Volunteer Work and Teach Abroad Programs in China!

The Historical Center

	Xi'an, China

As Beijing is the political heart of China, Xi'an is its historical center. An ancient philosopher once mused that all those seeking the truth should go to China. A contemporary philosopher added that no visit to China is complete without a journey to Xi'an. This reflects the important position Xi'an holds as a famed historical and cultural city and one of China's six major ancient capitals. For more than a millennium, it was the stage on which the histories of more than a dozen Chinese dynasties unfolded.

Every move and action originating from Xi'an had a far-reaching influence on the course of China's social development. It is where the Zhou dynasty aristocrats instituted rites and feasted out of bronze utensils. It is where they inscribed their laws in bronze ware and stone tablets, many of which remain to this day. It is where the Qin army eliminated six rival states and initiated the first centralized autocracy in Chinese history.

Principles of philosophy and government established by the Qin would endure for more than a hundred generations.

Xi'an is where Han and Tang monarchs established their capital city of Chang'an. It was the eastern terminus of the celebrated Silk Road and an oriental metropolis thronged with visitors and merchants from every nook and corner of the world.

Today, the rich and deep-rooted historical and cultural heritage of Xi'an is visible through a wealth of cultural relics, museums, and historical sites including the world-famous terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

The flat plane on the city's outskirts is strewn with the tomb mounds of emperors, empresses, aristocrats, ranking officials and scholars. Pick up a fragment of something from the ground, and it may turn out to be part of a Qin dynasty brick, a Han dynasty tile or a porcelain chard from the Tang dynasty.

The English word "China" is actually a transliteration of the Chinese ideogram meaning "Qin." Those who live in and around Xi'an are direct descendents of the Qin people. Emperors chose Xi'an as their capital partly because of its fertile land and sufficient water supply and partly because it was militarily formidable because of the mountains that skirted it. It is precisely because of its somewhat isolated location that Xi'an was able to preserve so much of its history and culture to this day. The local dialect of Xi'an and the Guanzhong Plain is reflective of the rhythm and timbre of archaic Chinese. Weddings, funerals, celebrations, diet, and social etiquette are all evocative of the social mores and traditions of the dynasties of the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang.

Metropolitan Xi'an comprise a robust and bustling urban area with over 6,000,000 inhabitants and an impressive mix of commerce, trade, tourism, science, technology, manufacturing, and education. Learn more about Global Volunteers' China Program.

Check dates for a service program in Xi'an

Learn about our volunteer work programs in Haikou City, Kunming, and An Shang

Volunteer Work Abroad Programs were initiated through a partnership of the Haikou Municipal Education Bureau on Hainan Island, the Teachers Education University in Kun Ming, several university and secondary schools in Xi' An, and the Education Committee in An Shang Village, China and Global Volunteers, 375 E. Little Canada Rd. St. Paul, MN 55117 800-487-1074 © 2008
email: volunteerinchina@globalvolunteers.org
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