Daming Palace National Heritage Park

One of the most magnificent architecture clusters in the world, Daming Palace was built in the 8th year of the Zhen’guan Period and enlarged in the 2nd year of the Longshuo Period in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It functioned as the political center of the Tang Empire over 300 years, and today it is located in a northwest suburb of Xi’an.

Covering an area of 3.2 square kilometers, Daming Palace has a perimeter of 7.6 kilometers, which makes it 4 times larger than the Forbidden City in Beijing and 3 times larger than the Palace of Versailles in France. Within the palace’s property, there are areas known as Crescent Cities (a semi-circular enclosure between the outer and inner city gates) in the west, east, and south directions respectively, and with turrets built on the top the main gates. Daming Palace constitutes 9 gates, with Red Phoenix Gate, Watching Immortal Gate, and Fujian Gate in the south; Xuanwu Gate, Yinhan Gate, and Qingxiao Gate in the north; Youyintai Gate and Nine Immortal Gate in the west; and Zuoyintai Gate in the east. Of these, Red Phoenix Gate holds 5 gateways itself.

Daming Palace is also composed of a front court and an inner court. The front court functioned as a place used for holding morning meetings, and the back court functioned as a residential quarters and entertainment hall. The south part of the palace is square-shaped and features the 176- meter wide Red Phoenix Gate Avenue, today proudly known as the widest avenue in the world. The north part of the palace, on the other hand, is in the shape of a trapezoid and includes Hanyuan Hall, Xuanzheng Hall, Zicheng Hall, Penglai Hall, Hanliang Hall, and Xuanwu Hall, all of which are well distributed along the south-north axis.

1. Hanyuan Hall

The main hall of Daming Palace, Hanyuan Hall is 75.9 meters long and 41.3 meters wide with Luanfeng Pavilion in the southeast and Xifeng Pavilion in the southwest; the 2 pavilions are connected with the hall by a series of meandering corridors. Hanyuan Hall, where morning meetings and celebration ceremonies were held, is absolutely magnificent in style and allows for a panorama of the entire city of Xi’an.

2. Xuanzheng Hall

Xuanzheng Hall is due north of Hanyuan Hall and measures 70 meters long and 40 meters wide. This was where the emperor administered state affairs, with Chancery and Men-hsia Sheng (a government institution) on the left side, and Censor Hall and National Archive Hall on the right side.

3. Zicheng Hall

Zicheng Hall is 95 meters north of Xuanzheng Hall and where the ministers were presented at court. Penglai Pool, in the shape of an ellipse, is situated in the north of Zicheng Hall and covers an area of 16,000 square meters; as well, a number of pavilions and attics have been built along the pool.

4. Qilin Hall

Qilin Hall is the biggest hall in Daming Palace and covers an area of 12,300 square meters and measures 130 meters long by 80 meters wide. Here in this splendidly beautiful setting, the emperor held feasts, enjoyed performances, and received foreign diplomats. As well, a few Taoist temples such as Sanqingdian Temple, Grand Horn Temple, and Emperor Xuanyuan Temple are available in Daming Palace due to the encouragement of Tang governors.

Address: in the northwest suburb of Xi’an
Opening hours: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm every day
Bus routes: 2, 16, 17, 22, 38, 46, 104, 209, 107, 600, 601, 609, 912, 703, 336, 506, 717, and 708