The Xi’an City Wall is the largest and best – preserved ancient city wall in China. It is among the first batch of national key cultural relics under protection and a national AAAAA – level tourist scenic area. In a broad sense, the Xi’an City Wall includes the Tang – Dynasty Xi’an City Wall and the Ming – Dynasty Xi’an City Wall, but generally, it specifically refers to the Ming – Dynasty Xi’an City Wall in a narrow sense.
There are four main city gates of the city wall: Changle Gate (East Gate), Yongning Gate (South Gate), Anding Gate (West Gate), and Anyuan Gate (North Gate). These four gates are the original ones of the ancient city wall. Since the Republic of China era, in order to facilitate access to the ancient urban area, multiple new gates have been opened successively. Up to now, there are 18 city gates in the Xi’an City Wall.
The city wall is equipped with a series of military facilities including the moat, drawbridge, barbican gate tower, embrasure tower, main tower, corner tower, watchtower, parapet wall, and crenels. With a total length of 13.74 kilometers, it takes over five hours to walk around the wall at a leisurely pace. You can also rent a bicycle to ride along it, which is a very pleasant experience.
Getting onto the city wall at Yongxing Gate is a popular spot for internet – famous photo – taking. You can capture pictures of the adjacent ancient – style buildings and the central axis of the Bell Tower. Walking towards Changle Gate, you’ll also find the central axis of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, which can be clearly seen only on sunny days.
Look closely, there are characters on many of the bricks of the city wall. Some of these markings date back to the time when the city wall was first built. During the construction of the city wall, to prevent those in charge of the brick kilns from cutting corners, the addresses of the kilns and the names of the supervisors were inscribed on the bricks. By implementing such a strict accountability system, the enthusiasm of the supervisors was enhanced. This was to ensure that they wouldn’t be lured by money and produce substandard bricks, which could have delayed the crucial task of building the city wall. There are also some markings that are said to be the imprints left by certain brick factories during the renovation of the city wall.
There are no motor vehicles on the city wall, only rental bicycles. The broad city wall gives the impression that there aren’t too many people. You can stroll leisurely on the wall, moving forward all the way, setting off towards joy.
Tickets:
54 yuan. You can rent a bicycle on the city wall for a sightseeing tour. The price for a single – person bicycle is 45 yuan, and for a double – person bicycle is 90 yuan. A deposit of 200 yuan is required.
Route: – Take Metro Line 2. Get off at Yongningmen Station and it takes less than five minutes to walk to Yongning Gate. – If you get off at Anyuanmen Station (also on Metro Line 2), it takes about five minutes to walk to Anyuan Gate. – Take Metro Line 4, get off at Dachaishi Station, and then it takes about 15 minutes to walk to Changle Gate. – Take Metro Line 6, get off at Andingmen Station, and it takes about three minutes to walk to Anding Gate.
