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Geography of Shaanxi Province |
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Geography of Shaanxi Province
Located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, Shanxi
Province got its name because it is situated to the west of Shaan Yuan
highland (a plateau in the present day shan county, Henan Province). It
covers an area of over 200,000 square kilometers and has a population of
38.38 million （2023） of the
Han,
Hui,
Man and
Mongolian nationalities.
Xi’an is the seat of province
government.
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Climate of Shaanxi Province |
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Climate varies distinctly between the northern and southern parts of the
province, as the Qinling Mountain ward off the cold coming from the
north and stop the wet monsoon coming from the south. The mean annual
temperature is 7°C
to 12°C
(44.6°F
to 53.6°F)
in the northern part, 12°C
to 14°C
(53.6°F to 57.2°F)
in the central area and 14°C
-16°C
(57.2°F to 60.8°F)
in the southern part, with the average
temperature of January being -11°C
and -3.5°C
(12.2°F to 25.7°F)
and that of July 21°C
-28°C
(69.8°F to 82.4°F)
. The annual rainfall is 400mm to 1,000mm.
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Brief History of Shaanxi Province |
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Shaanxi is one of the cradles of the Chinese civilization. It is in this
province that fossil remains of Lantian Man (primitive man of about 5,
00,000 to 600,000 years ago) were discovered a dozen or so kilometres
east of Xi’an are Banpo remains of the matriarchal society. There is a
great wealth of history relics of the Zhou, Qin and the following
dynasties. During the second civil revolutionary war, a revolutionary
base area was set up in Northern Shaaxi with Yan’an as the centre. From
1937 to 1947, Yna’an was the seat of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China.
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Shaanxi Local Products |
The famous local products including orange, palm, natural silk, ramie,
tea, walnuts, tung oil, dried chilli, Yangtao, persimmons, pomegranates,
in addition to Xifeng liquor and jade carving, etc. The production of
Dukang liquor and Yanzhou celadon has been resumed. Besides, imitations
of coloured glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty, clay figurines, wooden
walking sticks and chopsticks made in Shangluo are also very famous.
Miniature carving is all the more attractive. It is exquisitely done on
a piece of ivory as tiny as a grain of rice or sesame.
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Local Food and Cuisine of Shaanxi Province |
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Xi’an Restaurant specializes in the local cuisine of Shaanxi. The cooks
here draw on the special features of the cuisine of the imperial court
as well as the traditional cooking to form a unique style of their own.
In this restaurant, tourists can enjoy quick-fried, fried, stewed,
stir-fired, quick-boiled, roasted, baked, braised or simmered dishes and
dishes cooked in other ways. Though cooked in different ways, the food
retains its original shape, colour and taste. It is rich in taste,
inviting in smell and crisp to the bite. Well known dishes prepared by
the restaurant include, among others, “gourd” chicken, two “crunchiest”
with mushroom and walnut meat, etc. Specializing in Huaiyang-style food,
Wuyi (Man Day) restaurant is known for its stewed, stir-fired, braised
dishes.
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Places of Interests and Tourist Attractions in Shaanxi |
Xi’an,
Yan’an, Xianyang and Lintong County are open to foreign tourists.
Xi’an, an ancient city , was the capital of 11 dynasties intermittently
for a period of 1, 100 years starting from the 11th century B.C. down to
the 10th century A.D. These dynasties include Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, Tnang,
etc. The world famous “Silk Road” started in Xi’an. Among the over 140
places of historical interest and scenic spots are the forest of steles,
the Greater and Lesser Wild Goose Pagodas, the Bell Tower, Qin Shi
Huang’s tomb, Mao Ling (Emperor Wu’s mausoleum of the Han Dynasty), Qian
Ling ( Tomb of the third Tang Emperor Li Zhi and his Empress Wu Zetian),
Mt. Huashan and Mt. Lishan. On Top of all these is the Museum of the Qin
Terra-cotta Soldier and Horse Figures, the largest of its kind in the
world. With 7,000 life-size figures of soldiers and horses, it is famed
as the eighth wonder of the world. All these places attract large
numbers of tourists, domestic and abroad.
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Terra-cotta Warriors
- Shaanxi Provincial Museum (Forest of Stele
Museum)
The Shaanxi Provincial Museum is an
expansion
of the Forest of Stele, located on the site of the ancestral
temple of the Tang Dynasty. The garden-style
museum of ancient architecture is
kept
to protect the cultural relics and
for
the display and study of antiquities. The Forest of Stele was
first founded in 1090, during the Song Dynasty. It is the oldest and
richest collection of stele in China. The steles are
in
such large quantity that they are likened to a forest, hence the
name.
The
forest consists of six large exhibition halls, seven corridors and a
stele pavilion. There are more than 1,000 stele
from
eight dynasties from the Han down to the Qing. They are of great value
to historians and for the study of calligraphic development.
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Taibai Mountain
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Shaanxi Useful Links and Sites
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Shaanxi
Related Articles and Reports (Links) |
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Cities
in Shaanxi Province |
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Chinese Cities and Province Information
