Seguendo il consiglio di Zhu Sheng dopo la conquista di Huizhou, Zhu Yuanzhang, primo sovrano e imperatore della potentissima dinastia Ming, costruì le storiche ed epico mura della città di Xi'an per contribuire a garantire la tanto necessaria sicurezza durante un periodo di guerra. La costruzione di queste "alte mura" mirava anche a fortificare la città, unendo così gli altri stati. Le mura sono sopravvissute per diversi secoli e rimangono uno dei sistemi di difesa militare tradizionali più estesi al mondo. Non solo sono tra i meglio conservati, ma anche i più grandi e antichi del paese. Eretti nel XIV secolo, sono stati ristrutturati tre volte, circa una volta ogni due secoli, e più recentemente all'inizio degli anni '80.
The wall harbors four main gates that helped to provide access to the town during the ancient times, with sentries on towers overlooking each gate. In addition, a large part of the city features a wide moat stretching around the historic walls, with huge drawbridges used to cut links when lifted, thereby controlling access to and from this city. This perimeter wall is best covered while cycling, as this allows tourists to explore the old city faster.
The majestic Xi’an City wall features flanking towers placed 120 m apart. They were purposefully built to enable the city’s soldiers keep an eye on enemies that could be attempting to access the city by climbing the tall wall. An arrow shot from either side of the towers could still hit the enemy within the intended range or within towers. Each of the 98 strategically-built flanking towers features a solid sentry building firmly resting on its top. The gates were considered a very critical part of the entire city because they provided access to this city. In fact, rulers put a considerable amount of effort trying to defend these strategic access points to ensure total safety.
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