Xian

"Archeologists drew almost a complete blank in their search of the inner tomb," the official New China News Agency said Saturday in a report of excavations at the tomb site, thought to be between 2,200 and 2,800 years old. The site is in Fengxiang County of Shaanxi Province, about 90 miles west of the ancient Yellow River capital of Xian.

Next came several more days of sightseeing that included a few opportunities to observe the changes going on in China, as well as a fascinating look into its past. We flew to Xian, the ancient capital of China, then drove almost ninety minutes to the tomb of China's first emperor and the site where archaeologists had unearthed hundreds of life-size terra-cotta figures of soldiers standing in ranks, complete with horses and chariots, to guard the tomb. "They know there are more than 7,000 [terra-cotta soldiers] that haven't been uncovered yet," I wrote that evening in my diary: "It is an unforgettable experience. This—plus the drive past villages surrounded by endless wheat fields dotted here and there with burial mounds and relics of China's ancient past—made for a day we'll long remember."

A fervent believer in an afterlife, Qin Shihuang ordered his tomb to be guarded by 8,000 terra-cotta statues. This grandiose resting place was accidentally disinterred in 1976 by farmers digging a well in the ancient capital, Xian, during a drought. Dr. Huang broached the idea of a terra-cotta exhibit on a trip to Shanxi Province, where Xian is located, three years ago.

3. One reason for the growth and success of ninth-century cities like Baghdad, Constantinople and Ch'ang-an (Xian) was that they . . . a. were part of the Roman Empire b. tolerated religious diversity c. traded only with people from their immediate region d. were located on major trade routes

According to the 2000 Census for Shaanxi province, Hu county near the provincial capital of Xian municipality has over 250,000 residents, while the geographically larger, but more remote Ganquan county has only 30,000.

Lien Chan had a PhD from the University of Chicago and was the heir to a vast family fortune. Born in Xian, China, in the 1940s, he never developed a feel for Taiwan’s common people.

But Xian, the north-central Chinese city whose name means “western peace,” is much more than its collection of warriors. It’s one of the oldest cities in China: It has seen the likes of Marco Polo during his Silk Road journey, and been home to Buddhist sutras brought from India by Xuanzang, a monk whose journey inspired one of the greatest works of Chinese literature, “Journey to the West.” Xian was also one of the first Chinese cities introduced to Islam, and its Muslim Quarter, located in the city center, is now one of the city’s most thriving tourist areas.

A man living in a newly constructed building in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, was unable to obtain a birth registration form for his pregnant wife because no district was officially assigned to the building.

“I traded half a bottle of chilli pepper for six packs of instant noodles, one courgette and two carrots,” one Xian resident wrote on Weibo, the social media platform. Xian has become the largest Chinese city to be hit with draconian restrictions since the pandemic first broke out in Wuhan and prompted Beijing to seal off that city for 76 days in early 2020. Authorities locked down Xian on December 22 and ordered its residents to stay home after a cluster of coronavirus cases. Two hundred and fifty-five case were thought to have been recorded — tiny in comparison to outbreaks overseas. Across China today, there were 91 cases identified, including a further 35 in Xian.

In 1994 a China Northwest Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 flying from Xian to Guangzhou crashed, killing all 160 on board in China's worst-ever air disaster, according to Aviation Safety Network.