Xian City Wall is the most complete and best preserved existing city wall in China. After many dynasties’ enlargement and renovation, now the aged city wall becomes one of the most popular attractions in Xian. On the 13-kilometer-long rectangle city wall, there are 18 gates connecting the inside and outside.

Generally speaking, the most famous four gates are commonly called the East Gate, the West Gate, the South Gate and the North Gate. Actually, these four gates own their special names not simply symbolizing their directions.

The South Gate is named Yong Ning Gate which means the regions in the south direction of Xian were wished to be peaceful without war forever. It is the oldest gate which was constructed during Sui Dynasty. It is also principal visiting gate as it owns the most complete city wall structures.

An Ding Gate is the West Gate, opened during Ming Dynasty. “An Ding” expresses the wish that the west border area be stable and settled down. The gate was firstly built in the middle of western city wall in Tang Dynasty, and it was moved southward a little when the city wall was expanded during Ming Dynasty.

The East Gate is called Chang Le Gate. The capital city of Ming Dynasty was in Nanjing which is east direction of Xian. “Chang Le” denoted the meaning that people would be always happily living and the Ming’s rule would last forever.

An Yuan Gate is the North Gate on the city wall. Located on the north-south axis of Xian city, the name “An Yuan” carried on the conciliatory policy that the central royal court took to national minorities on the border areas. The royal court hoped that the remote border regions would be stabilized and submitted to the central emperors.

Besides these four main gates, the other gates located in the city wall include Han Guang Gate, Wu Mu Gate, Zhu Que Gate, Wen Chang Gate, He Ping Gate, Jian Guo Gate, Shang Wu Gate, Shang De Gate, Jie Fang Gate, Shang Jian Gate, Shang Qin Gate, Yu Xiang Gate, Zhong Shan Gate and Chao Yang Gate.

To Get more on China Xian Tours, visit ChinaTourOnline and ChinaTours http://www.chinatours.com/.