An important landmark of Xi’an City
The first landmark visitors will encounter in Xi'an is its ancient City Wall, which stretches just outside the railway station. It is the most complete ancient city wall in China and one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world as well. Xi'an was originally a walled city, and even today the wall is considered a landmark dividing the city into the inner part and the outer part. The city wall is massive - it is tall, long and thick. The South Gate and North Gate are the two main entrances to the inner city. The city itself is neatly arranged along the city wall.
Solid as mountain, the city wall’s thickness is greater than its height. The Wall is composed of a series of military installations including the moat, drawbridge, gate
building, Jianlou Tower, Zhenglou Tower (the main building), Jiaolou Tower (turret), Dilou Tower (watchtower), Nv’er Qiang (parapet) and crenel. Complete City Wall, together with the moat and Around-Xi’an Park, has become a must-see scenic spot of Xi’an.
History origin
The City Wall was first erected in the 14 century, under the regime of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang during the Ming dynasty. At the time when Zhu Yuanzhang captured Huizhou, long before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he was admonished by a hermit named Zhu Sheng, who told him to "build high walls, store abundant provisions and take your time in proclaiming yourself emperor", advice which Zhu Yuanzhang heeded. Once the whole country was unified, he sent orders to the local governments to build city walls on a large scale. In order to protect the Qin from the invasion of the Xiongnu minority, Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered the construction of the Great Wall during the Qin Dynasty. Zhu believed “Qin is the most strongly fortified and strategically impregnable", thus he ordered the building of a city wall as well.
Scale and material of the City Wall
The city wall of Xi'an is an extension of the old Tang Dynasty structure, as a result of this wall building campaign. The city wall of Xi'an stands 12 meters high after its enlargement in the Ming Dynasty. It is 12-14 meters across the top, 15-18 meters thick at bottom and 13.7 kilometers in length.
The first city wall of Xi'an was built of earth, rammed layer upon layer. The base layer was made of earth, quick lime, and glutinous rice extract, tempered together. It made the wall extremely strong and firm. Later, the wall was totally enclosed with bricks. On one part of the wall, there is a brick water trough every 40-60 meters. They are used for drainage. They have played a very important role in the long-term protection of the city wall of Xi'an. A moat, wide and deep, runs around the city. Over the moat, there used to be a huge suspense bridge which would cut off the way in and out of the city, once lifted.
Today, after the repairs that have been made on the wall by the local government, the city wall has taken on a new look. The thriving trees and flowers, the rockeries in the park, and the buildings of classical Chinese architecture, together with the city wall, make Xi’an all more beautiful.