Dear Steemit friends:

If you make a trip to Xi'an, perhaps one of the most impressionable features of the city is the ancient city wall which can almost be seen anywhere you go. The ancient city wall is one of Xi'an's most coveted treasures. A functioning relic, taking you back in time. Most visitors of Xi'an will have a great curiosity for what the wall has to offer and is no doubt, a must visit. Built in the Ming Dynasty, the wall remains the largest and most complete wall in all of China.

One of the unique ways of sightseeing the city wall, is cycling around it. With a bike, you can cycle at a leisurely pace around the wall and still make stops as you see fit for taking photos or just enjoying the scenery. Today, I'm taking everyone on a journey around the wall - on a bike!

Cycling on the city wall feels like taking taking trips between ancient and modern China. In the distance, you can see modern high rise buildings and sky scrapers, and yet the dominating view is the ancient architecture of the wall itself. On the wall, I feel like a bird, flying freely in the sky. Gone are the claustrophobic feelings of city life, navigating in and out of small streets and alleyways, the hectic clamour of cars and their engine rumbles. Your vision is only limited by the sheer length of the path ahead, and looking back, a reminder of how far you've already travelled. Sense of time is lost, but a carefree feeling is gained.

On each side of the rectangular wall, there are bike rental stops. Here you can rent bikes for single riders, or double. There are even bikes for 3 people! Even on a bike, it will take around 90 minutes to ride around the wall. I started my journey at around dusk, by the time I made it all the way round, it was almost dark. I must say, I was really quite tired after 90 minutes of cycling, but physical exercise is always good!

Contrast between night and day

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The east wall crenal

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Do you like the wall by night, or by day?

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Adjacent to one side of the walls are some really well preserved ancient houses which are still used today!

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At the Southern Gate, is Xi'an's famous academy of classic writing. I wrote about it in a previous article. Here you can buy all the tools needed for ink wash painting and Chinese calligraphy.

Here is a good Cafe where you can get a good view of the wall. Visitors get half price coffee if they show their tickets to the City Wall.

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At sundown, I came across this couple having their wedding photos taken. The ancient wall as the setting, really suits her red dress. Very glamorous.

On the Northwest corner of the wall, there are these Lama Buddhist temples. I found out that these are the only Lama Buddhist temples in all of Shaanxi province. The dull colour of the city wall makes the golden roofs of these temples very eye catching. It was a marvellous sight!

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The west gate was actually kept after it was built in the late Tang Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the enlargement of the city wall meant that this gate was then further south. This gate is now called Anding gate. According to the traditions of the local ethnic minority group 'Hui', they believed people should live on the west side. So, during the Ming Dynasty, this area became home to many Hui ethnic minorities. Today, there are still a large population of Hui people living there and there is even a famous night-market there with a wide variety of Hui speciality foods. I wrote about that nightmarket here.

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Coming down from the wall, we can enjoy some of the surrounding scenic areas.

Infront, there are two small buildings with black roofs. This is where you buy tickets to enter the city wall. In order to get here, you have to go through an under passage leading to this entrance area.

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Beautiful stone carved lions.

This is the south gate, called 'Yongning' gate. This is Xi'an's oldest gate and is also the one that has been in operation for the longest.

Nowadays, this gate is frequently used as the entrance for welcoming vip's and other special guests to the wall.

This gate is also the only one that has a drawbridge. Usually when the drawbridge is up, the gate is also closed.

This is another bridge built on the moat.

Have a guess what the crouching animals on these pillars are?

Face the other way from the Yongning gate, you are treated to this scenic view of the modern city. Isn't it amazing?

I hope you enjoyed my day to night journey on the city wall. It's such a marvellous structure that exudes history and culture, I cannot recommend enough to come visit!


游客来西安旅游，印象最深的，恐怕是无论走到哪里，都能见到城墙。故城墙是代表西安的私房印章，现在的西安城墙是在明朝扩建的基础上保留下来的，确实是中国现存规模最大、保存最完整的古代城垣。逛西安的城墙，有着独特的方式，那就是骑车，如果来了城墙没有骑车，是莫大的遗憾。所以今天我就带朋友们一起去城墙上骑车吧。
在骑行中，会有一种时光穿越的感觉，现代的高楼和古老的城池交错着出现，形成一道很特别的风景线。正方形的城墙上东西南北四个门都有租车点，单人，双人甚至3人的自行车都可以租。骑一圈要花90分钟左右，我是黄昏的时候开始骑的，慢悠悠骑到最后已经快要天黑了，身体上还是有点累不过是非常好的锻炼。东城墙垛口。你们喜欢白天的城墙还是晚上的呢？城墙的周边这一块密集的古老房子。南门内外这是西安著名的书院门、关中书院，我曾经写过文章，这里专门卖古代文人字画，和中国画的笔墨纸砚的地方，当然还有博物馆以及西安现在的各大院校。这是一家可以欣赏城墙的咖啡店，凭着上城墙的门票喝咖啡打5折。日落的黄昏，遇见一对正在拍婚纱照的夫妻，红色的裙子在古墙的衬托下非常显眼。西北城墙脚的广仁寺，这是陕西唯一的喇嘛寺，金灿灿的屋顶被城墙厚重的深灰色衬托得很漂亮。西门这里是唐代末期缩建新城时被保留下来的。明代扩建城墙时位置向南移了，叫做安定门。根据西安本地伊斯兰教的传统，是要居在城市的西边，明朝以后这里便聚集着很多回民，所以这里的小吃也非常出名。这是我写的回民街的小吃。
接下来我们再走下城墙，看看周围的景色。前面两个黑色屋顶就是售票口，游客们上下城墙，是要通过这个扶梯走进地下通道。漂亮的石狮子。这是南门的永宁门，它是西安城门中资格最老、沿用时间最长的一道门。这一道门现在被用作欢迎宾客入城的一道门。永宁门这里有一座吊桥，当吊桥收起来的时候，城门也就关上了。门口护城河上的石桥。猜一猜漂亮的柱子上盘卧着的是什么动物？当你正欣赏着古老的永宁门时，一回头你会看到这样现代的场景。希望你们喜欢我由白天到黑夜的城墙之旅，之后还有更多精彩的内容要和你们分享。