Geography,Demographics, Culture and Economy of Xian

Geography

Xi'an lies on the Guanzhong Plain in the central part of China with the average elevation of 400 meters above sea level.The annual temperature here averages 1.3 degree centigrade and its annual precipitation is 1100 millimeters.

Xi'an is subdivided into 13 districts.^[1] Xi'an is nested between a flood plain created by the eight surrounding rivers and streams, most of which have been too polluted to be used as sources of fresh water. The city borders the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains to the south, and the banks of Wei River to the north. Hua Shan (华山), one of the five sacred Taoist mountains, is located 100 km away to the east of the city.

Demographics

At the end of 2005, Xi'an had a population of 8.07 million^[1]. Compared to the census conducted in 2000, the population increased by 656,700 persons from 7.41 million.^[1] There were 4.17 million (51.66%) males and 3.90 million (48.34%) females^[1]. For every 100 females in the city there were 106.88 males.^[1] The district with the most population is YanTa Qu, with 1.08 million inhabitants.^[1]

The majority of Xi'an residents are Han Chinese, which make up 99.1% of the city's total population. There are around 81,500 ethnic minorities living in Xi'an, including 50,000 Muslim Hui people, many of them concentrated in the famous Muslim quarter, which is also home to the beautiful 1,360 year old Great Mosque of Xi'an. Like other major Chinese cities, Xi'an receives a fair amount of migrant workers from the rural areas every year.

Culture

The culture of Xi'an is inherited from the traditions of one of the world's earliest civilizations. The Guanzhong Ren (关中人/關中人) were the cultural antecedent of Xi'anese, their cultural features are drawn from the Ten Specialities of Guanzhong Ren (关中十大怪/關中十大怪). Another major part of this culture is Eight Great Sights of Chang'an (长安八景/長安八景), storied scenic areas in the region.

The drama of the original Xi'anese culture, Qinqiang (秦腔, Voice of Qin) is the oldest and most extensive Chinese Opera of the four major types of Chinese opera. The dialect of Xi'an is Shaanxi Hua, which is strongly influenced by Standard Mandarin, but still retains much grammar and pronunciation from the Classical Chinese. Because of its long development as a culture, the cuisine of Xi'an is extensive as well. It is the representative of food of Northwestern China. The most well known local food is the Xi'anese snack, a traditional food of the Hui people. Hui-style snacks feature beef and mutton because the Hui people, being Muslims, do not eat pork. Baked beef and mutton, buns with beef, and other such regional dishes that are usually spicy in nature and incorporate a lot of beef and mutton ingredients. Two particularly famous Xi'an dishes include a pancake and mutton soup, which can be optionally spicy, and Xi'an's famous hand-rolled noodles, which come in various flavors, shapes, and sizes. There is also a famous cultural noodle dance when a chef, instead of rolling out noodles, waves a long strip of dough around in a dance before cooking the noodles.

Economy

Xi'an is the largest industrial center in China's mid-west and northwest.^[2] Xi'an has also consistently received one of the largest foreign direct investment amounts among cities in western China.^[3] The amount of import-export done by the industrial sector make up more than 60% of the city's total trading volume. As much as 97% of the industries in Xi'an is manufacturing.^[2]

Nowadays, Xi'an is famous for its software park and it is the largest aviation manufacture centre across Asia.

Main Sights of Xian

Transportation and Media in Xian

The History of Xian

General Introduction of Xian