Xian was called Chang'an in Han Dynasty. The connotation of "Chang'an" is "a place of permanent peace". It was not until the prosperous Tang Dynasty that Chang'an became famous both at home and abroad as the largest and busiest international metropolis of that age in the world. Xian obtained its present name in 1369. It stands first on the six largest ancient capitals. From the 11 century B.C. onwards, Xian or its vicinity was established as the capital city by 11 dynasties successively, including the Western Zhou, the Qin, the Han, the Sui and the Tang, and it also served as the capital of two peasant regimes respectively under the rule of Huang Chao and Li Zicheng. The city's capital status lasted for 1,608 years. As regards the number of dynasties and span of time, Xian served as an ancient capital beyond compare.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Xian was the largest city in the world. Chang'an, was linked to many central Asian regions and Europe via the Silk Road, with thousands of foreign traders living the city.

Xian is the capital of Shaanxi Province and also the political, economic and cultural center of the Northwest China. With the development of travel industry and the implementation of the open policy, it has become one of the nation's key tourist cities and tourism has become the mainstay in Shaanxi's economy.

Xian is also a world-famous tourist city, a treasure house of cultural relics. The remains of past civilizations furnish evidence of every major epoch in China's half a million history, making for a particularly illustrative textbook of Chinese culture. The history apparent in Xian is so ancient and continuous that the city has no parallel anywhere as a cultural site. Here one can visit the sites once inhabited by its primitive people; admire the bronze wares manufactured in the Bronze Age; wander through the city ruins of the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties; imagine for oneself the clamour of the old Oriental metropolis; explore the imperial tombs of the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties, testimony to the pervasive power of the feudal ruling class; ramble in temples and pagoda courtyards, tracing vestiges of the Silk Road; and study stone inscriptions to appreciate Chinese calligraphy. Not least, Xian is the site of excavation of the vast army of terracotta warriors and horses from the tomb of China's First Emperor, Qin Shihuang, from whom the country derives its name.

Location: located at 33°north and 107°east, in the southern part of GuanZhong Plain in Shaanxi province with Qinling Mountains to the north and the Weihe River to the south.

Population: 6.62 million

Urban Population: 3.73 million

Area: 16,808 sq km

Average Temperature: 13.3℃ annually

Rainfall: 604.2mm annually

Mountains: Mt. Huashan, Mt. Taibaishan, Mt. Lishan

Rivers: Hui River, Wei River, Feng River, Jing River