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Places in China: Shaanxi Province

The history of Shaanxi Province goes back at least to 772 BC. However, archaeologists have found evidence of human agricultural occupation of the area from over six thousand years ago. Several kingdoms and dynasties have been involved in the story of Shaanxi, but the province gained its name and the generally current borders during the Ming Dynasty of 1368 to 1644 AD.

The name 'Shaanxi' means 'mountain west' since the province is just west of the Taihang Mountains. The southern border of the province is the Huang He (Yellow River). A part of the Great Wall is a part of the provincial border along with Inner Mongolia Province. Other provinces which touch the borders of Shaanxi include Ningxia, Hubei, Henan, Shanxi, Gansu and Sichuan.

The province is in north and central China. Thirteen dynasties have had their capitals in the province. Due to this fact, there are many relics in the province giving evidence of the former occupation of Shaanxi. One of the most outstanding is the Terra Cotta soldiers which were found underground.

The Yellow River (Huang He) is a strong element in the life of Shaanxi as well as much of the nation of China. This river comes south from Inner Mongolia and creates an eastern border for Shaanxi.

Valuable plants are found growing in the province as well as notable animal species such as the takin, the great panda, tiger and snub-nosed monkey. These help to create interest among visitors from outside the province.

However, the major sources of income for Shaanxi include textile and clothing industries, natural gas fields and China's third largest coal reserves.

The capital of the province at Xian has its own remarkable history. It was the beginning of the Silk Road in the past. It was one of the world's most sophisticated cities for over a thousand years and served for a while as China's capital city. Today, it has air links to many of China's major cities.

The small town of Yanan in Shaanxi was important during the 1930s and 40s when it was the site of the headquarters of the Chinese Communist party.

The province's weather picture suggests that the best time to visit Shaanxi is in the fall or the spring as the summers are quite hot and the winters quite cold.

The population of the province is approaching thirty-five million with a population density averaging 180 persons per square kilometre. The people are nearly all Han Chinese with a tiny number of Hui, Manchurian and Mongolian ethnic groups.