Xian Ancient City Wall (Cheng Qiang) - Best Preserved City Wall in China

Chinese city walls were built as the defense systems to protect the cities or towns in China. Xian Ancient City Wall embodied the defense function perfectly. The rectangular city wall is 13.75km in length (about 4 hours walk), 12m in height, 12m – 14m in thickness at the top and 15m – 18m in thickness at the base. The width of the wall is thicker than its height, thus, the wall was stable as a mountain and the city was strongly fortified.

Five Defense Lines of the City Gate

The ancient weapons were backward and the city gate was the only access way to the city, thus, the city gate was the key point of city defense system. There are four principle gates of the city wall, and each of them has five defense lines.

As the first defense line, the moat surrounding the wall has drawbridges before each city gate. As the only access, the drawbridges are laid down in day time to allow the entry and exit of people, and are raised at night to cut off the access to the city. The second defense line is the floodgate tower, which controls the drawbridges and is responsible for announcing the night watches and giving an alarm. Behind the floodgate tower is the archery tower, which is located outside the gate tower. Over 30m in height, the archery tower has a vertical outer wall and is densely covered with arrow hole, convenient for observation and shooting. The fourth defense line is the enclosed space between archery tower and gate tower, called barbican. Barbican is a semicircular or quadrate small city built outside the city gate to enhance the defense of the city. The four barbicans of the Ancient City Wall cover over 7000m2, if the enemies enter into the barbican, the garrison army will kill them from a high point, just like shooting fish in a barrel. The last defense line is certainly the principle gate. It’s extremely painstaking to break up the five defense lines for the enemy troops.

Defense Structure on the City Wall

Except for the strong fortified city wall, there are four turrets at each corner of the city wall to assist the city gate in observing and defensing the surrounding enemy. There is a rampart tower extending out from the city wall every 120m, 20m in width and 12m in length, 98 rampart towers in total. The outer edge of the rampart towers and city wall is topped with crenellations for observation and shooting, called battlement. While the inner edge of the wall is topped with parapet to protect the soldier from falling off.

Cycling on the wall

After you climb up the wall, the best way to visit is riding a bicycle around the wall. Of course, if you don’t know how to ride bicycle or you prefer more easy way, you can walk or take a battery car.

Time: about 2 hours

Rent fees: Regular bicycle: ￥45/3hrs, for overtime, ￥5 every 10mins. Tandem bicycle: ￥90/2hrs, for overtime, ￥10 every 10mins. The guarantee deposit is 200yuan per bike.

Where to rent: there are 19 city gates in total, and you can rent the bike at the four principle gates, for other small gates, you need to walk for a close distance to reach the rent site. Each rent site is on the wall, and you can rent and return at any of them.

Riding route: normally, people climb up the wall through the South Gate and ride a circle back to the South Gate. However, if you get tired, you can return the bike at any of the rent site.

Riding Notice: 1) UV in summer is very strong, so it’s suggested to visit the wall before 10:00 a.m. or after 17:00 p.m., and use sun block and wear hat and sunglasses to prevent sunburns; 2) There is no bike with child seat; 3) Bring a bottle of water and put in your small bag because there are not may vendors selling drinks on the Wall.

Performance at the Southern Gate

There are plenty of interesting performances at the South Gate Barbican every day, showing you the charm of the ancient Xian. The schedule of the performance is as following:

• 09:00: Gate Opening Ceremony
• 10:30/19:40: Martial Performance in the Ancient City
• 10:45/19:45: Living Sculpture
• 17:30: Army Array Performance
• 09:30/15:30/18:40: Warriors Changing the Guard Ceremony
• 11:00/11:40/16:20/16:50/18:00: Warrior Cruise Performance

In the area enclosed by the Ancient City Wall, there are several attractions which are very close to the wall. Since they are all in the city center, it will only cost you several minutes to get these attractions from the city wall.

Bell Tower and Drum Tower

All built in Ming Dynasty, the Bell Tower and Drum Tower are the landmark of Xian City. The two towers are only several minutes’ walk from each other, and they are located in the two sides of the Bell & Drum Tower Square. Xian Bell Tower and Drum Tower are the largest and best-preserved bell tower and drum tower in China. To ascend the tower, you need to pay 35yuan for each tower, while the combination ticket only costs you 50yuan.

Muslim Quarter

Next to the Bell Tower is the Muslim Quarter, where concentrates the essence of Xian food and snacks. Muslim style architectures stand amidst in the thousand year old Muslim Quarter. Popular not only in the tourists, but also the local people, Muslim Quarter is the best place to taste Shaanxi flavor.

Great Mosque

Very close to the Muslim Quarter and Drum Tower, the Great Mosque is a perfect combination of Chinese classic architecture and Muslim architecture. Built in the late fourteenth century, the mosque had been marked with a classic architecture style of Ming Dynasty. Except for the gorgeous buildings, the colored painting decoration in the mosque will also bring a visual feast for your eyes.

2. How to Get to the Ancient City Wall

There are 8 different gates at Xian Ancient City Wall, namely the East Gate (Changle Gate, 长乐门), the South Gate (Yongning Gate, 永宁门), the West Gate (Anding Gate, 安定门), the North Gate (Anyuan Gate, 安远门), Heping Gate (和平门), Wenchang Gate (文昌门), Hanguang Gate (含光门), and Shangde Gate (尚德门). You can arrive at the City Wall based on your closest distance. Among all 8 gates, South Gate (Yongning Gate, 永宁门) is the most popular gate to get up to the Ancient City Wall.

A: Xian Railway Station is located very close to the wall, and you can ascend to the wall through Shangde Gate from Xian Railway Station.

B: In the city center, you can take bus 321, 323, 402, 405, K600, etc. and get off at Nanmen Stop (南门站: South Gate Stop), and ascend to the all through the South Gate.

C: Metro line 2 has connected the Ancient City Wall with other places in Xian, and you can take this subway to get off at South Gate (Yongning Gate, 永宁门) or Anyuanmen Stop (安远门) to get to the wall.

Xian has a lot of places to visit. Terracotta Warriors and Horses buried for more than 2000 years is definitely a must-see. After that, take a stroll or rent a bike on the Ancient City Wall, the largest and best-preserved ancient city wall in China, to enjoy panoramic views of modern Xi’an. Then try some local snacks at the bustling and lively Muslim Quarter. On the next day, you can go to visit Da Cien Temple and Giant Wild Goose Pagoda to feel the Buddhist culture, then get a deeper understanding of the past of this city in Shaanxi History Museum. If you are interested in mountain climbing, don’t miss the challenging Mount Huashan which is famous for lofty peaks and steep paths. If you have other ideas or questions about a Xian tour, please feel free to contact us. We are also specialized in customized tours according to your own requirements, interests, travelling budgets, etc.

- 2 Days Xian City Break
- 3 Days Classic Xian Tour
- 4 Days Xian Highlights Tour with Mount Huashan Hiking