Xiangyang in Hubei is a very special city, which has been the central fortress of the Chinese nation for 2,000 years in history.
0:00 intro
2:00 Tang Dynasty City Tour
1:31:35 Xiangyang Ancient city Wall night tour
1:53:34 Ancient City Wall daytime tour
2:21:56 The Han River Bridge
2:24:32 Zhuge Liang Square
2:29:54 The filming location of the movie "Hi, Mom"
2:37:44 Yichang Marathon
Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city north-south.
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Tang Dyansty City Tourist Attraction
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Located in Northwest Hubei, the town of Xiangyang is home to over 2 million people but is considered a small town by Chinese standards. Xiangyang is home to one of the best-kept secrets in all of China, a massive mock Tang Dynasty city (618-907 AD).
In this ginormous movie set tourists are free to not only explore the city streets and markets, but also have free reign to enter any of the towers, houses, palaces, and temples.
Other than being an up and coming tourist attraction, Xiangyang’s Tang city has been the location for several TV shows such as The Rise of Phoenixes and Colorful Bones as well as movies like Legend of the Demon Cat.
Tourists are free to explore all corners of the city, except, of course, certain areas closed off for filming. In these select locations, actors and extras not currently used in the scene can be found lounging nearby or eating at one of the restaurants located in the marketplace. Most of the actors are open to talking to tourists and posing for photos, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the shooting of the scene.
This extensively elaborate city is so much more than just a movie set, it transports its visitors into a bygone age of Chinese history which can only be found in movies.
What makes this city truly remarkable is that all of the buildings can be entered and explored. Unlike, fake storefronts and cardboard scenery which may come to mind when thinking of Hollywood, this movie set could be a fully operational city if it only had the villagers.
Unlike many of the other famous tourist destinations in China, this playground of ancient Chinese buildings is practically devoid of tourists. Efforts have been made to try and attract more people with advertisements in the nearby megacities, but for the time being, guests will have all of this Tang Dynasty dream world to their own.
All of the movie set’s temples, palaces, houses, and markets are built and decorated to make one truly feel like they have stepped back in time. The city even offers costume rentals for those looking to take embracing Chinese culture a step further. The local tourists can be found dramatically posing in gardens and by palace gates in their flowing Tang Dynasty dresses, bringing their fantasy of being an Empress of China to life.
While it may not be an actual 700-year-old ancient city, it is, however, a real movie set.
Xiangyang’s Tang City is one of the only places in China where you can find such a large density of traditional Chinese architecture without having skyscrapers looming in the distance. For those wanting to truly feel the romanticized China which we often play out in our imaginations, the gates to the Tang Dynasty are open.
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Ancient Xiangyang City
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It enjoys widespread fame far and near due to its glorious culture, long history, rich cultural relics and beautiful landscape. The old city site is located on the banks of the Han River in downtown of the city. It was first built and its basic layout was formed during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD).
It is recorded that the ancient city had six city gates and 4,210 crenels. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, the old city was perfected to be even more spectacular.
The six city gates and four watch towers stood straight up to guard the city. The golden tiles and colored glazes made the city wall shine in the sunlight. The towering shadow of city wall was reflected in the moat. What an imposing sight it was!
Today, the existing city wall of Ancient Xiangyang City is all that remains of the Ming Dynasty. Its outer is laid by pieces of large bricks and the inner is filled by the rammed earth.
The north side faces Han River and the others are encompassed by moat whose depth is 6.6 to 9.9 feet and the widest point measures 273 yards.
There is only one city gate left - the north gate "Suo Yue" which means the lock and the key, signifying the gate's military importance. Though the rest of the city gates were destroyed, the ancient city layout and defense system can still be easily recognized.
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