"Stone warriors" Xi'an by Ramonq

Xi'an, is one of China's greatest ancient cities like Rome is to Italy, Luxor is to Egypt or Cusco is to Peru. The city is full of heritage that dates back from the earliest Chinese dynasties. I could not believe that this modern thriving industrial city has a written history that dates back 4,000 years. Looking from above (see Google Earth) the medieval part of Xi'an is a perfectly rectangular walled city and within the wall are streets in gridline pattern. There are wide boulevards and avenues as well as narrow lanes and alleyways. The old city is well planned that it is difficult to get lost here. There's North, South, East and West avenues as well as the massive gates of the walled city where the Silk Road traders set forth to the Middle East and the Roman Empire. With these names, at least you know where you are in relation to the city.

Around the centre of the city, where the 4 main avenues converge is the Bell Tower which is one of the finest example of classical Chinese architecture. It is possible to go up the tower and view modern Xi'an where you can see the modern face of the city, smog, traffic and all. It can be very dusty in Xi'an that the horizon is blurry. Xi'an is in the Shaanxi province where there is a lot of coal mining that contribute to the hazy sky. Whereas before the 1980's, bicycles dominated the streets, nowadays, cars have taken over which add to the polluted sky, let alone the factories in the outskirts of the city.

At night, certain areas of Xi'an have bright and gaudy neon lights especially around the shopping and entertainment district of the city. Xi'an has lots of bars, KTV's, nightclubs, and pubs just like in the Western cities. And luxury shopping malls have also sprouted along the South Avenue. One cannot be bored in Xi'an because this city offers a lot of diversions.

Terracottas

But the main attraction of Xi'an, is of course, the world-famous Terracotta Warriors. Northeast of the city proper, is an amazing archeological site, where row upon row of thousands of stone figures were discovered inside an emperor's burial ground, and they're still finding more! Thanks to the tyrannical Emperor Qin Shihuang of the 2nd century BC, who also first commissioned the building of the Great Wall, this megalomaniac ordered more than half a milion of his subjects to work on his final resting place which took around 40 years to build. An entire underground terracotta replica of a city was constructed which he hoped will resurrect with him in his afterlife. What you will see is astounding. Terracotta figures of chariots, horses, soldiers, administrators, houses, palaces etc are arranged in combat fashion ready to march with the risen emperor. Alas he did not rise, so they remained as life-like potteries each having individual features. Apparently, these terracottas were all hand-painted to look more realistic, but the colours have faded away through time. What drove Emperor Qin to such demagoguery is the same reason why the great pyramids in Giza were built for the pharoahs, the belief of immortality.

The Bell

But life goes on in Xi'an. A second golden age came during the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese renaissance period, when China opened up to the world and became an economic superpower between the 7th and 10th century AD. The Silk Road between Xi'an (then called Chang'an) and Europe through the Middle East brought so much wealth and knowledge into the city. It is for this reason that there exists a flourishing Muslim quarters in Xi'an. Xi'an became the largest city in the civilised world and the Chinese civilisation reached a major peak. The 15th century Venetian trader Marco Polo, who followed the Silk Road to China stopped over in Xi'an and he was awed by its advanced civilisation. A fine example of the T'ang architecture is the Great and Little Wild Goose Pagoda which are both located inside the walled city.

A powerful earthquake hit the city, and the capital was moved to Luoyang. Xi'an's prestige diminished and remained a secondary city during the Ming and Qing Dynasty while Beijing's imperial role increased. Yet Xi'an refused to decline. The discovery of the Terracotta Warriors have sparked the world's imagination and now millions of tourists flock to Xi'an to marvel at these ancient relics. The city has once again become a major stopover and it is dusting off its past while putting on new clothes. Modern hotels, railways and shiny entertainment and shopping complexes have mushroomed across the city. Roads and highways were constructed and tourism industry prospered. Xi'an is once again in the limelight that one cannot help but think that Emperor Qin was able to resurrect the city after the city's long decline. Long live Xi'an!

• Pros:Historical yet very modern
• Cons:The bane of Chinese cities, air pollution
• In a nutshell:More than stone warriors