The City Walls were built in the period 1374 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 metres, the western wall is 2,631 .2 metres, the southern wall measures 3,441. 6 metres, and the northern wall is 3,244 metres, totalling 11,906.8 metres. Much of the magnificent 600-odd-year-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 kilometre-long wall was connected by the end of 2004.

The brick city wall forms a rectangle running 3.4 kilometres east-west and 2.6 kilometres north-south. Its circumference is 14 kilometres and it encompasses 11. 5 square kilometres. The wall is 12 metres tall; it measures 15-18 metres in width at the base and 12-14 metres on top. On each side there is a city gate, over which the various towers majestically stand. There are four gates such as the East Gate (Everlasting Happiness the West Gate (Eternal Stability ), the North Gate (Pacifying the Outlying Areas) and the South Gate (Eternal Peace ). 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 Xi'an Forest of Stelae Museum

Established in 1090 during the Northern Song Dynasty, the Stele Forest in Xi' an is known worldwide for a fine collection of more than 1,000 inscribed

stone monuments engraved during the period from the Han dynasties for more than 2,000 years.

The Stele Forest in Xi'an is not only a treasure house of ancient Chinese calligraphy, but also a rich collection of China's historical documents and records and stone carving patterns. These steles record a part of the great achievements of the Chinese culture and a testimony to the cultural exchanges between China and other parts of the world.

The museum, which used to be a holy temple of Confucius, is now a tranquil place in typical Chinese style. The stone tablets, whose ages range from 4,000 years to the 20 th century, were collected over the past 900 years from around China. Standing in the museum's first exhibition room, the monument to Christianity tells a story in silence. For archaeologists, stelae are reliable storytellers. With nearly 10,000 stelae in the collection, the museum is like an encyclopedia of ancient China.

Chinese, as the only ancient writing system that is still alive today, makes

it possible for readers to understand astonishing stories for hundreds and thousands of years ago. The stories the stelae tell include one of surprising popularity Christianity held in the ancient kingdom. In 635, a gallant missionary known as A-LoPen, reached a grand city in the Middle Kingdom after a tortuous expedition along the Silk Road, the land passage that linked Asia with Europe. The zealous missionary's destination was called Chang' an (today's Xi'an). At that time, the famous metropolis and four times bigger than the city that stands in its place today. In the 14 th century Chang'an changed its name to Xi'an. Chang'an occupied the same position in Asia that Madrid did in Europe in the 14 th and 15 th centuries. This golden age allowed foreign missionaries like ALa- Pen to bring a completely new world of Christian culture to China, which was considered a unique and secret empire in

the West. In the same period the Chinese named the Roman Empire Ta Qin. "Ancient Chinese believed that the Roman empire (established in 27 BC) wa,; coincident with the Qin Dynasty, and people from the Roman empire were taller than their Chinese counterparts, hence the name Ta Ch'in (Big Qin). Therefore, the Holy Bible was translated into elegant ancient Chinese prose, and nobles and ordinary Olinese by m'aI1S of "borrowing" expressions £rem Crnfucianism, .Buddhism and Taoism, the three pillars of Chinese civilization for thousands of years, interpreted the holy doctrines of Christianity. In ancient Chinese empire the emperor played a key role in cultural communication. Taizong (599-649, reigned 626- 649) in the Tang Dynasty, a ruler who had an international outlook, made his dynasty powerful both with his military maneuvers and his mastery.of culture and literature. Later missionaries carved a more detailed description of the historical meeting 146 years later on a large stone slab. According to the monument, A-Lo-Pen preached about God and his doctrines to the emperor and his ministers. He must have been a man of special wisdom because he illuminated the words of the Holy Bible in spite of the language barrier, reflects Fred Aprim. And the Chinese, in turn, praised him as a man of wisdom by comparing him to Lao Tze (c. 604-531 BC), a great philosopher and patriarch of polytheistic Taoism. His lofty theories became a belief system that consists of alchemy, astrology, and the worship of a pantheon of idols.

Exhibition Room One deals with the text of the twelve COnfucian classics engraved on stones in 837. These twelve classics were required readings for intellectuals of the Chinese feudal society. Because carved plate printing was not yet common use, in order to avoid errors made in copying the classics by men of letters, the twelve classics containing 650,000 characters were thus engraved on 114 pieces of stones. Exhibition Room Two displays steles of calligraphy inscribed by many famous calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty (618907) such as Ouyang Xun (557-641), Yu Shinan (558638), Chu Suiliang (596-658 or 659), Li Yangning , Yan Zhenqing (708-784), Liu Gongquan (778-865), Zhang Xu , HuaiSu (725-785 or 737-799) , ZhiYong, LiLongji (685-762), Shi Weize . Exhibition Room Three contains the steles from the Han to the Song dynasties inscribed with a fine variety of calligraphy, including seal characters, official script, regular script, and running hand and cursive hand~ These steles vividly describe the evolution of the Chinese writing system. Exhibition Room Four shows the works of poetry in the authentic handwriting of the famous calligraphers from the Song to the Qing dynasties.

No wonder people accredit the Forest of Steles as the "cradle of Calligraphy and birthplace of stele engravings."

The Four Most Famous Stele Forests in China

There are four most famous stele forests in China. They are the Stele Forest in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province , the Stele Forest of the Confucian Temple, in Qufu, Shandong Province , Xichang Earthquake Stele Forest, Sichuan Province , and South Gate Stele Forest in Gaoxiong, Taiwan Province

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Situated inside Ci'an (Thanks-giving) Temple, four kilometres south of Xi'an City, is one of the famous Buddhist pagodas in China. Sponsored by Tang Emperor Gaowng (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 metres in height and the base of the pagoda is 4.2 metres totalling 64. 1 metres 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.

The Great Mosque

During the prosperous Tang Dynasty (618-907) large number of Moslems travelled 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 (Li Longji , 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 metres, it is still an active Moslem temple.

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda

About one kilometre south of the South Gate stands the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. The Pagoda was built on the promises of Felicity Temple . 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 centre, Felicity Temple accommodated 200 resident monks during the Tang Dynasty (618907). Its most celebrated resident was the pilgrim Yi J ing (635713), who settled down there in 705, much like Xuan Zang (602-664) did in the Temple of Grace , 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 metres it is shorter than the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it has more tiers. In 1555 a big earthquake damaged the original 15storey 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 storeys 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 metres. 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:

The Bell Tower

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 metres on each side and 8.6 metres high. Above the brick is a tower of three layers with graceful eaves. 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 4m 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 metres high. In the base are four arched doorways, each six metres 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.

Banpo Museum

Located on the eastern outskirts of Xi'an, the Banpo Museum is the first onlocation prehistoric relics museum in China. The five excavations lasted from 1953 to 1957. Banpo is one of the largest villages of Yangshao Culture (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 metres, the museum consists of dwelling areas, a pottery-making centre, and a burial ground. The size of the habitation area is about 30,000 square metres. One fifth of the whole village (an area of 10,000 square metres) has already been exhumed with a surrounding moat about 5 metres deep and 6 metres wide. The cemetery is located north of the moat. To the east of the moat is the potterymanufacturing centre. The distribution of the habitation area, the pottery manufacturing centre 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.