Xi'an is one of the most ancient cities in China. Over the course of 1,100 years, beginning from the eleventh century B.C., 11 dynasties from Western Zhou down to the Tang successively built their national capital here.

Located 28km east of Xian, the site of the Teracotta Army and the tomb of Qin Shi Huang which it guards attract many tourists. The terracotta warriors were accidentally discovered by Chinese peasants while digging a well. These warriors were placed all around the burial tomb of Emperor Qin. Due to the warlike culture which Qin had produced during his lifetime, he had many enemies and experiecned three attempts of assassination. To continue having a full protection in his afterlife, Qin ordered a massive clay army to be produced to substitute for the actual humans warriors.

Located far south of town, 4km from the city wall stands Temple of Grace, the largest temple in Xian. The rooms of the temple was originally populated with three hundred monks, but now holds shops and exhibitions of paintings. The temple's most famous resident was a Tang dynasty monk Xuan Zang, who had collected and translated over 1000 volumes of Sanskrit sutras he had brought back from India. At his request, Big Goose Pagoda was buit at the center of the temple to protect the sutras. The pagoda has seven storeys, each with large windows out of which visitors throw money for luck. The city streets can be best viewed from the north windows.

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 13377.64 square meters. The wood structure of the tower has three layers of eaves with ridges running 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.

Xi'an, the historical city, was called Chang'an in ancient times, and is now the capital of Shaanxi province. Xi'an has a long history. Since the earliest societies, humanity lived and multiplied here. It served as a capital for twelve dynasties, including the Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, spanning over 1120 years. It became the oriental cultural centre of the Silk Road. Today's Xi'an is the biggest industrial city and cultural centre in Northwest China. There are seven districts of Beilin, Xincheng, Yanta, Baqiao, Weiyang Yanliang, Lianhu and six counties of Chang'an, Lintong, Gaolin under the jurisdiction of the municipal government. Xi'an covers a total area of over 9700 square kilometres, and has a population of over 5,200,000.