Friday, 19th May, 2013.
Up until the early 10th century, Xī’ān, then known as Cháng’ān, was one of China’s early capitals, and the beginning and end of the Silk Road. Of course, we had come here to see the Terracotta Warriors, but we still enjoyed spending some time in this ancient city.
Xī’ān airport had some colourful murals obviously referring to the city’s colourful past. I’m just guessing what they might be depicting:
Eating, drinking and trades?
Life at court?
Building a great city?
The famous terracotta warriors?
Xī’ān is one of the few cities in China where the old city walls are still standing. Built in 1370 during the Ming dynasty, the 12m-high walls are surrounded by a dry moat and form a rectangle with a perimeter of 14km. Most sections have been restored or rebuilt (Lonely Planet).
This looked more like a wet moat than a dry moat to us, or maybe this wasn’t the moat at all.
Our hotel was inside the city wall. We have just come out the gates which are behind Pat, who is standing on the bridge over the moat (or whatever that body of water happens to be).
Beside some giant vases, which were outside a hotel near the city wall. At last we had a chance to wear our warm clothes.
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