The Xi’an wall is the most complete city wall that has survived in China. It is also one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. It was originally built in 1370 after the establishment of the Ming dynasty.
Every 120 meters, there is a rampart which extends out from the main wall. All together, there are 98 ramparts, which were built to defend against the enemy climbing up. Each rampart has a sentry building, in which the soldiers could protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. Besides, the distance between every two ramparts is just within the range of an arrow shot from either side, so that they could shoot the enemy, who wanted to attack the city, from the side. On the outer side of the wall, there are 5,948 crenellations, namely battlements. The soldiers can outlook and shoot at the enemy. On the inner side, parapets were built to protect the soldiers from falling off.
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/citywall.htm
Walking from the apartment we passed the bell tower, which has shows.
We also walked past the moat on the outside to get to the ticket office on the south gate.
After paying to get into the wall, we looked at some of the artifacts then went on top of the wall.
You can also rent a bike to cycle the 13.7 km around the top. We rented the bikes and bikes the whole way around. Pretty hot outside.
The original city is to the right of all the pictures. The expanded city has taller buildings on the outside than the buildings on the left.
These are pictures of a Buddhist temple inside the old city wall.
Preschoolers were walking in the wall as well.
Walking at the bottom of the north side of the wall.
East wall
Later in the afternoon we went to visit the Big Goose Pagoda. It was closed but we walked around to visit the sights.
Columns depicting the various dynasties
We walked through the area around the pagoda.
There was a performance that showed the east meeting the west on the silk road.
At night we went back to the Muslim Quarter to find dinner. These dragons caught our eye. They were putting out water droplets to cool people off. The second one led to a store behind it.
