The Site of Weiyang Palace

The Silk Road begins here.

Weiyang Palace, the main palace and political center of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC - 8 AD), is located at the highest point on the west side of Anmen Street in Chang'an City of the Western Han Dynasty. The city was the capital of the Western Han Dynasty and the largest cosmopolitan city in the East at the time and the starting point in the East when the Silk Road was officially opened.

The palace is one of the largest palace complexes in ancient China, with a nearly square shape and walls around it, covering a total area of about 5 square kilometers. The pavilions and landscapes in the Palace of Weiyang complement each other, and their architectural form has set the basic pattern of Chinese palace architecture for over 2,000 years since then.

On 22 June 2014, the site of Weiyang Palace was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the sites on Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor.

Based on the Discover China series published by Beijing Publishing Group and Beijing Publishing House, this column integrates Chinese history, customs, traditional culture and artistic treasures to introduce China's ancient capitals, cultural landmarks, humanistic and natural wonders.

The editor of the Discover China series, Lin Detang, is the president of the Beijing Tourism Derivatives Association and a visiting professor at the School of Hotel Management of the China University of Labour Relations. Mr Lin has long been committed to theoretical research and entrepreneurial promotion of the integrated development of the cultural tourism industry.