Things to see and do Xi'An 西安

Huashan is one of the five sacred mountains of China. The mount is famous for its four steep granite peaks that resemble a lotus flower (hence its name that means "Mountain of Flowers"). The landscape that jalonneront your hiking is very beautiful. You climb for 7 km to reach the first peak. It takes about 4 hours. It will take you a little more than an hour to reach one of the other three peaks. The south reaches 2 200 m above sea level, but the others offer beautiful views also… and you can then join the three peaks. From northern peak a trail links summits, but there are narrow passages that can be dangerous in bad weather. Traditionally, the Chinese are leaving the evening with lanterns to get to the top of the sun, particularly famous. The sunrise is beautiful but no more. The landscapes have much more interest.

This temple, founded in the th century, is located minutes walk west of the Tambour tower, next to the Hotel Xijing. There is a carved wooden portico, surmounted by Chinese characters in red. Two courses must be crossed before accessing the sanctuary. The original temple was built in 1376 and completely renovated in 1852. It is one of the best preserved Ming and Qing buildings in the province.

On the road to the Qin tomb, near the small town of Lintong, the hot springs of Huaqing. Known from the earliest Antiquity, the old Huaqing thermal baths served as a resort to the emperors and «warlords» residing in Xi 'an.

In the time of the West Zhou (1111-771 B.C.) who were masters in the art of bronze at a time corresponding to the construction of Jerusalem, the emperors had their summer palace in Huaqing, at "the Étang of Nine Dragons". They were going to take the waters, accompanied by their concubines.

In 771, the last emperor Zhou had a little melancholy concubine. To make her laugh, he lit up hoops on the top of the hills, signal to bring all the vassals in case of war. After a while, this game ended up lagging farmers who preferred to throw their work in the fields. And when there was really an attack, they came to defend the kingdom. It is the origin of the Chinese proverb that says: " Drop a kingdom for a laugh. " " "

The pleasure palaces, built around this hot mineral mineral source that came out of the mountain at 43 ° C, also served the following imperial courses of Qin, Han and Tang. The pavilions drawn up that composed the palace had names such as the hall of the Frostbite and the dragon pavilion which murmurs… The palace itself was named from the source, the palace of glorious Purity (Hua Qing Gong). The artificial pond is decorated with a marble boat.

In 644, Emperor Tai Zong built a palace that Emperor Xuan Zong enlarged in 747. The most famous characters associated with Huaqing were emperor Xuan Zong and his very beautiful concubine, the unfortunate Yang Guifei, whose badinages with the emperor greatly helped the decline of the brilliant Tang dynasty.

The site was then taken up by Taoists who built temples such as the one on Mount Lishan dedicated to Nu Wa, the mother of the human race.

In 1936, the famous «incident of Xi 'an» is happening here. Chang Kai-chek was captured by the Communists and released on his promise of collaboration against the common enemy, the Japanese who had invaded China at the time. Another version says he escaped to take refuge in a nearby cave that is shown today.

Following the establishment of Communist China, the government had established a thermal resort (which still exists) with water cures for the workers of the nation. Other recent buildings have been built to protect the ruins of the Tang imperial basins that have been released by Chinese archeologists.