Xi'an: Ancient Walled City

October 1 is National Day, the 59th anniversary of Mao Zedong's proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China. (Thus making me almost two months younger than the PRC!) As a result, the entire nation celebrates "Golden Week," giving Susie and me ten days off to travel along with several hundred million Chinese families. We chose two completely different destinations for our getaway: the ancient imperial capital of Xi'an (Shaanxi Province) and the mountain capital of Lhasa, Tibet.

In 1066 BCE, the Western Zhou dynasty was centered near Xi'an. The city became the imperial capital of China when the nation was unified by its first real emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, in the year 221 BCE. Qin Shi Huangdi organized the effort to build the Great Wall, standardized money and measurements, and established the basis for the legal system. He is best known as the creator of the mausoleum with the terra cotta army (subject of another blog coming soon).

The high point of Xi'an's prosperity was during the golden age of the Tang dynasty (618-907). As the imperial capital and eastern terminus of the Silk Road, Xi'an became what was probably the largest (more than 1 million inhabitants) and wealthiest city in the world. Today it is still a major

city, the capital of Shaanxi Province and the home of a very diverse population numbering about 6.6 million inhabitants.

The inner ring of Xi'an's defensive walls was built by the first Ming emperor in the late 14th century. The outer ring of walls, which once enclosed a city covering more than 30 square miles, has now disappeared. We took a couple of walks along the walls:
http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveDC505/XiAnWalls#