Major Attractions in Shannxi Province

Qinshihuang's Mausoleum

The mausoleum of Qinshihuang (259-210 BC), who unified China and founded the first, is found 5 km to the east of Lintong County. A highway conducts to the top of the tumulus for the benefits of visitors.

Qianling tomb

Qianling tomb,situated on Liangshan Hill to the north of Qianxian county,is a joint tomb of Tang Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) and Empress Wu Zetian.There were a lot of architectures on the ground of the tomb which was a grand necropolis.The huge stone statues arrayed in front of the tomb are well preserved up to now.They demonstrate remarkable achievements of the sculpural arts during the prime of the tang dynasty.A great deal of excellent handicrafts,for example the tri-coloured wares,gold and silver wares were unearthed from the statellite tombs.The murals unearthed from the minor tombs to the Qianling tomb are coloreful.With smooth lines and gorgeous colors,they gracefully depict many of ancient paintings.

Terracotta Warriors & Horses

Terracotta Warriors & Horses is an absolutely incredible sight! This mighty army of terracotta warriors and horses, found in three vaults 39km east of Xi'an and 1.5 km from the Qin emperor's mausoleum, is perhaps the most popular tourist attraction of Shaanxi. An in-site museum has been built over these pits, covering a floor space of 20,000 square meters and displaying 8,000 life-size terracotta warriors, 100 or so chariots, and 30,000 weapons-an assemblage billed as the Eighth World Wonder and a world cultural heritage site. More...

Wild-Goose Pagodas

The Greater Wild Goose Pagoda is situated at the Benevolence Temple to the south of Xian City, Shaanxi Province. This pagoda was built in A.D. 652 to house Buddhist scriptures that had been brought from India by Xuan Zang who is an renowned monk of the Tang Dynasty. The wood-and -brick structure is sixty-four meters high and has seven stories.

Stele Forest

Situated at the bottom of the City wall,the Forest of Steles has the best steles of ancient dynasties of this province and is a treasure house of the Chinese calligraphic art.The Forest of Steles ,founded in 1090 A.D.(fifth year of Yuanyou of the Northern Song Dynasty )houses over 2300 steles of the Han ,Wei ,Sui,Tang ,Song ,Yuan,Ming n and Qing Dynasties.Amoung the well-known steles of "the Stele of Si Mafang "of the Jing,"the Stele of the Canans of Filial Piety on Stone Terraces","the Stele of the Stone Classics of Kaichen "and "the Popular Stele of Daqin Nestorianism"of the Tang.Exhibited here are also stone tablets on which are engraved the handwritings of such Tang calligraphical masters as Ouyang Xun,Chu Suiliang,Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gong-quan.

City Wall of Xi'an

This battlement, built in A.D. 1370-1378, is one of the best-preserved ancient walls in China. Surrounded by a moat, it has a circumference of 11.9 kilometers and is 12 meters high, 18 meters wide at the base, and 15 meters wide at the top. The interior of the wall was made of rammed earth, and the exterior of bricks. It is also a symbol of great significance of the famous historic cultural city of Xi'an.

Banpo Village Ruins

The ruins, lying north of Banpo Village on the eastern outskirts of Xi'an, became an in-site museum in 1958. in an area of 50,000 square metres, a residential quarter, a potter-making zone and a burial ground have been found, along with large numbers of tools used by members of a matriarchal clan in the Yellow River valley more than 6,000 years ago.

Shaanxi History Museum

One km from the Greater Wild Goose Pagoda in the south of Xi'an stands the Shaanxi History Museum, the first of its kind in China to be equipped with modern facilities, covers 56,000 square metres in floor space. A total of 2,000 exhibits, chosen from a collection of 110,000, are on display.

Tang Tricolour Pottery

These pottery ware, modeled after real ones unearthed from some Tang tombs, are graphic in image and eye-pleasing in colour, and smack strongly of everyday life. There are 100 or so varieties, including figurines, horse-like camels and utensils.

Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque, covering an area of 12,000 square metres and having a floor space of 4,000 square metres and a seating capacity for 1,000 worshippers, is the largest and best-protected mosque in China. Construction of it began in 742. Islamic architecture is perfectly integrated with traditional Chinese elements in this unique complex.

Famen Temple

Construction of Famen Monastery in Fufeng County began during the Eastern Han. In 1987 the brick pagoda of the monastery collapsed in the rain, and an underground palace with 2,400 treasures, belonging to Tang and previous dynasties, was brought to light as a result. These include gold and silver utensils, glazed wares, porcelains, pearls and precious stones and textiles. The discovery of four sariras attributed to Sakyamuni in an 8-layer container in this collection shocked the entire Buddhist world.

The Bell Tower

Standing in the center of Xi'an, the Bell Tower was built in 1582 A.D. (tenth year of Wanli of the Ming) with a height of 36 meters .Its blue brick base is square,covering an area of 13,377.64 square meters.The wood structure of the tower has three layers of eaves with ridges runnig from the four corners of the topmost roof towards the central spire.The tower is a splendid sight with its dark green glazed tiles, blue and green paintings and touches of gold.

Huaqing Palace

The Tang emperor, Xuanzong, had Huaqing Palace built by the hot springs at the foot of Lishan Mountain in Lintong County, so that he could frolic with his favoured Imperial Lady Yang to his heart's content. Today, the facility is attracting a constant stream of visitors who come both to catch a piece of history and enjoy the nice scenery.

Mount Huashan

The 1,997-metre-tall Mount Huashan, true to its reputation as the "most precipitous mountain under heaven", is a cluster of five peaks with breathtaking cliff faces and a tough challenge to mountaineers. A cable car whisks visitors right to the top of Huashan, which is also one of the five holy mountains in China.

Yan'an City

Yan'an became the center of Chinese revolution in 1937, when top Party leaders stayed there from 1937 to 1947, and conducted the resistance war against Japan and the war of liberation. This has earned Yan'an the title: "Cradle of Revolution".

Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum

Yellow Emperor, the legendary ancestor of all the Chinese in the world today, is worshiped every year at this mausoleum north of Huangling County which evinces classic sanctity amidst a forest of verdant, yet ancient-looking cypress trees.

Imperial Tombs

Qinshihuang's mausoleum is not the only imperial necropolis left in Xi'an. Being the Chinese capital during a succession of dynasties, the city is actually studded with imperial tombs. To name a few: Changling, situated east of Xianyang, was the tomb for Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han; Maoling, 15 km east of Xingping County, is the largest of all the Western Han imperial tombs in Shaanxi. Buried there were the remains of the all-mighty Emperor Wu. Maoling Museum was established in 1987 near the tomb of Huo Qubin, a major Han general. Li Yuan, or Emperor Gaozu of Tang, had his tomb built east of Sanyuan County, and named it Xianling. The Zhaoling, situated to the northeast of Liquan County, belonged to Li Shimin, or Emperor Taizong of Tang. Buried in the Qianling on the Liangshan Mountain north of Qianxian County were the remains of Tang Emperor Gaozong and his wife, Empress Wu Zetian. The tomb was actually tunneled into the rocky mountain. Some of the surface structures and large numbers of stone men, animals and ornamental pillars are still there. The Tailing, to the northeast of Pucheng County, was the tomb for Li Longji, or Tang Emperor Xuanzong.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS

Ruins of Lantian man, Lishan Mountain, Huayan Temple, Xingjiao Temple, Tomb of Sima Qian (author of Historian's Records), and the Temple of Zhuge Liang at Wuzhangyuan.