While the main reason to go to Xi’an is certainly the Terra Cotta Warriors, the city itself deserves some mention, particularly since we were there at the Chinese New Year, which meant the city had special lighting that gave it an almost magical air. All the trees in the city were wrapped in lights, as were all the temples and the city wall described below.
The city was the capital of the Chinese empire for 1,000 years, and 13 dynasties had their capital there. It is also the eastern end of the Silk Road, the famous trade route to the Middle East.
Xi’an has preserved some nine miles of the ancient city wall, and it is all decorated and lighted at New Year’s. (Most of Beijing’s city wall and ancient structures were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.) The wall is massive, as the accompanying pictures should convey. Every 360 feet along the city wall is a guard tower. The spacing is because the effective range of the bows and arrows of the time was 180 feet, so two guard towers could cover the distance between them.
One special New Year’s custom deserves mention. The people take large, round, red paper lanterns that have a special setup underneath to hold a candle. The candle is lighted, and the lantern rises into the air. This is meant to give the person sending it into the air good luck in the coming year. It would never happen in the U.S. because of fire safety regulations, but it makes a beautiful sight to see a bunch of them going high into the air. There also appear to be no fireworks regulations either, as they were going off everywhere in Shanghai, Xian and Beijing--all night long. Luana ran to the window every time the popping noises started, only to have the fireworks end just as she got there--we had some good laughs over that.
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