The China Diary: Day 6, Xi'an

Biking the Xi'an Ancient City Wall

As one of the oldest military defensive systems in the world. It was started during the First Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and completed during the Tang Dynasty. It has since been refurbished numerous times to keep it complete. It is currently the oldest, largest, most complete, and best preserved of the Chinese City Walls. It is 12 meters high, 15 meters wide, and 14 kilometers long (or 8.7 miles).

Here is another amazing view of the ramparts and fortifications of the intact Xi'an City Wall from my ride. On the left would be inside the walls, on the right is outside of the walls.

One of the gates you have to check your bike in to walk across it, and then get your bike again to ride past.

While I was riding, I caught a glimpse of a magazine cover photoshoot with this gorgeous couple.

You can ride a bike around the entire wall that creates a square around the city center. There is also the option of walking around the entire wall or riding an electric car. I chose to bike, which was so peaceful and beautiful. I of course stopped along the way to snap some photos.

The Stele Forest

This museum houses a Confuscious Temple, and a large collection of Ancient Chinese Stele's, about 3,000 of them. A stele is stone slab with text or ornamental carvings. They have historical records, calligraphy, and paintings. It has the largest collection of Stele's in China.

There are 7 Exhibition Rooms of Steles at this Museum.

-The first room, the Stele's were carved in 837 A.D. during the Tang Dynasty, of 12 different stories and books inscribed. These were used as examples for schools and students.

-The second room has Stele's of calligraphy from the Tang dynasty.

-The third room is calligraphy from other dynasty's.

-The fourth room has Stele's inscribed with Chinese poems from the Song to the Qing Dynasty.

-The fifth room has Stele's from the Qing Dynasty inscripting historical information.

-The sixth room also has poems from the Qing Dynasty.

-The seventh room has replicas of the Secret Copybooks of Chunhua. This is a collection of engravings from highly skilled calligraphers, emperors, and ministers.

The inscribed tablets are humongous and sheer amount of all of them in this one place, are amazing to see.

At the Stele Forest, they have ink rubbings of the real Stele's you can purchase. The process is mesmerizing to watch and amazing that you can take home a piece of a real Stele that was carved years ago.

I was particularly taken by the carved paintings, the amount of detail put into the landscapes are amazing to witness. I ran my fingers across some of them to feel the texture of the carvings.

The Stele Forest is an amazing museum and site to see. If you are in Xi'an, I highly recommend it. Along with the Stele's they also have a large collection of art galleries of stone sculptures. If you have time, don't miss out on these.