Huaqing Hotsprings Palace and Lishan Mountain 华清池

Huaqing hot springs and palace has an extensive history. It was built during the Western Zhou Dynasty (711 BC) and expanded by the first emperor of China (210 BC) and during the Western Han Dynasty (206-24 BC).

The palace had five hot springs. One giant one designated for the emperor, one for his concubines and others  for palace dignitaries .

The palace has extensive gardens and a spectacular view.

This palace is also the site of the Xi'an incident, an important incident in modern Chinese history. The Xi'an incident took place during  the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Communist Party. During the incident two of Chiang Kai-shek's generals took him hostage and made him join with the communists in order to defeat the invading Japanese. After the Japanese were defeated and the communists took over China Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan.

We took a gondola to the midpoint of a mountain where there were more palace grounds. At the grounds was a Buddhist temple, a bird aviary, and another tower. The kids loved riding a horse from the base of the gondola to the top of the mountain to see the view of Xi'an.


                                   

                                                                    View of Xi'an

Sky view of the Huaqing Palace

garden

garden

hot spring for concubines 

Living area of Chiang Kai-shek

Bullet hole from the Xi'an incident

Chiang Kai-shek eating quarters.  It is 

rare to see the Taiwanese flag displayed in

China.