Xi'an

Xi'an (Cheenese: 西安; pinyin: Xī'ān) is the caipital o the Shaanxi province, an a sub-provincial ceety in the Fowkrepublic o Cheenae. As ane o the auldest ceeties in Cheenae, wi mair nor 3,100 years o history, the ceety wis kent as Chang'an afore the Ming Dynasty. Xi'an is ane o the Fower Great Ancient Caipitals o Cheenae, haein held that position unner several o the maist important dynasties in Cheenese history, includin Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, an Tang. Xi'an is the eastren terminus o the Silk Road an hame tae the Terracotta Airmy. Syne the 1990s, as pairt o the economic revival o interior Cheenae especially for the central an northwast regions, the ceety o Xi'an haes re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial an eddicational centre o the central-northwast region, wi facilities for research an development, naitional security an Cheenae's space sploration programme. Historical names o Xi'an The twa Cheenese characters "西安" in the name Xi'an literally mean "Wastren Peace", whilst the pronunciation in the local Xi'anese dialect is amaist the same as the Staundart Mandarin pronunciation based on Hanyu Pinyin. Throughout history the ceety's name haes aften chynged. At the time o the Zhou Dynasty, frae aroond 1046 BC it was cried "Fenghao" (沣镐/沣鎬) then renamed Chang'an (长安/長安), meanin "Perpetual Peace", durin the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). It chynged in 581 AD tae Daxing (大兴/大興) durin the Sui Dynasty then again became Chang'an frae 618 durin the Tang Dynasty. Durin the Yuan Dynasty (1270-1368), the ceety wis first gien the name Fengyuan (奉元), followed by Anxi (安西) then Jingzhao (京兆). It finally became Xi'an in the year 1369 at the time o the Ming Dynasty. This name remained till 1928, then in 1930 it wis renamed Xijing (西京). The ceety's name ance again revertit tae its Ming-era designation of Xi'an in 1943. Xi'an is abbreviatit in Cheenese tae either Hao (镐/鎬) or Tang (唐). The umwhile abbreviation is derived frae the Zhou Dynasty name Haojing (镐京/鎬京), whilst the latter comes frae the name o the Tang Dynasty. Internaitional relations Twin touns—Sister ceeties Xi'an's sister ceeties are: Consulates Gaoxin Internaitional, Keji Road, September 2007 Yulang Internaitional, Jiefang Road, 2006 References