The City Wall in Xian is the best preserved, oldest and largest ancient city defense system in China. The original foundation of the Xian City Wall was based on the ruins of the Imperial City Wall of Chang An City--the capital of the Tang Dynasty. Zhu Yuan Zhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty started building city walls nationwide after advised by one of his scholars. The city wall of Xian is an extension of the old Tang Dynasty structure, as a result of this wall building campaign. Xian's city wall after its enlargement in the Ming Dynasty stands 12 meters high. It is 12-14 meters across the top, 15-18 meters thick at bottom and 13.7 kilometers in length. The first city wall of Xian was built of earth, rammed layer upon layer. The base layer was made of earth, quick lime, and glutinous rice extract, tempered together. It made the wall extremely strong and firm. Later, the wall was totally enclosed with bricks, which has protected the City Wall from erosion and collapse for a long time
The Terra Cotta Army is located east of Emperor Qin's Mausoleum, serving as guardians to protect the entrance of the Emperor's burial. The whole area is about 20 hectares. Four main buildings of the museum, which were named Pit 1, Pit 2, Pit 3 and Bronze Chariot and Horses Museum, were constructed on their original sites in different years. On March 29,1974, when local farmers of Xiyang Village of Lingtong Country were drilling a series of wells in search of water, pottery fragments and ancient bronze weapons were discovered accidentally. In the last 20 years, the terra-cotta Museum has developed and become the largest on-site museum in China．The three pits vary in size and shape. Pit 1 is the largest one in rectangular shape, housing the main force of the army; Pits 2 is located some 20 meters north of Pit 1, which is a complex battle formation formed by charioteers, archers, cavalrymen and infantrymen. It is specially used for supporting the main force; Pit 3, located 25 meters to the north of Pit 1 and to the west of pit 2, was evidently the headquarters
Situated in the Da Ci'en Temple, about four kilometers from the urban center, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is one of the famous Buddhist pagodas in China.
Originally built in 589 A.D. in the Sui Dynasty, the temple was named Wu Lou Si Temple. It was not until 648 A.D. when Emperor Li Zhi, then still a crown prince, sponsored a repair project on the temple. This was a symbol of thanksgiving to his mother for her kindness, after she had suffered an early death. The temple then assumed the present name Temple of Thanksgiving. The Emperor Gaozong was said to pay homage to the temple twice a day by looking in its direction from the Hanyuan Palace. The temple, with 13 separate courtyards, contained 1,879 magnificent-looking rooms altogether and was a place of grand extent in the Tang Dynasty. However, it went into gradual decay after the downfall of the Tang Dynasty. The halls and rooms that have survived the age are structures that were built in the Ming Dynasty
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