Xi'an

in the afterlife.

And if I'm remembering correctly, um, 'cause my, my little brother was born in Xian, so there was a time when we talked about the Terracotta Warriors a lot.

Mm-hmm

Mm-hmmBut I am pretty sure all their faces are different.

Israel's National Security Council also warned of heightened risks of attacks against Israelis and Jews abroad around the third anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7 attack.

Now, for more, we're joined by Professor Wang Jing, a Middle East expert in Xi'an, China.

Thank you very much for joining us, Professor Wang.

Now, three years into this round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, how would you characterize the current military and security situation compared with the outbreak stage? Has the nature of the fighting evolved over time?

Although it's unfortunate, but unfortunately, I think it is something realistic, reality that we have to face.

Thank you very much.

That was Professor Wang Jin, a Middle East expert in Xi'an, China.

You're listening to World Today.

Professor Zhang Jianlin is the world's leading archeologist of the Tang era.

Today the city of Xi'an has grown to encompass old Chang'an, Wu's capital.

With a population of 12 million, Xi'an is rapidly expanding.

It's also home to Professor Zhang's conservation facility.

Historian Dr. Harry Rothschild has heard about some intriguing recent finds that date to Wu's reign.

Silk Road trade not only made Wu's empire wealthy, it brought so many foreigners to China that her capital became one of the first truly cosmopolitan cities in the world.

People from all across the world traveled to Chang'an, and many chose to stay.

And this multicultural influence can still be felt in present-day Xi'an.

They come here, they experience not only the megacities, such as, uh, Beijing and Shanghai, where they can see, uh, lots of modern buildings and also, uh, the modernity of the Chinese, uh, you know, megacities.

But they also go to many, uh, historical, uh, countryside or medium-sized cities, such as Datong, uh, such as Luoyang, such as, uh, you know, Xi'an, and the typically emerging cities, such as Chongqing, which theoretically is the most populous, uh, you know, megacity in China, have a population of, of over thirty, uh, million people.

So for foreign visitors, there are so many things, uh, for them to see and for them to explore.

And, um, you, you know, these kinds of message, messages is sent back or taken back to their home and passed to their friend and neighbor, and more and more people are coming to China.

Mm

... and the Terracotta Army Museum in Xi'an, China.

That list is quite revealing in itself, Erica, I think.

Mm-hmm.

I've talked to many people, and you hear many people say, that they've seen this stuff you know it's not out there sometimes you can't find it because it's very it's rare and and as well you know we know that sometimes things are controlled and there's certain information that they seem to not want out as well you know for whatever

reason that is yeah well very often you'll get something that will come out and then all of a sudden it'll vanish yeah it just doesn't fit the narrative you know that that's the usual one The last big one like that was when they, because I'm kind of heading towards Noah's Ark here, when they actually took the same radar they're using on Noah's Ark, which is this ground penetrating radar, they did that on the pyramid of the first emperor at Xi'an in China.

They know what's inside that giant pyramid.

It's the biggest pyramid on planet Earth.