| Biking
The Xian City Wall |
| Adventure
In Xian |
| By Tina Zhang |
| 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. |
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| 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.
From the top,
a kaleidoscope of activities and colors greeted my eyes. |
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| 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.
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. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| 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. |
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| 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.
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. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| 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.
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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