
Located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, Shaanxi is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation. There, early Chinese settlers developed a great civilization comparable with that of ancient Egypt, India and the area lying between Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Van, also known as Changan l (Eternal Peace) in ancient times, has a history of 3,100 years. Xian is one of the four ancient cities in the world, the other three being Rome in Italy Athens in Greece and Cairo in Egypt.