As one of the old Imperial capitals of China you’d expect the city walls of Xian to be impressive and they certainly don’t disappoint! Massively thick and high, the fourteenth century city walls relied on sheer bulk rather than design to protect Xian.
Visiting Xian City Walls
The walls aren’t really something you can miss if you are in the city. There are four gates along the 13km of walls and you can either walk the circuit or hire a bike, or a rickshaw bike if you’d prefer to get someone else to do the cycling!
There is some excellent information on the China Highlights page referenced below:
“Interesting to note is that the base of the wall was made of earth, quick lime, and glutinous rice extract, tamped together. It made the wall extremely strong and firm. Later, the wall was totally enclosed with bricks.A moat runs around the walls.
A moat, wide and deep, ran around the walls. Over the moat, there was a huge drawbridge, which would cut off access to the city, once lifted.
Xi’an’s city wall, after its enlargement in the Ming Dynasty, stands 12 meters high. It is 12–14 meters wide across the top, 15–18 meters thick at bottom, and 13.7 kilometers in length.
There is a flanking tower every 120 meters. The flanking towers were built to allow soldiers to see enemies trying to climb the wall. The distance between the flanking towers is within the range of arrows fired from either side. This allowed soldiers to protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. There are 98 flanking towers; each has a sentry building on top of it.”
There are toilet facilities at the south gate and some small stalls along the wall selling water and light refreshments. Entry to the wall is at any of the four main gates where, after paying, you just climb the steps to start your promenade.
My Experience
Our visit was part of a wider tour of China but the Xian section is covered in my travel blog here, including the world famous Terracotta Warriors and Shaanxi Museum. As there were four of us and fortifications weren’t a priority for three of them we didn’t walk an entire circuit or even see the moat!
It was nice taking the rickshaw tour and we also went inside the wall to see how it was constructed which was quite fascinating. I am certainly learning that it is better to visit less but spend longer rather than just running round ticking things off the list! From the walls we visited the Muslim Quarter and mosque, actually interesting too.
Xian City Walls Photo Gallery
History
Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), was advised by Zhu Sheng, a sage, to build a fortified high wall around the city, create storage facilities for food and then establish his empire by unifying all the other states. Following the hermit’s advice, Zhu established the Ming dynasty, and then built a highly fortified wall over a previously existing palace wall of the Tang dynasty (618–907). He started building the Xian City Wall, as the capital of northwestern Shaanxi Province in 1370. He incorporated the ancient fortified embankments built by the Sui and Tang dynasties by including them in the wall’s western and southern parts, enlarging the eastern and northern parts. The edifice was built over an eight-year period and was well maintained during both the Ming dynasty, and the Qing dynasty, which followed.
The wall was initially built solely from tamped earth. During the Longqing Emperor’s period (1568) the wall was strengthened by laying blue bricks on the top and exterior faces of the earthen walls. During the reign of Qianlong of the Qing dynasty (1781), the wall was enlarged; drainage features, crenels and other modifications were made; and the structure as it is now seen came into existence. By the end of the Qing dynasty rule, the structure had begun to deteriorate. In a limited degree the Republican Authorities carried out maintenance of the wall, which was in a poor state. In the first decade of the 20th century, the wall’s defense system was considered to be of strategic importance, even though demolishing of similar walls in other regions of the country was undertaken following the 1911 Revolution. In 1926, the wall was attacked with bombs by enemy forces resulting in serious structural damage, but the city within the wall was not affected. During the Second World War, when the Japanese carried out air bombings from 1937 to 1940, the residents built around 1,000 bunkers, as anti-aircraft shelters within the wide base (thickness of more than 15 metres (49 ft)) of the wall. A few escape openings were also made through the wall as passageways. Even later, new gates to allow traffic through the Xian Wall were constructed during the Republican rule.
According to the Shenboo Atlas of 1933, in the 1930s most people lived within the perimeter of the Xi’an Wall but still there were a lot of unoccupied open areas. Among the visitors who came to see the Xian Wall were American captain (later general) Stilwell in 1922 and the Czech sinologist Jaroslav Průšek (1906–1980) in 1933. In 1983, the administration of the Xi’an municipality carried out more renovations and additions to the wall. At that time, the Yangmacheng tower, the Zhalou sluice tower, the Kuixinglou dipper tower, the Jiaolou corner tower and the Dilou defense tower were all refurbished; the crumbling parts of the rampart were changed into gates; and the moat was restored. In May 2005, all of Xi’an’s ramparts were inter-connected.
The Xi’an City Wall was proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of the People’s Republic of China in 2008. UNESCO included the site in the tentative List of World Heritage Sites under the title “City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties” as a cultural heritage designee under Criterion iii & iv. In March 1961, the Xi’an City Wall was fully approved as a heritage site as a National Historical and Cultural Town.
References
There is lots of information on the walls on China Highlights page here.
China Discovery has a great guide to visiting the walls here.
The history above is copied from the Wiki page here.