Xian

Route:West Street East Street J iefang Road Fifth
West Road North Street South Street Chang'an Road
Ladies and gentlemen, as you have just come to Xi'an, you
must be very eager to take a look at this ancient city. Now, I will
show you around.
The inner city is a compact block within the precincts of the
city wall. Four streets radiate in four different directions from the
central Bell Tower. The city, more or less preserves the layout
and size of its prototype in the Ming Dynasty over 600 years back.
Now, we are getting into the urban district on the West
Street. The Street lined with so-called Chinese seholartrees. Such
trees were planted around the Imperial Palace of the Zhou Dynasty
3,000 years back, and more scholartrees were cultivated in the
Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty. Hence, we have the saying,
"just as cypresses are typical of the Zhou Dynasty, so are schol-
artrees and plum trees of Tang and Song dynasties respectively."
Now, we are here at Qiaozikou. Straight ahead of us is the
Bell Tower or rather the geographical centre of the city. During the
construction of both the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower in the
Ming Dynasty, a s. lope bridge leading to the construction site was
built to transport timber, bricks, tiles and other building materials,
for the pillars to be used were tall and heavy. Such modern equip-
ment such asthe crane was not available. "Zi" refers to timber,
"Qiao" means bridge and "Kou' is an entrance. This place was so
called, for it marked the starting point of the bridge for carrying
building materials to the construction site.
The West Street is one Of the city's Moslem residential quar-
ters. The Great Mosque, the largest of its kind in Xi'an, is situated
at the Huajue Lane which branches out from the West Street. On
the left side is Damaishi Street, a Moslem food centre. The centre
offers an assortment of famous specialities in Moslem style, such as
cubed pancake in mutton soup and cured beef and mutton. Moslem
food takes up a considerable proportion of the city's entire catering
industry. About two-thirds of the Moslem population is engaged in
food industry. This market-place is oneof their business centres.
On our left side isthe Town God's Temple. Town God is said
to be a patron saint whose duty was to protect the city of Xl'an in
ancient times. The temple began taking shape in 1387. Inside it is
the Music and Dance Chamber which houses a large number of an-
cient musical scores and instruments. These musical relics are of
great value to the study of ancient Chinese musical history. The
Town God's Temple has remained a bustling attraction ever since
its establishment. Rural farmers are bound to pay a visit here when-
ever they come~ downtown. Now it has become a wholesale centre
which specializes in small articles not available in large department
stores.
Please look left, you will catch sight of a magnificent ancient
building with painted poles and engraved beams. It's called the
Drum Tower, and stands 300 metres apart from the Bell Tower a-
head:of us. These two buildings were not right opposite each other
at one time in history until the Bell Tower was relocated to the ur-
ban centre. To offer time service, ancient Chinese cities made it a
rule to strike a bell in the mornings and beat a drum in the
building materials to the construction site.
The West Street is one Of the city's Moslem residential quar-
ters. The Great Mosque, the largest of its kind in Xi'an, is situated
at the Huajue Lane which branches out from the West Street. On
the left side is Damaishi Street, a Moslem food centre. The centre
offers an assortment of famous specialities in Moslem style, such as
cubed pancake in mutton soup and cured beef and mutton. Moslem
food takes up a considerable proportion of the city's entire catering
industry. About two-thirds of the Moslem population is engaged in
food industry. This market-place is oneof their business centres.
On our left side isthe Town God's Temple. Town God is said
to be a patron saint whose duty was to protect the city of Xl'an in
ancient times. The temple began taking shape in 1387. Inside it is
the Music and Dance Chamber which houses a large number of an-
cient musical scores and instruments. These musical relics are of
great value to the study of ancient Chinese musical history. The
Town God's Temple has remained a bustling attraction ever since
its establishment. Rural farmers are bound to pay a visit here when-
ever they come~ downtown. Now it has become a wholesale centre
which specializes in small articles not available in large department
stores.
Please look left, you will catch sight of a magnificent ancient
building with painted poles and engraved beams. It's called the
Drum Tower, and stands 300 metres apart from the Bell Tower a-
head:of us. These two buildings were not right opposite each other
at one time in history until the Bell Tower was relocated to the ur-
ban centre. To offer time service, ancient Chinese cities made it a
rule to strike a bell in the mornings and beat a drum in the
If you asked what snack natives of Xi'an like best, many peo-
ple would come up with cubed pancake in mutton soup. On our left
side is the highly-reputed Tong Shengxiang Restaurant which spe-
cializes in this local snack. It boasts a history of over 70 years. Its
chefs were once invited .for a demonstration at Diaoyutai State
Guesthouse in Beijing.
Here is the Bell Tower Hotel,'a seven--storey modern hotel
with more than 670 beds. It began operations in the spring of
1983, keeping its house open to guests from every corner of the
world.
Across the street is the Bell Tower Xinhua Bookstore, the
biggest distributor and intermediary business of books in China.
Xi'an Xinhuan Bookstore is affiliated with 41 retail departments and
six specialized ones. However, the Bell Tower Xinhua Book-store is
the largest of all in size.
The glass-walled building on the left is Tangcheng Department
Store, which counts as the largest modern business complex in the
northwest area. It started business operations in 1984, and now
sells more than 30, 000 varieties of goods in different sizes and col-
ors. In fact, the store leads the entire commercial industry in the
scales of sales, profits, merchandise variety and scientific manage-
ment.
Across the street is the Luomashi Garment Market, or rather
the largest centre of individual garment traders in Xi'an. With a
wide choice of stylish garments available at flexible prices in 100
household-run stalls, the market has been a busy attraction to the
consuming public at various levels.
On the left side stands Xi'an Foreign Language Bookstore, the
city's biggest distributor of various books, magazines and newspa-
pers in foreign languages published both at home and abroad.
At the left turning is the Overseas Chinese Department Store,
and one door further north is the Friendship Store, specially opened
to foreign guests and compatriots from Taiwan, Macao and Hong
Kong.
Ahead of us on the left is Tanshijie Vegetable and Non-staple
Food Market, the largest trading centre in Xi'~in. Nine out of ten
stall owners are farmers, individual vendors and small handicrafts-
men. Hundreds of items are available on the market. It's run by a
full-time management and service force responsible for keeping jus-
tice and order, balancing prices and maintaining a clean market.
Xi'an boasts 50-odd agricultural market places at present, and they
have played an active role in enlivening the urban economy and
meeting the needs of the general public for agricultural products.
Across the street is the Imperial City Hotel, a tourist hotel
jointly built by Sino-Japanese press circles. The hotel stands on the
site of the Imperial City of the Tang Dynasty 1,400 years back,
hence its name.
The building on the right is Xl'an Restaurant which took shape
in 1927 and erected the present establishment in 1977. Being the
largest of its kind in the northwest area, Xi'an Restaurant offers an
assortment of dishes in authentic local flavour, and with its 14 din-
ing-rooms, it boasts a reception capacity of more than 1,800 guests
at time. Right in this restaurant more than once before 1940, late
Premier Zhou Enlai had held banquets to entertain patriotic KMT
generals, anti- Japanese democratic personages and overseas
friends. Now the restaurant often caters for many grand banquets.
Ahead of us is the Hyatt Hotel, a five-star Hyatt-run tourist
hotel with more than 400 rooms.
Ahead of us on the right is the Minsheng Department Store.
Its prototype, Minsheng General Co-op Store orginated from the
combination of over 30 vendors by the People's Government in 1956
and again in 1958, it was rebuilt into Minsheng Department Store
with government funds.
At the nothernmost end of Jiefang Road is Xi'an Railway Sta-
tion. Xi'an is an important hub of communications in China. Rail-
ways, airlines and highways extend in all directions. Xi'an Railway
Station leads the whole country in the transportation of both passen-
gers and freight, and links up North China, East China and Central
China with the Nothwest and Southwest.
Less than two kilometres in full length, Jiefang Road, howev-
er, is flanked by more than 500 shops, services, restaurants and
banks. Now Jiefang Road has turned into a commercial street just
as bustling as Wangfujing Street in Beijing.
On our left side is Xi'an Stadium, a usual place for important
sports meetings. Across the road is the Revolution Park which is
meant for an important historical episode of Xi'an city. On the eve
of the Northern Expedition War in the spring of 1926, Liu Zhen-
hua, a general under Northern Warlord Wu Peifu led 100,000 sol-
diers to besiege Xi'an city for a wider sphere of influence. But under
the command of General Yang Hucheng, the Shaanxi National
Army which was defence against warlod soldiers. By order of the
Guangzhou.National Government, General Feng Yuxiang moved
his troops to Xianyang from Gansu Province, and launched a sur-
prise attack on the headqarters of Liu's forces, thus relieving Xi'an
from enemy encirclement. However, Liu's eight-month siege of
Xi'an claimed more than 50,000 soldiers and civilians on the defen-
sive, about one--fourth of the city's total population. The Revolu-
tion Park, therefore, was built in honor of the martyrs who had
been buried on the site.
Now we are getting into North Street. At the extreme north
stands the North Gate Tower, and straight ahead of us is the Bell
Tower. Raise your eyes a bit, and you can see the giant clock on
the top of the Telecommunications Office Building. It strikes the
hours with a sweet sound, a recorded chime of the Jingyun Bell
which belongs to the Tang Dynasty. The bell is now housed in
Shaanxi History Museum. More than once since 1949, the Central
People's Broadcasting Station has played back the recording on New
Year's eve. Jingyun Bell stood first on the list at the World Famous
Bells Exhibition in 1964.
This place is called Xin Hua-men, for it marks the site of Xin
Hua-men Gate of the Manchu city of the Qing Dynasty.
The structure with sprawling green vines is Shaanxi People's
Theatre. It's a building of carved beams and painted rafters. The
History of World Architecture shows a record of the theatre because
of its unique and elegant style. The theatre is equipped with world-
class acoustics, light modulators and a rise-and-fall orchestra pit.
It's well suited for the staging of various types of drama~
Yisu Theatre at the intersection of the First West Road has a
troupe of most famous Qin opera artists in China~ Qin opera, a tra-
ditional type of drama in China, has a recorded history of more than
1,000 years. Beijing opera was developed by combining the best
features of Qin, Hui and Kun operas, during Qian Long's reign of
Qing Dynasty.
Jiaozi or Chinese dumpling is a favorite food with northerners
in China. When it comes to a family reunion on a festive or holiday
occasion, all the members of a family make it a rule to divide the
task of making jiaozi. Some of them prepare the filling, some roll
out wrappers, and others wrap up dumplings. Then, the whole
family will sit around and enjoy the fruits of their labor together.
Defachang Dumplings Restaurant, situated northwest of the Bell
Tower, is the most famous and experienced dumpling restaurant in
the city of Xi'an.
The South Street runs from the Bell Tower to the South Gate,
and it is one of the oldest streets in Xi'an. Around herewas the An
Shang-men Gate of the imperial Chang'an City during Sui and Tang
dynasties; and the street we are riding down was called An Shang-
men Street. The street was extended in 1981, and the department
stores, the banks and other establishments on both sides of the
street have been built or enlarged since then.
The street on the east with a decorated archway is called Shu
Yuan-men Street. It preserves the architectural features of the
Ming and Qing dynasties. Xi'an Normal School, situated on the
street, is the site of the former Central Shaanxi Academy. The seat
of learning was the largest academic centre in Shaanxi Province,
and also a cultural centre of Xi'an from the Ming to the Qing Dy-
nasty. Also available there are the Confucian Temple, Xi'an Prefec-
tural School and Chang'an County School.
The pagoda standing at the entrance of Shu Yuan-men Street
is called Baoqing Temple Pagoda. It has seven storeys and stands 23
meters above the ground, The temple was destroyed in the late
Tang Dynasty, but rebuilt in the Ming Dy. nasty. Now, the temple
is gone, and only that brick pagoda remains intact.
Until now, we have already covered the major streets in the
urban district of the city. Judging from what we have seen, the Bell
Tower is the urban centre, and four main streets radiate to the
east, west, north and south respectively. These streets are wide
and symmetrical. Their layout is much the same as what Bai Juyi, a
Tang-dynasty poet, says about Chang'an City in these lines:
Households in their tens of thousands,
Scatter as if on a checkerboard.
The twelve streets go crisscross,
With urban blocks like vegetable plots.
From the South Gate to Nan Shao-men is the Nanguan Main
Street. Now, we have already got out of the urban area into the
outskirts. The city wall is a dividing line between the so-called "in-
ner city" and "outer city" on the lips of the local natives. In fact,
the downtown area has sprawled far beyond the city wall, but in
their eyes, "the inner city" is still within the city wall, and the
"outer city" is still outside it. It takes as short as two or three min-
utes or as long as one or two hours to go downtown by bus from the
outskirts.
This road is called Chang'an Road, one of the longest in
Xi'an. On the west is Xi'an Hotel, one of the four-star tourist hotel
in the city. Opposite to Xi'an Hotel is the Tang Dynasty Music
Palace. It is a luxury music and dance restaurant run with Chinese
and foreign capital. It serves a wide assortment of Tang-style dishes
to its customers, and at the same time, entertains them with Tang-
style song and dance performances. The drama entitled Music and
Dance in the Tang-dynasty Style created by Shaanxi Song and
Dance Ensemble after its writer and directors made a detailed study
of the dress, customs, etiquette and court life reflected by the tomb
frescos of the Tang Dynasty. The drama was first put on the stage
in the early 1980's, and has been well received by a wide range of
tourists. The ensemble has given nearly 1000 special performances
of the drama both at home and abroad.
From the historical point of view, Xi'an has been a cultural and
educational centre in China. An imperial university began to take
shape during Emperor Wu Di's reign of the Han Dynasty, and it
was the first state institution of higher learning in China. The world
--famous Chinese imperial examination system also took its source
from ancient Chang'an. There have been many developments in ed-
ucation since the founding of the People's Republic of China. There
were only two institutions of higher learning in Xi'an in 1949, and
today this number has risen to more than 40. Xl'an comes third in
the number of colleges and universities, next only to Beijing and
Shanghai.
Ladies and gentlemen, you must be very tired, I'm sure. So
no arrangements will be made for this evening. Tomorrow morn-
ing, I'll take you to the Museum of Emperor Qin Shihuang's Terra
--cotta Army, known as the eighth world wonder. Thank you all.
See you tomorrow.

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