Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was advised by a sage named Zhu Sheng to build a high fortified wall around the city, create storage facilities for food, and establish his empire by unifying all the individual states in the area. Following the sage's advice, he built the Fortifications of Xi'an or the Xi'an City Wall and established the Ming Dynasty. The wall was built over the previously existing wall of the Tang Dynasty and took over 8 years to complete. We visited the wall in the evening when it was cooler, because the weather in Xi'an during summer is very hot. They have bike rentals around every corner and me and my dad rented one of those bikes with two seats for two peddlers, and we peddled around the wall at sunset. The view was spectacular from the top of the wall, and the city's lights were shining bright. From the top of the wall, you could see all the tall buildings in the city, the old and the new. You could see the old bell towers and the new office buildings and the Muslim Quarter. It was so amazing that the city developed so fast, yet never lost its immense culture and small shops. Anyway, the bike ride was a little scary at first because as I'm embarrassed to admit, I didn't know how to ride a bike at the time. I took the back for this reason and my dad steered. It felt like my dad went out of his way to hit every bump on the top of the wall which made me feel even more uneasy. My mom and my sister didn't know how to ride either so they paid for a tour bus and we trailed them, trying to surpass them at every bend and every stop. After a while, I felt better about riding a bike, but my body didn't. The wall's length is 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) long, so my body did not take that well on a bike, especially when we hit bumps. But other than that, riding a bike on the wall is very relaxing and since the top of the wall is flat, it is relatively easy. You can get a great view of the city inside and outside the wall, and the wall has a rich history. I would definitely recommend renting a bike and riding on the wall especially around evening. Riding bikes on the Xi'an City Wall was definitely one of my favorite experiences in China.
Xi'an City Wall