Biking Around the Xi'an City Wall
With a history spanning over 3000 years, Xi'an was one of the four great ancient capitals of China, the origin of the famous ancient Silk Road heading west as well as the home to many historical landmarks of the country. If you're into the city's history, Xi'an City Wall is one of the sought-after attractions must be in your travel bucket list for sure. Enlarged in 1370 as an enhancement of the original city wall from the Tang Dynasty, under the regime of Zhu Yuan Zhang, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, the wall is considered the most well-preserved original wall and the largest existing ancient city wall in all of China. Originally serving as a military defensive system in earlier times, the city wall consists of a series of military fortifications including gates, watchtowers, ramparts, battlements, tunnels and a wide and deep moat running around the city. Xi'an City Wall stands 12 meters high, 12-14 meters across the top, 15-18 meters thick at bottom and stretches 13.7 kilometers, which is a really imposing, tall, long and firm structure. The current city wall is regarded as a landmark dividing the city of Xi’an into the inner part and the outer part. And due to its large-scale design, cycling on the wall is a good way to explore the entire place as much as possible. You can rent a bike then leisurely cycle around on top of the most intact wall in China and marvel at the majesty of the city's historic site as well as the great view of the Xi'an city from the wall itself.
