My favorite Chinese city
There are many great Chinese cities,but for me the greatest city has to be Xi'an,the city I came from.Xi'an is perhaps the greatest,and certainly one of the greatest ancient capitals of China.Thirteen dynasties made Xi'an their capital,including the three greatest dynasties in Chinese history:Zhou,Han and Tang.The city has a history of more than 3000 years,it was first constructed in the 12th century BC.Xi'an is also considered as one of the four greatest ancient capitals in the entire world.The ancient city of Chang An was to East Asia what Rome was to Europe.It is one of the only two ancient Chinese cities that was known in the classical western world.The ancient Greek name for Xi'an,or Chang An as it was then called,is Thyne Metropolis.
For thousands of years Xi'an was at the eastern terminus of the great Silk Road,attracting visitors from India,Persia,Mesopotamia,Greece,Rome and beyond.During the Han Dynasty Chang An was one of the largest cities in the world,and during the Tang Dynasty,it became the world's largest and most prosperous city.Behind the huge city walls stretched a central avenue leading to the imperial palace that was laid with marble and one hundred and fifty metres wide.Although after the Tang Dynasty the city lost its former grandeur and prestige,it was still considered as one of the most important cities in China in subsequent dynasties up to the present day.