Idea # 205: Visiting the city of Xi’an
Xi’an is the capital of the Shaanxi Province in China. It is located at one end of the Silk Road, considered to have been opened by the Chinese general Zhang Qian in the second century BC. There was one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals, capital of the Qin Dynasty (221-210 BC. AD), of the Han ( 202 BC -. 220), then known as the Chang’an and of the Tang (618-907). Under this last dynasty, Xi’An became one of the largest cities in the world, comparable in wealth to Rome or Byzantium. From 645 to 664, the famous monk Xuanzang translated the sacred Buddhist texts, that he got from his trip to India, which began in 629. In the city, several buildings date back to the Tang dynasty : the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the small pagoda of wild. The walls of Xi’an date of Ming Dynasty , like the bell tower and drum tower. The city also has a strange mosque, in Chinese style, due to the presence of Muslim community, whose presence goes back to Arab and Persian traders from the Silk Road in the Middle Ages. Almost nothing remains. But hey, that’s something!
Where is it?
Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
