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The city walls are impressive... huge structures built on the 14th century just call you to visit them.
Take the opportunity to climb it up and simply walk, having an overview of the city. You can take a beautiful picture of the Bell Tower there...
Depending on the amount of chinese tourists, you may be requested to take some pictures with them... (hehehe)... Leave a Comment Address: City walls around city centre...Directions: From the Bell Tower, head south over the Nan Dajie (South Ave.) to the South Gate. There you can climb the walls up...
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The Old City Wall of Xi’an is the most complete city wall in China.
The city wall, after 600 years, still stands, at 12 meters high and 13.7 kilometers in length. The base of the wall was made of earth, quicklime, and glutinous rice extract. Its top and external layer were covered with bricks.
There is a fort every 120 meters apart. The forts were built to allow the soldiers to shoot those enemies who tried to climb the wall, without exposing themselves. There are almost 100 forts on the wall.
A watch tower is located on each of the four corners of the wall. The one at the southwestern corner has a special shape, round, thicker than other corners. It is famous, because there is a Chinese expression, if we say “someone’s face looks like a southwestern corner of the city wall”, it means that the person has a lot of nerve.
The Grand South Gate is the most important gate of the wall. When important dignitaries come to Xi’an, the local government will hold a ceremony, lowering the suspension bridge and opening the gate.
Outside the wall, a moat runs around it. Around the moat, there is a park and some squares. In the evening, local people entertain themselves, singing, dancing and playing instruments on the square of the Grand South Gate.
I believe the best time to visit the Old City Wall is around sunset. So you can walk or ride on a bicycle on the wall, and also enjoy the wall at night. When it’s dark, the moon, the architecture and you are the hosts of the city.
Time:8:00~22:00
Ticket:40 RMB
Metchod: walk, bicycle (rent on the wall), electrified vehicle Address: All the gates of the wallDirections: Around the city centre
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Thoroughly recommend that you walk along this wall and enjoy the ambience and views.
The present wall was built over remains of earlier walls built from 582AD and added to through time. It was fully rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty. It is regarded as one of the most complete ancient fortifications in China today at almost 14 km in length 15 metres wide at the top. Its fortifications include a moat, hanging bridge, gate towers and turrets.
We walked along lots of walls during our stay in China -Xi'an's was by far the largest and most impressive in terms of its colour (red lanterns), atmosphere and size!!
To get the Southern Gate we simply walked down South Street (Nanda Jie).The entry fee is 40 Yuan and for 60 Yuan you can hire a rickshaw for a very bumpy thirty minute ride along part of the wall.
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You may think this is an assembly area. The answer is definitely not right. This is supposed to be trap for any attackers, once the main gate is seal.
The archers will be shooting the arrows from the castle, and whosoever trap within will be eventually killed by archers.
Other City Wall Architectural Details (found in the web)
The wall was built of earth, rammed layer upon layer during the early time. The base layer was made of earth, quick lime, and glutinous rice extract, tempered together. This made the wall extremely strong and firm. Later, the wall was totally enclosed with bricks.
The Ming City wall encircles the city in a rectangle with one gate on each side. On the wall, fortifications such as watch towers, ramparts, (duo-kou) were built into a complex and well-organized system of defense.
There are total 98 ramparts on the wall and there are 120 meters distance from each other- towers that extruding out from the main wall. On the top of the rampart were 5984 2-metre- (7-foot-) high crenels called duo-kou. On the upper part of the duo-kou were large openings used to watch and shoot at attackers, and on the lower part were small openings, or loopholes, through which defenders could also shoot. The distance between ramparts is just within the range of arrow shot from either side, which allowed soldiers to protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. Every several rampart on the wall has a sentry building of two or three stories where soldiers were stationed.
On the four corners of the wall were watchtowers. The one at the southwestern corner is round, probably after the imperial city wall of the Tang Dynasty, but the other three are square-shaped. On top of the watchtowers, the corner rampart, higher and larger than the ordinary ramparts, shows the strategic importance of corners of the city wall. Leave a Comment
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This is the first destination for me upon arriving from Xi'an Airport. The Northgate is often called as "Ying Pin Men" becuase of it location welcoming majority of the tourists via air.
The City Wall of Xi'an is the only well preserved walls in China. The City Wall of Beijing was tearing down make way for development and subway construction purposes. What a waste!! Leave a Comment
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Xi’an is one of the few Chinese cities whose ancient wall is still intact. The wall was originally constructed during the Tang Dynasty. That wall is long gone, but that of the Ming Dynasty still stands. Just short of 14-kilometers long, it takes a good three hours to properly walk the wall. Alternatively, you can explore the wall on bicycle, via tricycle tour, or via motorized cart. Entry alone costs Y40 and is permitted only at the South and East Gates.
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Largely intact and imposing enough to act as a physical barrier between the city center and the surburbs, the City Walls are the most distinctive feature of the modern city. It was built in 1370 and recently restored. Forming a rectangle whose sides total 12 km lengh, they were originally built of rammed earth on the foundation of the walls of the Tang Dynasty imperial city.The walls which took their modern form in 1568 when they were faced with brick are 12 m high with a width of 18 m at the base
Locals sometimes use the wall as a nifty shortcut Leave a Comment Address: The South- and the West Gate.
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Xian has the best intact city wall of any city in China. It is over 10 meters high and surrounds the old part of the city, with a total length of approximately 14 kilometers. The wall is open to visitors, with steps providing access from a handful of points around the city. We accessed the wall from the South Gate, which has a well-preserved guard tower with good views of the city from its top floor (you have to pass through a few souvenir shops to get to the view).
Not only is the Xi'an city wall intact, but so are its guard towers, which rise from the top of the wall every 1/2 km or so. The moat outside the wall is also intact. At night, the wall is lit up very attractively, with lights along its top edge. Leave a Comment Directions: The wall surrounds the old central section of Xi'an. A good place to access it is from the South Gate.
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We enjoyed biking the city walls. 40 yuan for 100 minutes. It wasn't possible to tour the city, as the Northern Gate is closed for repairs and we were forbidden to leave the wall with our bikes. Besides, the suffocating hot air - not a problem when you're riding, but when you stop ... - made us come back. Leave a Comment Directions: We strated at the South Gate, but the East Gate had a rental too. I suppose it also possible to leave your bike there. We went by taxi to the South Gate (6 yuan from the Bell Tower)
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Take a walk on, along and through the Xi'an Great City Wall to catch the different views of this ancient city. Leave a Comment Address: Around the city of Xi'an
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