Xi'an History of the Terracotta Army and Ancient Banpo Village - Page 3

City of Xi'an (Translation -- Western Peace)

Xi'an in History

Chang'an provided a worthy foil for this Imperial splendor. Rectangular in shape, it covered 30 square miles, and almost two million people lived within its walls. The Grand Canal connected it with the ports and granaries of South China, and innumerable caravans plied the Silk Road to Persia, Byzantium, and the Middle East. Foreigners who settled in the capital brought the fashions and culture of their homelands with them. Mosques and churches dotted the city, the wine shops that surrounded the huge Western Market. Scholars and students flocked from all over Asia to immerse themselves in Chinese culture. Many came from Japan; the city of Kyoto was modeled on Chang'an

In the 10th century, the Tang Dynasty fell, the capital moved to Kaifeng, and the city's days of spender came to an end. It remained a regional center, although the town of Xi'an during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was not much larger than the Tang Imperial Palace. Growth, if not glory, began again in 1949; new industries and universities were built, and the population has quadrupled to two million.

Main Attractions

Prehistoric Ban Po Village

While all but a handful of Chang'an's many monuments have long since been reduced to rubble, just east of the city is one of the best-preserved Neolithic settlement in the world. The remains of Ban Po, which flourished in the 5th millennium BC, were excavated in the 1950s. A building has been erected over the site, which includes foundations of houses, a pottery kiln, storage pits, a moat, and a graveyard. A nearby museum displays artifacts found during the dig, including beautiful red-clay pots decorated with abstract designs. Detailed signs in English explain the relics and describe the village's agriculture and art. Ban Po is five miles from Xi'an.