Xi'an's south gate - Shawn Crossley
Everyone has heard of the Great Wall of China and it's on all the lists, but do you know about Xi'an's city wall? In the parks that now flank the wall you can watch locals enjoying tai chi, fan dancing and even rock-'n-rolling for their morning exercise, but in the past it played a major role in the protection of the city, as Intrepid Express reader John Oliver explains...
"This wall is an impressive man-made structure that I visited in 2008. I would rate it as one of the wonders of the world, yet most people have probably never heard of it.
The Xi'an city wall stands 12 metres tall (40 feet), 12-14 metres wide at the top and 15-18 metres thick at the bottom. It covers 13.7 kilometres (8.5 miles) in length with a surrounding deep moat. Every 120 metres, there is a rampart which extends out from the main wall. In total there are 98 ramparts, which were built to defend against the enemy climbing up the wall. Each rampart has a sentry building, in which the soldiers could protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to their attackers. Besides, the distance between every two ramparts is just within range of an arrow shot, so from each side they could shoot down those who attempted to invade their city.
You can hire bicycles to ride around the wall, which takes about 2 hours but well worth the effort. For me, this magnificent structure symbolises why China is such an exciting and fascinating place to visit and I hope to return one day."
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