Biking
The Xian City Wall
Adventure In Xian ~
by Tina Zhang
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| Riding
a bicycle is usually not something one thinks twice about, but riding a
bicycle on an Ancient Chinese wall is. No, not the Great Wall of China,
but something even better, the city wall that encircles Xian,
the ancient capital of China in north central China.
Xian’s city
wall fascinates me because the wall is the oldest and the most complete
city wall to have survived through China’s history. Built before the 1300’s,
it was later renovated by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). With only 8.5 miles,
its distance is much shorter than that of the Great Wall. However, I think
the wall surrounding Xian is far more interesting because of its history
and the presence it has over the city. Standing 40 feet tall, the Xian
city wall is still used by its residents; over a million people pass through
the wall’s four main gates and 11 smaller entrances everyday, and for a
brief period of time, I was one of those people.
I arrived in
Xian on a rain soaked morning. Disappointment filled me as the sky opened
and the rain pounded the streets. I can clearly see the city wall from
the train station looming before me and beckoning me to get closer. But
with only a rain jacket and a not so waterproof camera, I was reluctant
to venture too far away from shelter.
As the ancient
capital, Xian city has several notable sights, such as the Drum and Bell
Towers, both dating back around the 1380’s, the Forest of Steles with its
hundreds of stone calligraphy carving by ancient peoples, the Muslim quarters
and of course, the city wall and its surrounding moat, rebuilt and fortified
by the Ming Dynasty and the present government of China.
After a quick
trip to the Drum and Bell Towers in the rain, the sky suddenly lightened
and the rain stopped. Taking a chance, I made my way to the South Gate,
the main entrance to climb the city wall, and bought a ticket. I was so
excited that I literally ran up the steps to get onto the wall. |
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From the top,
a kaleidoscope of activities and colors greeted my eyes. Apparently, a
festival honoring Mongolia was running through the month and booths in
the forms of yurts lined a portion of the wall along with hundreds of festive
red lanterns. But afraid that the lull in the rain will soon pass, I made
my way through the crowd to one of the bicycle rental places. I have heard
that one could rent bikes on the wall before I came and had conflicting
emotions as to if I should rent one because I’ll then be contributing to
the deterioration of the wall. But then again, I’ll be riding on history
as well, and how often does one get to do that? The temptation was too
great to resist and I shelled out the ten Yuan for the rental and another
200Yuan for the deposit.
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The
first thing I noticed when I started my ride was that the wall was wide,
between 40-46 feet across, and that it was curved, more pronounced in some
areas but defiantly there and ran the length of the wall. The main purpose
of the wall was to protect the city, so when it was built, the people made
sure that it was wide enough to transport the necessary soldiers and horses
to defend it. The purpose of the curvature was mainly to create a runoff
for rainwater, and to the credit of the ancient engineers, even though
it has been pouring all day, the top of the wall was dry.
As I dodged
the many visitors to the wall on my hot pink bicycle, a hundred emotions
coursed through me; exhilaration and guilt at the opportunity presented
to me so I could ride on this piece of history, impatience at the number
of people blocking my view, grateful at the Chinese government for preserving
and renovating the wall, irritation at the many entrepreneurs on the wall
selling tourist trinkets and ruining the historical feel of the wall, and
pleasure that some of the watch towers have been turned into mini military
museums filled with useful information for visitors. In the midst of so
many conflicting emotions I was surprised that I didn’t run someone over
with my bike!
With each pedal,
I got further away from the crowds and the decorations that lined the wall
became less. My goal was to circle the wall in an hour; however, that goal
was never accomplished because the wall does not completely surround the
city. Two small sections in the northern and the western wall stand gaping
open, preventing the complete encirclement of the city. I don’t know why
the city did not complete the reconstruction to these parts of the wall,
it may be that these are relatively busy spots and the city needed the
wall to be incomplete for the flow of traffic. I gather this because the
northern incomplete section is in direct course to the train station, and
the traffic there everyday is a mess of pedestrians and taxicabs. |
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As I headed
back, I slowed down to watch my surroundings. The wall offers an excellent
view both to the inside and outside of the city. Xian is a fast developing
city, but the city has an ordinance inside the wall which limits the height
of the buildings, so one has a great view of olden Xian on top of the city
wall. Rolls of aged ceramic roof tiles stand next to concrete apartment
buildings create a sense of change. Yet white smoke rising from the little
street vendors’ outdoor stoves takes one back to a time when cell phones
has not yet entered into the people’s vocabulary. Outside of the city wall
is a totally different story altogether. New development etched the landscape
with tall high-rise apartments, new western style restaurants and malls,
and further out the city, Chinese and overseas co-op company offices litter
the countryside. What used to be lush farm land has now changed to high
tech computer and investment buildings - heralding a new era for the city.
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| But
for me, history and heritage is what’s important, and the city of Xian
thinks so as well because it did take the time and the effort to preserve
and reconstruct the wall. Throughout the years, a number of bricks from
the wall were looted for building projects and personal use. Some of those
bricks became lost, some broken and unusable, but some were in surprisingly
good condition. When the city decided to renovate the wall in 1984 it asked
the residents of the city for those original bricks. The residents donated
the usable bricks back to the city and as a reward their family names were
carved on to them and laid on the wall for all to see. But for those places
that bricks cannot be found and replaced, concrete and new cement blocks
lay next to the older bricks.
This mixture
of old and new defines the wall as well as the city, with its old city
rooftops and new cell phone antenna towers, Xian is a rapidly developing
city trying hard to hold on to its well-known past.
Just as I was
finishing my ride, raindrops started to trickle from the sky. But the rain
cannot dampen my spirits for the insight and the memories that my ride
offered me that day. I just accomplished something that I’ve been dreaming
of doing for a long time and the city still has more sights to explore
either via foot or via another hot pink bicycle.
If you would
like to contact Tina Click Here
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