Xuzhou enjoys great strategic importance in
geographical position,therefore it used to be a place contested by all the strategistsin
history.Xuzhou has gone through more than 200 battles that over 10,000 soldiers took part
in each one.But the scenery of Xuzhou remainsbeautiful and a large amount of historic
attractions were left.
Xuzhou is the hometown of Liu Bang,the first Emperor of the HanDynasty .After ascending
the throne,Liu Bang granted his youngerbrother Liu Jiao as the king of the Chu State,who
made Xuzhou as thecapital.Hereafter 18 generations of Liu Jiao's decendants reignedover
the area for hundreds of years.The Chu State was granted thepreviledge of reduction of
taxation.As the fields were fertile,theproducts were very rich.At present,the large amount
of cultural relics of theHan Dynasty are the reflections of the politics and economics of
thattime.
The most distinctive among the Han Dynasty relics are the tombs,thetombs stone carvings and
the terra-cotta worriors and horses which arerated as
the three treasures of Jiangsu Province as the ancient stonecarvings of Nanjing and the
garden of Suzhou. With imposing mannerand special feature,varies kinds of terra-cotta
worriors and horseswere unearthed in 1984 and were known all around.
The Han Dynasty tombs are the most attractive scenic spots inXuzhou.The 8 positions of the
tombs of the 12 Chu State kings have been discovered with 6 of which being excaved.With
complex constructions and
complete living facilities and being looked like underground palaces,these great tombs
were cut through hills.The space of the largest one
is over 800 squre meters.A tourist will be suprised and deeply impressed by thethe
imposing manners,the gigantic scale of the projects,the artisticengravings and the fine
architectures of the Han Dynasty tombs inXuzhou,and numerous cultural relics among which
many are rare in theworld were excavated from the tombs.
The smoke of gunpowder has gone away from the old
battlefieldswhere one can remember a lot of things of the long history.During theperiod
between the Chu and the Han,Liu Bang contested the country withXiangyu.Nowdays,standing in
the center of the city,is the Ximaterrace on which Xiangyu watched his officers and
soliders drilling warhorses.located in outskirts northwest of the city,is the area of
JiuliHills which is the well-known ancient battlefield,where Liu Bang andXiangyu fought
their last battle according to legend.Two majorattractions on Jiuli Hills are Fan Kuai's
Flag-pole Grinding Stone(FanKuai was a very brave general of liu Bang) and the White Cloud
Cavernfrom which Xiang Yu escaped when his army was defeated.As the wittnessof the ancient
battles,Jiuli Hills have become
rare
historic relics.
Among the large amount of historic
attractions,there are the Zhan-she-gou where liu Bang killed a snake and revolted,the
Bajian Spring of LiuBang,the Terrace of"Ode with Big Wind to Liu Bang's Triumphant
Return" ,the Ancestor's mausoleum of the Han Dynasty Emperors,the Giant Buddha ofthe
Northern Dynasty which is 11m high on the Yunlong Hill,the TangDynasty engravings on the
cliff of the the Yunlong Hill,the Flight of53 cliffy steps for worshipping Buddua,The Rock
Temble of Bodhisattvaas well as the relics of the great poemist Su Dong-po in ancient
China,the Crane-flying Pavilion,the Yellow Pavilion,the Stone Bed and the KuaizaiPavilion.
The natural scenics of Xuzhou have the
characters of North China aswell as South China.The Old Yellow River flows through the
city bywhich the Great Canal passing.Surrounding the city,is the green hills.Waters and
hills connecting with the city forms the s
pecial andbeautiful
sceneries of Xuzhou.Located at the south suburbs of Xuzhouand circled by the hills,is the
Yunlong Lake which is larger than theWest Lake of Hangzhou.Stones on the hills,forests and
the water of thelake consist the beauties of the area.At the eastsouth of the lake ,isthe
Qushan State Forest Park ,the provincal nature protection district,which occupying an area
of 370 hectares.Varies kinds of plants ofthe temperate zone and thesubtropical zone gather
in the district andpresent different attractions round the season.