xi an China

xi an China
Xi'an (Chinese: 西安; pinyin: Xī'ān; Wade-Giles: Hsi-An; Postal map spelling: Sian), is the capital of the Shaanxi province in the People's republic of China and a sub-provincial city. As one of the most important cities in Chinese history, Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China because it has been the capital (under various names) of 13 dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, the Sui dynasty, and the Tang. Xi'an is also renowned for being the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and for the location of the Terracotta Army, made during the Qin Dynasty. The city has more than 3,100 years of history. The ancient city of Chang'an (traditional Chinese: 長安; simplified Chinese: 长安; pinyin: Cháng'ān; literally "Perpetual Peace") is within Xi'an's borders, but is offset from the existing walled city of Xi'an(xi an China).

Since the 1990s, as part of the economic revival of interior China especially for the central and northwest regions, the City of Xi'an has re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial and educational center of the central-northwest region, with facilities for research and development, national security and China's space exploration program.

xi an China
Origin of Name

The two Chinese characters in the name "Xi an" literally mean Western Peace. The local Xi'anese pronunciation of Xi'an is almost the same as the Standard Mandarin pronunciation in Hanyu Pinyin. This name derives from the period of the Ming Dynasty when the city's name changed from its former title of "Chang'an". In fact, the naming conventions used for the city have often changed throughout time. The city was named Fenghao (丰鎬) in the Zhou (周) Dynasty beginning around 1046 BC. It was renamed Chang'an (長安) during the Han (汉) Dynasty in 206 AD. It was then renamed as Daxing (大興) during the Sui (隋) Dynasty in 581 AD, while it was again renamed Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty beginning in 618 AD. It was given other names in later periods as well, such as Fengyuan (奉元), then Anxi (安西), then Jingzhao (京兆) during the Yuan (元) Dynasty. Finally, it was named Xi'an in the year 1369 AD — the first time that it was called Xi'an — during the Ming Dynasty. It retained the name of Xi'an until 1928, until it was named Xijing (西京) in 1930. It was once again changed back to its Ming era name of Xi'an in the year 1943.

Xi'an's abbreviations in Chinese are Hao (鎬) or Tang (唐). The former is derived from the ancient name Fenghao of the Zhou Dynasty. The latter is derived from the name of Tang Dynasty.

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