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For the local tour, delegates of interest can
directly contact the Xi'an China International
Travel Service. During the conference, the Xi'an China Travel Service
will provide information service at Tang Cheng Hotel.
Contact: GERRY LIU
TEL: 029-85566616, 83780800, 13700274537
FAX: 029-85566766
E-Mail: liu_xuerui @hotmail.com
Home page:
http://www.chinabravo.com/
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Welcome to Xi'an
A world-famous tourist city and a treasure house of cultural relics.
Introduction
Xi'an, the eternal city, records the great changes of the Chinese
nation just like a living history book. Called Chang'an in ancient
times,
Xian is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization
in the Yellow River Basin area of the country. During Xian's
3,100 year
development, 13 dynasties such as Zhou, Qin,
Han and Tang placed their capitals here. So far, Xian enjoys
equal fame with Athens, Cario,
and Rome as one of the four
major ancient civilization capitals.
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Xian is the capital of Shaanxi province, located in the southern
part of the GuanZhong Plain. With the Qinling Mountains to
the north and the Weihe River to the south, it is in a favorable
geographical location surrounded by water and hills. It has
a semi-moist monsoon climate and there is a clear distinction
between the four seasons. The cultural and historical significance
of the area, as well as the abundant relics and sites, help
Xian enjoy the laudatory title of "Natural History Museum".
The Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is praised
as "the eighth major miracle of the world", Mausoleum of
Emperor Qin ShiHuang is listed on the World Heritage List,
and the City Wall of the Ming Dynasty is the largest and
most intact Ming Dynasty castle in the world. In the city,
there is the 3000 year old Banpo Village Remains from the
Neolithic Age,and the Forest of Stone Steles that holds 3,000
stone steles of different periods from the HanDynasty to the
Qing Dynasty.Around Xi'an, the Famen Temple enjoys the
reputation of being the "forefather of pagodas and temples
in Central Shaanxi,"
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because it holds the finger bones of Sakyamuni--the founder of Buddhism. The natural landscape around Xian is also marvelous.
Mt. Huashan,as one of the five best-known mountains in China, is famous for its breath-taking cliffs and its unique characteristics.
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As tourist development grows in Xian, the hotel industry flourishes more and more. It is very easy to find a hotel in Xian, ranging
from 5 star hotels to youth hostels. Of course, it will be any traveler's first choice to stay in the city center due to the superior
geographical location and the convenient transportation.
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Xian is the most important city in northwest China, and so there are a lot of shopping outlets for locals and tourists alike. There are
many big shopping centers, department stores and supermarkets in and around Xian city - the biggest and most comprehensive
being Kai Yuan Shopping Mall and Century Ginwa Shopping Mall.
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Xian Attractions
Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses
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The well-known Terra-cotta Museum is located
east of Emperor Qin's Mausoleum, which covers
a total area of 20 hectares. The museum is decorated
with verdant trees,blooming flowers and carpets of
green grass. The scenery in the museum looks quite
elegant and delightful. Three main buildings of the
museum, which were named Pit 1, Pit 2, Pit 3, were
constructed on their original sites in different periods
of time. |
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Emperor Qin's Terra-cotta Museum is not only a treasure
housewhere the tourists can learn history, culture and
human civilization, but also a main scenic spot of Xi'an
city. It can receive about 1.5 million tourists annually.
Approximately 40 million visitors from home and abroad
have visited the Museum within the last 20 years. Today
"the eighth Wonder of the world"has almost become
synonym of the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses In 1987,
the Emperor Qin's Mausoleum was put on the list of the
UNESCO as a world-class culturalheritage site. Now the
Museum is well-known widelyas a huge modern on-site
museum and it is going to be one of the best
in the world. |
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Bell Tower (Zhong Lou)
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The Bell Tower, is a stately traditional building,
that marksthe geographical center of the ancient
capital. From this important landmark extend East,
South,West and North Streets, connecting the Tower
to the East, South, West andNorth Gates of the
City Wall of the Ming Dynasty. |
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The wooden tower, which is the largest and
best-preserved of its kind in China, is 36 meters
(118 feet) high. It stands on a brick base 35.5
meters (116.4 feet) long and 8.6 meters (28.2 feet)
high on each side. During the Ming Dynasty, Xi'an
was an important military town in Northwest China,
a fact that is reflected in the size and historic
significance of its tower |
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City Wall
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When Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming
dynasty(1368-1644),captured Huizhou, a hermit named
Zhu Sheng admonished him that he should "built high
walls, store abundantfood supplies and take time to be
an Emperor," so that he could fortify the city and unify
the other states. After the establishment of the Ming
dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang followed his advice and
began to enlarge the wall built initially during the old
Tang dynasty(618 -907), creating the modern Xian City
Wall. It's the most complete city wall that has survived
in China, as well being one of the largest ancient military
defensive systems in the world.
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Every 120 meters, there is a rampart which extends out from
the main wall. All together, there are 98 ramparts on the wall,
which were built to defend against the enemy climbing up the
wall. Each rampart has a sentry building, in which the soldiers
could protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to
the enemy.Besides, the distance between every two ramparts
is just within the range of an arrow shot from either side, so that
they could shoot the enemy, who wanted to attack the city, from
the side. On the outer side of the city wall, there are 5948
crenellations,namely battlements. The soldiers can outlook and
shoot at theenemy. On the inner side, parapets were built to
protect the soldiers from falling off. |
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Big Wild Goose Pagoda
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As the symbol of the old-line Xian, Big Wild Goose
Pagodais a well-preserved ancient building and a holy
place for Buddhists.It is located in the southern suburb
of Xian City, about 4 kilometers (2.49 miles) from the
downtown of the city. Standing in the Da Ci'en Temple
complex, it attracts numerous visitors for its fame in the
Buddhist religion, its simple but appealing style of
construction, and its new square in front of the temple.
It is rated as a National Key Cultural Relic Preserveas
well as an AAAA Tourist Attraction.This attraction
can be divided into three parts: the Big Wild Goose
Pagoda, the Da Ci'en Temple,and the North Square
of Big Wild Goose Pagoda. |
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Forest of Stone Steles
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Once the site of the Temple of Confucius during the
Northern Song dynasty (960--1127), the Forest of
Stone Steles Museum is situated on Sanxue Street,
near the southgate of Xian City Wall. It was initially
established in AD 1087 when some precious stone
steles were moved here for safe keeping, including
the "Classic on Filial Piety" written by Emperor
Xuanzong in AD 745 and "the Kaicheng Stone Steles"
arved in AD 837. With an area of 31,000 square meters,
the Forest of Stone Steles used to be the principal
museum for Shaan'xi Province since 1944. Then because
of the large number of stone steles, it was officially
named as the Forest of Stone Steles Museum in 1992. |
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Famen Temple
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In China, many temples house treasures and artifacts,
but the sheer quantity and quality of treasures in the
Famen Temple is rare. Situated in Famen Town of
FufengCounty, about 120 kilometers (about 74.57 miles)
west of Xian,Famen Temple is renowned for storing
the veritablefour sliversof the finger bone of the
Sakyamuni Buddha. Famen Temple was established
in the Eastern Han Dynasty(25--220), for carrying
forward Buddhism. The most representativestructures
in the temple are the Famen Temple Pagoda and
Famen Temple Museum. |
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Mt. Huashan
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As one of the five best-known mountains in China,
Mt. Huashanis located to the south of Huayin city,
120 kilometers east of Xian, in Shaanxi province,
with an elevation of 2200 meters above sea level.
In ancient times, Mt. Huashan was called Mt.
Taihuashan. Seen from afar, the five peaks looks
like five petals of a flower. Hence its name,
Mt. Huashan (= five flowers). Today, it is listed
as oneof the renowned national scenic spots |
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Huaqing Hot Springs
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Situated at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan in Lintong County,
30 kilometers (18.6 miles)from Xian City, Huaqing Hot Spring is
famed for both its dainty spring scenery and the romantic love
story of Emperor Xuanzong (685-762) and his concubine Yang
Guifei in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Its long history and location
among the wonderful landscapes of Xian should entice any visitor
to visit and bathe in this hot spring.It is said that King You built a
palace here during the Western Zhou Dynasty . Additions were
subsequently made by the First Emperor Qing (259 BC-210BC)
and Emperor Wu during the WesternHan Dynasty (206 BC-24). |
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During his reign, the Emperor Xuanzong spent
dizzying amounts ofhis funds to build a luxurious
palace, changing its name to Huaqing Hot Spring
or Huaqing Palace. Over the course of 41 years in
his days,he visited the palace as many as 36 times.
The palace thus has a history of 3,000 years and
the hotspring a history of 6,000 years!Ranked among
the Hundred Famous Garden in China,it is also has
the status as a National Cultural Relic Protection
Unit and a National Key Scenic Area. |
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Tang Paradise
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Near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda , Tang Paradise
is located in the Qujiang Resort, southeast of the
Xian City, Shaanxi Province. It is a newly opened
tourist attraction in April, 2005. Tang Paradise
covers a total area of 1000 mu (about 165 acres)
and of which 300 mu (about 49 acres) is water.
This tourist attraction not only claims to be the biggest
cultural theme park in the northwest region of China
but also the first royal-garden-like park to give a full
display of the Tang Dynasty's (618-907) culture.
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What makes Tang Paradise incredible is that it is no
longer the garden modeof only water and mountains
in the Chinese traditional sense. The outstanding
designers of the magnificent Tang Paradise have
integrated almost everything representative of the
Tang Dynasty, such as the poetry, the songs and
dance,the marketplaces, the food, the women's
lifestyles, and science into every site using cultural
themes, thus endowing every place with its own
story and its own place in the tapestryof Tang
Dynasty culture. |
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Additional attractions are:
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Qian Mausoleum (Qian Ling) |
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Drum Tower |
Mausoleum of Western Han Emperor Liu Qi (Hanyangling) |
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Hukou Waterfalls (Kettle Spout Falls) |
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Dining of Xian
Xian is legendary as "the capital of table delicacies." The ancient city
is famous for the delicious Shaanxi snack, the delicate Guangdong
cuisine, various kinds of fashionable foreign delicacies,and the popular
Sichuan cuisine, such as hot pot.
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Local Food
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Visitors to Xian must do two things: one is to see the clay
figures of terra cotta warriors and horses. The other is to
taste Yang Rou Pao Mo (a soup dish that involves breaking
wheat flour flat bread into a bowl and adding a deliciousmutton
stock). Before dinner, you will be served one or two pieces
of wheatflour flat bread which you into tiny chunks, the smaller
the better. The waiter or the waitress will then hand your bowl
to the cook who mixes the bread and mutton soup with an
appropriate relish. When the steaming hot meal is brought in,
the waiter will also offer you sweet crisp pickled garlic, coriander,
and hot pepper sauce. The most famous, the Tong Sheng Xiang
(Prosperity and Fortune) Beef and Lamb Paomo Restaurant
done inTang Dynasty style, is a time-honored establishment
in the Xian Bell and Drum Tower Square.
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Next to Tong Sheng Xiang is a great restaurant, De Fa Chang
Dumpling Restaurant, with its own version of the Dumpling
Banquet. Ingredients for the dumpling fillings include various
meats, vegetables, and seasonings.Cooking methods include
steaming, boiling, pan-frying, deep frying, and roasting.
Many
flavors, including salty, sweet, hot, and sour are offered.
Other house specialties include Peking dumplings, steamed
sweet bean paste buns, steamed shrimp paste buns, and
various uniquely spiced dishes. While guests sample various
delicacies, traditionally waiters will explain the cuisine culture
of each dumpling.
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One of Xian's most famous specialties is the Guan Tang Baozi
(steamed buns served with sauces inside) served at Jia Brothers'
Restaurant in Muslim Snack Street. You'll know you're there when
you see the monstrous blue arch over the entrance and a wall
festooned with photographs of Xian notables -- TV hosts, writers,
and musicians. The specialty dish is Guan Tang Bao Zi, with a
choice of beef, lamb or "three flavors"-- lamb, mushroom, and prawns.
The buns havepiping-hot soup inside, so caution is advised. This
dish is best washed down with Ba Bao Xi Fan, a bowl of sweet rice
porridge filled with peanuts, sultanas, hawthorn, and medlar berries.
Fanji is the famous vendor of Shaanxi's most widely consumed
snack, Rou Jia Mo, finely chopped pork stuffed in toasted wheat
flour flat bread. A piece of good-quality(youzhi) bread and a bowl
of mung bean flour soup will cost you no more than RMB10. The
state-run atmosphere is quaint and friendly, and the numerous
awards that decorate the walls are welldeserved. The restaurant
is in a lane opposite the Drum Tower,south of West Main Street.
A fascinating lure for food buffs is Local Snacks Street (Hui Min Jie)
near DrumTower in Muslim Square. On the two sides of the 500-meter
street, there are many restaurants of different cuisines along with
unique snack shops. While enjoying true Muslim cuisine, tourists
can learn customs of the Hui people. Besides guan tang baozi in
Jia Brothers' Restaurant, there is barbeque in the Pingwa Kaorou
Shop,sour cabbage and beef fried rice in Honghong Suancai Chaomi
Restraunt, and beef noodles in Yifenli Restaurant. Other offerings,
including fried persimmon cake(shi zi bing), fried dumpling (guo tie),
stir-fried bean jelly (chao liang fen), chopped mutton fried in a wok
with fine-ground wheat (fen zheng rou), and beef and vegetable
pie (xi'an bing) are available on both sides of the street.
If you would like to taste all the local food at one time in a budget
meal, Xian Restaurant (Xian Fan Zhuang) offers more than 100
varieties in its first-floor self-service restaurant.It charges only RMB18
per person, and is very popular with visitors. As the center of northwest
China, Xian provides a wide range of table delicacies in addition
to local and traditional cuisine.
Please visit ChinaTravelGide to get more information about XI'AN
Note:The above information comes from the Internet.The copyright of the text and photos belong to their owners.
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