As the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, Xi'an has a long history. It was already a shining spot in the long history of China when being the capital of the Western Han Dynasty in the name of Feng Hao. It’s more widely known name should be Chang ‘an, I suppose. As the capital of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it became the center of cultural communication and international trade. Knowledge from different background was exchanged and collided here, generating new sparks for human development; the antiquated square market system, which limits the time for trade, was broken at this time, and the vibrant markets made this city once known as an "ever-bright city". The Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang is also an iconic symbol of this city. The magnificent army of Terracotta Warriors is permanently stationed in the city's underground, like the most convincing storyteller of its history.
The wonderful thing about Xi'an is that these cultural symbols left by history have been well-preserved and well-expressed in urban architecture and structure. The Bell and Drum Tower, built a thousand years ago, is still a landmark building in the most central area of Xi'an, allowing tourists to overlook the city from the central part of it. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda, where Master Xuan Zang stores the scriptures of the ancient India, stands majestically on the center of the square. The height of any other buildings nearby cannot exceed the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and it’s aims to allow people to see the towering Big Wild Goose Pagoda at a glance no matter from which direction. The Ming Dynasty city wall, as one of the largest and best-preserved ancient city walls in China, is also an important symbol of Xi'an's preservation of the old city pattern.
I’ve been living here since I’m seven. In my childhood, my favorite night-time activity is to walk outside with my family. When night falls, there are lampposts with ancient poems written on the side of the path. You can walk straight along this road to reach the heritage park of Tang City Wall and take a rest by the Qu Jiang Lake which also has a history of thousands of years. Seeing the lights of the modern city shining on the ancient stuffs, I always sigh that this city blurs the boundaries of time, it seems that it does not belong to any specific point in time. It is an overlapping image of every point in the past timeline, and is filled with new content every new day.
(The Big Wild Goose Pagoda)
(The Bell and Drum Tower)
（The Ming Dynasty City Wall）
（Qu Jiang Lake）
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