point at 60 meters is exactly within the effective range of projectile weapons such as bows and arrows, flying hooks, rolling logs, stones for rolling down the wall, and javelins. This made the enemies attacking the city under fire from three aspects: the city wall, the left and right enemy platforms and the enemy towers, thus forming a three-dimensional and cross fire network. In total, there are 98 such enemy platforms in the whole Xi'an City Wall.
4.7 Battlement Wall 垛墙
In ancient times, it was mainly used for soldiers to observe and shoot outwards from inside the wall, it could also protect soldiers from being hurt by weapons such as arrows and spears under the wall. The buildings outside the city wall are all high-rise ones, full of the flavor of a modern metropolis.
4.8 Parapet 女墙
It is located on the inner side of the city wall and is lower than the battlement wall, its main function is to prevent soldiers from falling off the city wall when walking on it. One side of the parapet belongs to the inside of Xi'an City, the buildings there are relatively low, but they are all ancient architectures, hence being full of historical charm. Tourists can carefully appreciate and savor them.
5. Suggested Tour Routes
Tourist Routes: It is recommended that tourists buy tickets to ascend the city wall from the South Gate (Yongning Gate), this is the entrance most frequently chosen by tourists and also the place that has been restored best and where there are numerous performances and activities. After getting onto the city wall, tourists can go to the bicycle rental point to rent a single bicycle and ride from the South Gate, passing through the East Gate, North Gate and West Gate, and finally return the bicycle at the West Gate. It takes about 2.5 hours to ride around once. Then visitors can stroll from the West Gate back to the South Gate, enjoying the simple and solemn urban architecture along the section from the West Gate to the South Gate all the way.
Precautions
Rental Time: From 8:00 to 19:00 (The closing time at the South Gate is extended to 22:00).
Time Limit: Two hours for each rental.
Rental Price: 45 yuan for a single bicycle and 90 yuan for a tandem bicycle. The deposit for a single bicycle is 200 yuan and 300 yuan for a tandem bicycle. (cash payment is acceptable).
Near the South Gate, tourists can watch the opening ceremony of ancient city gate and the performance of the warrior formation, the city gate opening ceremony is held at the drawbridge square of the South Gate at 9:30 every day, and the performance of the warrior formation is held in the barbican of the South Gate at 10:30 and 16:30 every day.
6. Best Time To Go
The best seasons to visit Xi'an City Wall are from March to June and from September to November. Spring in Xi 'an is very warm, dry and sunny, which is very suitable for outdoor activities. In the Autumn, visitors need a light jacket in the morning and evening as it's a bit chilly, while it gets rather hot at noon, so they can try to ascend the ancient city wall in the morning or after sunset as much as possible.
7. Nearby Attractions
7.1 Xi'an Bell Tower 西安钟楼
Xi'an Bell Tower is closest to Yongning Gate of Xi'an City Wall. The Yongning Gate, also known as the South Gate, is opposite to the Bell Tower from north to south and is connected by South Street with a distance of just seven or eight hundred meters. Tourists can choose to enter the city wall through the Yongning Gate, after visiting the city wall on foot or by renting a bicycle, they can head to the Bell Tower afterwards.
Xi'an Bell Tower is situated in the center of Xi'an City and is also at the intersection of the four streets (east, west, south, and north) within the Ming Dynasty city wall. Perceived as one of the main landmarks that tourists may reach when they come to Xi'an, it is also one of the largest and best-preserved existing bell towers in China. Actually, it was built in the seventeenth year of Hongwu reign of Emperor Taizu in the Ming Dynasty (1384), people can visit the Bell Tower from 8:30 to 21:30 every day, the ticket price is 30 yuan per person, and the combined ticket price for the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower is 50 yuan per person, most importantly, it can be visited and photographed in all seasons, so it is very cost-effective and an itinerary not to be missed.
7.2 Yongxingfang 永兴坊
It is located inside Zhongshan Gate on the east side of the Xi'an City Wall. Considered as one of the 108 workshops in the Tang Dynasty and also the former site of the residence of Wei Zheng, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. It is mainly built in the forms of imitation ancient "workshops and stores" building complexes, memorial archways, leisure and green squares, inner streets, and well houses, reproducing the neighborhood style and the historical living atmosphere of the ancient Chang'an City.
Moreover, there is also a food street with antique-style building complexes. Tourists can taste all kinds of authentic Xi'an cuisines here, such as Chang'an Gourd Chicken, Laotongguan Roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), and Chang'an Braised Pig's Trotters in Guanzhong Alley, Yang Steamed Basin as well as Whirlwind Mutton, Zichang Pancakes, and Cold Noodles in Shanbei Street. While enjoying the delicious food, tourists can also learn about the production techniques and processes of these traditional food, which further promotes the intangible cultural heritage food culture and enhances their sense of experience.
7.3 Forest Of Steles In Xi 'an 西安碑林
Sited in No. 15 Sanxue Street, Beilin District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, it is closest to the South Gate (Yongning Gate) of Xi'an City Wall. The distance from the Forest of Stone Steles to the South Gate of the Xi'an City Wall is relatively short, and tourists can reach it on foot in about 8 to 10 minutes, so it is very convenient.
Moreover, these Stone Steles are also a cultural and artistic treasure house with the earliest collection of ancient Chinese stone steles and the largest number of famous steles. Not only is it a centralized place for the stone inscriptions of ancient Chinese cultural classics, but also it is a gathering place for famous calligraphic art treasures of past dynasties, so it is of great historical and artistic value and is well worth visiting.
8. Useful Travel Tips
After tourists finish cycling and return their bicycles at the bicycle rental point at the West Gate, they can take a leisurely stroll from the West Gate to the South Gate, this section of the road offers the most beautiful scenery along the entire city wall. Along the way, tourists will pass by the parapet and the battlement wall, as well as the buildings beside them. When standing beside the battlement wall, they can also sense the modern urban skyline composed of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings outside Xi'an City. After finishing the tour in the city wall, they can directly descend from the South Gate and then walk to the Small South Gate or the lane along the city wall, there are many century-old shops in these two places, and tourists can start their food tour of Xi'an from here, absolutely amazing.
