Xian City Wall Tour
Lantern Show, Xian City Wall
A Tower on Xian City Wall
Ancient Buildings
South Gate, Xian City Wall
Xi'an City Wall is the most intact and largest city wall built in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) in China. It was first built from the 3rd to the 11th (1370 - 1378) of the Hongwu reign in the Ming Dynasty on the original site of the imperial walls of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), which used to be prefecture city of Xi'an. Ming Emperor Chengzu, Zhu Yuanzhang, conferred King of Qin on his second son, who lived and dealt with official affairs in the same city (Xi'an). As a result, the city wall is in a large scale and very solid. Thanks to the repairment and enlargement during the Ming and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties, the city wall is still well preserved.
The eastern wall is 2,590 meters (2,832 yards) long; the western one is 2,631 meters (2,877 yards), the southern one is 3,441 meters (3,763 yards) and the northern one is 3,244 meters (3,548 yards). The perimeter of the walls is 11.9 kilometers (7.4 miles) and the wall is 12 meters (39 feet) high and 16.5 meters (54 feet) deep. There is an area of 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) inside the city. On each side of the city there is a gate: the eastern gate is named Changle; the western one is Anding; the southern one is Yongning and the northern one is Anyuan. Outside each gate there is a Tower of Shooting Arrow, inside which there is a city tower. Between them there is an enceinte. The city tower is 33 meters (108 feet) high, 40 meters (44 yards) wide, and is double-eaved with a gable and hip roof and cloisters.
The Tower of Shooting Arrow is a single-eaved building, which may be divided into four parts inside and is covered by 48 loopholes outside to shoot arrows. Inside the city wall there are six horse ways for the soldiers and horses to go up to the wall. There are also some defense facilities - the watchtowers. The distance between two towers is 120 meters (131 yards), which is the effective shooting range of some weapons such as arrows, blunderbuss and so on.
The city walls are built with yellow earth in separated layer. Initially, the bottom layer was rammed with the mixture of earth, limes and juice of sticky rice, thus is very solid. Later, black bricks were used to build the inner, outer walls as well as the top layer. On the top of the City Wall, there is a flume every 40 to 60 meters (44 to 66 yards), which functions as drainage. This has contributed a lot for the preservation of the City Wall during the history.
Surrounding the City Wall is the city moat, which is more than 20 meters (22 yards) wide, ten meters (33 feet) high, together with the city walls to form a complete defensive system. In front of each city gate is a hanging bridge. Whenever the hanging bridge is raised, the passage leading into and out of the inner city is held up.
Entrance Fee: CNY 40
Cycling on City Wall (a deposit of CNY 200 for bicycle is charged):
Single Bicycle: CNY 40/100 minutes
Tandem Bicycle for Two: CNY 60/100 minutes
Tandem Bicycle for Three: CNY 80/100 minutes
Opening Hours: 08:00 - 19:00 (Spring and Summer)
08:30 - 17:00 (Autumn and Winter)
Recommended Time for a Visit: Three hours
Places to Ascend the City Wall: the East Gate, Zhongshan Gate, the Northeastern Corner of the City Wall, Yuxiang Gate, West Gate, the Southwestern Corner of the City Wall, Small South Gate, South Gate, Wenchang Gate, Heping Gate, Jianguo Gate, Small North Gate, North Gate and Shangde Gate.
Transportation:
To the East Gate: Buses No. 8, 22, 27, 29, 33, 37, 43, 45, 47, 102, 203, 218, 232, 235, 252, 300, 351, 527, 602, 604, 612, 705, 714, 704, 709, 721, 801, 903 and K630
To the West Gate: Buses No. 4, 7, 10, 15, 18, 21, 23, 31, 43, 45, 107, 201, 202, 205, K205, 206, 215, 221, 222, 223, 224, 252, 262, 300, 302, 407, 501, 504, 506, 509, 611, 612, 701, 712, 713, 722, 900, 911, K630 and 3 (Night)
To the South Gate: Buses No. 6, 11, 12, 16, 26, 23, 29, 31, 35, 36, 40, 46, 203, 204, 208, 213, 215, 215 (Through), 216, 221, 222, 229, 232, 239, 302, 311, 321, 323, 402, 405, 501,502, 600, 603, 608, 609, 704, 701, 706, 713, 800, 910,Tourism Bus No. 6, Tourism Bus No. 7, Wulong Special Line, K605, K618 and 2 (Night)
To the North Gate: buses No. 6, 9, 26, 28, 33, 36, 37, 39, 104, 117, 205, K205, 206, 208, 214, 216, 228, 228 (Special), 229, 236, 238, 239, 336, 506, 507, 511, 519, 600, 601, 608, 609, 703, 705, 712, 719, 718, 903, 912, K618, Tourism Bus No. 4 (Through), Tourism Bus No. 10 and 4 (Night)
To Wenchang Gate: Buses No. 14, 23, 40, 118, 208, 213, 214, 221, 222, 232, 302, 309, 402, 512, 710, 704, 800, Tourism Bus No. 6, Tourism Bus No. 4 (Through) and Wulong Special Line
To Heping Gate: 5, K5, 7, 7 (Through), 14, 20, 25, 27, 30, 40, 41, 213, 221, 232, 302, 402, 410, 500, 512, 527, 601, 606, 607, 702, 704, 710, 800, 910, Tourism Bus No. 6, Tourism Bus No. 4 (Through) and 4 (Night)
To Yuxiang Gate: Buses No. 2, 10, 12, 18, 21, 28, 45, 50, 102, 103, 104, 107, 118, 202, 207, 221, 224, 235, 262, 301, 303, 501, 506, 507, 509, 606, 703, 711, 712, 714 and 900
To Zhongshan Gate: 22, 32, 33, 47, 232, 502, 527, 721 and 801
To Jianguo Gate: Buses No. 7, 7 (Through), 702
To Small South Gate: 6, 16, 18, 35, 224, 311, 402, 405, 502, 512, 608, 701, 706 and 800
To Small North Gate: 107, 262, 507, 509 and 702
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