Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the six ancient capitals of China, Xi'an served as the seat of 12 imperial dynasties over the last 2000 years. With more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties inChinese history, including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang. It was the starting point for the great trade caravans of the Silk Road to Central Asia and Europe and the largest city in the world during theTang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Rapid industrialization began in the 1950s with manufacturing of cotton textiles, electrical equipment, machinery and fertilizers. By the end of 2005, Xi'an had a pulation of 8.07 million.
Xi'an has a temperate, semi-arid climate influenced by the East Asian monsoon. The Wei River valley is characterised by hot, humid summers and cold, dry winters. Spring and autumn are somewhat brief and dry. Xi'an receives most of its annual precipitation from August to late October in the form of rain. Snow occasionally falls in winter but rarely settles for long. Summer months also experience frequent but short thunderstorms. Monthly mean temperatures range from around the freezing mark in January to 26.6 °C(79.9 °F) in July, with an annual average of 13.7 °C (56.7 °F).
The two Chinese characters "西安" in the name Xi'an literally mean "Western Peace". Xi'an is abbreviated in Chinese to either Haoor Tang (唐). The former abbreviation is derived from the Zhou Dynasty name Haojing,whilst the latter comes from the name of the Tang Dynasty.Xi'an
Xi'an, one of the ancient capitals in China, has a long history to be the capital in China. There are many attractions in Xian including Terra Cotta Warriors, Old City Wall, Muslim Quarter, Grand Mosque, Stele Museum, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Small Wild Goose Pagoda, Shaanxi Province Historical Museum, Drum & Bell Tower, etc.
Shaanxi Province is famous for the food made of wheat flour such as hand-stretched noodles, Paomo Soup, Jiaomo Pancake, dumplings that are very popular in China.