Shaanxi is a province in the Northwest China region of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River as well as the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of the province. In China, Shaanxi is abbreviated to 'Shan' or 'Qin'.  It covers an area of about 190,000 square kilometers. In Shaanxi, major tourist cities are Xian (capital city), Xianyang, Yan'an.

Shaanxi Tourist Attractions
Xi'an
- City Walls, - Great Mosque, - Bell and Drum Towers, - Forest of Stone Steles Museum, - Shaanxi Provincial History Museum, - Big Wild Goose Pagoda, - Small Wild Goose Pagoda, - Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang, - Terracotta Warriors and Hourses Museum, - Mt. Huashan, - Banpo Neolithic Village, - Huaqing Pools - Tang Paradise

Xianyang
- Qianling Mausoleum, - Zhaoling Mausoleum, - Xianyang Museum

Yan'an
the destination of the Long March and the center of Chinese Communist revolution from 1935 to 1948.

Culture Highlights
Shadow puppet show
Fengxiang Painted Clay Figurines
Qinqiang, the representative folk opera of Shaanxi.
Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show

History

Shaanxi is considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Thirteen feudal dynasties established their capitals in the province during a span of more than 1,100 years, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.

The province's principal city and current capital, Xi'an, is one of the four great ancient capitals of China and is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, which leads to Europe, Arabia and Africa.

Under the Han Dynasty, the Northern Silk Road was expanded to advance exploration and military purposes to the west. This Northern Silk Road is the northernmost of the Silk Roads and is about 2600 kilometres in length. It connected the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an to the west over the Wushao Ling Pass to Wuwei and emerging in Kashgar before linking to ancient Parthia.

Under the Ming dynasty, Shaanxi was incorporated into Gansu but was again separated in the Qing dynasty. One of the most devastating earthquakes in history occurred near Hua Shan, in south-eastern part of Shaanxi Province on January 23, 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people (see 1556 Shaanxi earthquake). The end of the short-lived Jiangxi Soviet signalled the beginning of the Long March by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communists to the Shaanxi Soviet at Yan'an.

Industries and Agriculture
Industries of Shaanxi with certain scales include machinery, electronics, textiles, coal, petrochemical and food with concentration in machinery and textiles. Major minerals include coal, iron manganese,and phosphor and petroleum. Agriculture includes grain, animal husbandry, and sheep.

Geography and Climate
The northern part of Shaanxi is the Huanggu (Loess) Plateau, and the southern part is the Qin-Ba Hilly Area, while the middle part is the alluvial plain of Wei River. The two water systems of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River are divided from the Qinling Mountains, which also set a distinctive division of climates between the north and the south of the province along the mountains. The northern part has four distinctive seasons, with a cold winter and hot summer each year, while the southern  part has a warm and humid weather, with plenty of rainfalls.

The northern part of Shaanxi is cold in the winter and very hot in summer with dry winter and spring. Its southern portion generally receives more rain. Annual mean temperature is roughly between 9°C and 16°C with January temperature ranging from −11°C to 3.5°C and July temperature ranging from 21°C to 28°C. Other cities include: Baoji, Hanzhong, Lintong, Tongchuan, Xianyang, Yan'an, Ankang.