Xi'an Xi'an
Xi'an is one of the oldest cities in China.
It was the capital city for the emperors of 11 dynasties.
a main street in Xi'an, seen from the city wall
Xi'an was, and still is, a walled
city. The 14 kilometre wall that stands today was built in 1374
in the time of the Ming dynasty. It is 12 metres high and up to
18 metres thick.
From the walls soldiers could fire arrows, gunpowder and bombs
at approaching enemies.
view along the top of the wall
About 7 million people live in Xi'an. The city is a popular tourist destination and there are several major universities in Xi'an as well as art and trade schools. Near the city there are the remains of the Banpo prehistoric village which proves that people have lived in the area for more than 6000 years
Xi'an is famous for it's dumplings known as jiaozi.
Terracotta Soldiers
In
221 B.C. the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shi Huangdi,
when he was just 13 years old, had workers begin to build his
tomb. The building was done by 700 000 workers and took 39 years.
Covering an area of 56.25 square kilometres, there may be as many as 8,000 terracotta models of warriors as well as horses buried within the tombs.
The first tomb with warriors in
it was discovered in 1974. Two smaller vaults were discovered
in 1976. 
You can read more about Xi'an here
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/xian.htm
Acknowledge this
source in your bibliography like this:
China
(2001).
[Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au
updated November 2006
