Xian City Wall

The magnificent and grandiose Xian City Wall was constructed in the early Ming Dynasty on the basis of the Imperial City of Chang An (Everlasting Peace) of the Tang Dynasty. It has been preserved intact and is the most complete city wall, as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. The wall stands 12 meters high. It is 12-14 meters across the top, 15-18 meters thick at bottom and 13.7 kilometers in length.

There is a rampart every 120 meters, 98 all together. The ramparts are towers that extend out from the main wall, built to allow soldiers to see enemies who would try to climb the wall. The distance between two ramparts is just within the range of arrow shot from either side. This allowed soldiers to protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. On the outer side of the city wall, there are 5948 crenellations, namely battlements. The soldiers can outlook and shoot at the enemy. On the inner side, parapets were built to protect the soldiers from falling off.

The weapons in ancient times were primitive and the only way for an enemy to enter the city was by attacking the gate of the city wall. So the gate was important, strategic points, and built with complicated structures. The city wall includes four gates, the east, west, south and north gates, each consists of three gate towers.

In Xi'an's case, the east, west, south and north gates, each consists of three gate towers. The main tower is called Zhenglou. Zhalou is the gate tower with the suspense bridge, and Jianlou is the narrow tower. The Zhalou tower stands away from the wall. It is used to lift and lower the suspense bridge. The Jianlou tower is in the center of the others. Its front and the two outer sides have square windows to shoot arrows from. The Zhenglou tower is the inner one. It is the main entrance to the city. The area between them within the wall was called 'Wong Cheng', in which the soldiers stationed. From Wong Cheng, there are sloped horse passages leading to the top of the city wall.

City Wall is a symbol of great significance of the famous historic cultural city of Xian.

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