Get to know Weiyang District
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- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Xi’an
- Chinese name
- 未央区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 264.41 km²
- Population · 2020
- 733,403
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
History
The district government counts twelve dynasties, from the Qin, Western Han and Xin to the Sui and Tang, that made their capital on this ground. It groups the best-known remains as "three palaces and one city": the Qin Epang Palace (阿房宫), the Han Weiyang Palace, the Tang Daming Palace (大明宫) and the Han city of Chang'an (汉长安城). The modern district was set up in 1954 and, after five boundary changes, re-established in 1980.
What to see
The Han Chang'an City Site (汉长安城遗址) on Daxing West Road (大兴西路) covers 36 square kilometres inside its walls and 65 square kilometres of protected land. The city had nine markets and 160 wards, and its main avenues were wide enough for twelve carriages side by side. Its three great palaces were Changle (长乐宫), Weiyang and Jianzhang (建章宫).
Weiyang Palace was built in 200 BC under the supervision of Xiao He (萧何), on the Longshou tableland (龙首原) in the highest, southwestern corner of the Han city. Every Western Han emperor lived here after it was finished; the district government notes that in 139 BC Zhang Qian (张骞) received the emperor's order here to go to the Western Regions. The site covers about 5 square kilometres and was placed on the first national protected list in 1961. In 2014 it was inscribed on the World Heritage List as part of the Silk Roads: Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor.
Daming Palace, begun in 634, was the largest of the three main palaces of Tang Chang'an, and seventeen Tang emperors ruled from it over more than 240 years. Its site of about 3.2 square kilometres, with the Hanyuan (含元殿), Xuanzheng (宣政殿) and Zichen (紫宸殿) halls and the Taiye Pool (太液池), became the Daming Palace National Heritage Park in 2010 and joined the same World Heritage listing in 2014.
Hancheng Lake Park (汉城湖公园) was made from the Tuanjie Reservoir (团结水库), an old open canal once used for grain transport. Along about 3 kilometres of water it has 42 water- and Han-themed features, including a bronze statue of Emperor Wu of Han (汉武帝); it is a national water-conservancy scenic area and a 4A scenic area.
Highlights
- Han Chang'an City Ruins 汉长安城遗址: Walled area of 36 sq km with nine markets and 160 wards; national protected site since 1961.
- Weiyang Palace Site 汉长安城未央宫遗址: Main Western Han palace, built 200 BC; World Heritage since 2014.
- Daming Palace National Heritage Park 大明宫国家遗址公园: Tang palace begun in 634, where seventeen emperors ruled; park opened on the site in 2010.
- Hancheng Lake 汉城湖: Former reservoir on an old grain-transport canal, now a 4A park with 42 Han-themed features.
Sources for this guide
未央区概况 · Weiyang District People's Government, Xi'an
未央宫 · Weiyang District People's Government, Xi'an
大明宫 · Weiyang District People's Government, Xi'an
汉城湖公园 · Weiyang District People's Government, Xi'an
汉长安城遗址 · Weiyang District People's Government, Xi'an
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Weiyang District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Weiyang District
Grounds of the Han Chang'an city ruins, looking north from the Weiyang Palace Front Hall site; 1 September 2013.Han Chang'an City Ruins汉长安城遗址
Han Chang’an occupied a much larger area northwest of today’s walled city. At Weiyang Palace, earth platforms and open ground reveal the scale of the Han court without reconstructing an entire palace. The Front Hall foundations…
Read the place guide →
The reconstructed Danfeng Gate display building at the Daming Palace site; this is not a surviving Tang wooden hall. Photo: 2024-06-08 16:15:56.Daming Palace大明宫遗址
Daming Palace is an archaeological landscape of Tang Chang'an: broad ceremonial spaces, surviving palace foundations and the former garden around Taiye Pond. The court governed from this palace for much of the Tang dynasty. A…
Read the place guide →
Hancheng Lake Park · 汉城湖Hancheng Lake Park汉城湖
Hancheng Lake is a long urban water park beside the Han Chang’an ruins in northwestern Xi’an. It reuses the former Tuanjie Reservoir corridor and combines flood-management functions with a modern Han-themed landscape. Dafeng…
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Daming Palace National Heritage Park · 大明宫国家遗址公园Daming Palace National Heritage Park大明宫国家遗址公园
Heritage park over the ruins of the Tang Daming Palace in northern Xi'an, opened in 2010, with Danfeng Gate, Hanyuan Hall and Taiye Pool.
Read the place guide →
Weiyang Palace Site of Han Chang'an City (汉长安城未央宫遗址), Weiyang District. Photograph: "WeiYang Palace - 54082774583".Weiyang Palace Site of Han Chang'an City汉长安城未央宫遗址
Ruins of the Western Han emperors' main palace in Xi'an, begun 200 BC: the Front Hall platform, Jiaofang Hall and the Han archive pavilions.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Weiyang District is about 4 km in a straight line from central Xi’an. Search for 未央区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Han Chang'an City Ruins and Daming Palace are about 9 km apart in a straight line. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Xi’an →More in Xi’an
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Photo: Han Chang'an City Ruins · 猫猫的日记本 · CC BY-SA 3.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP without cropping, retouching or changing the photographed subject.
Photo: Daming Palace · xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0. Converted to WebP and resized without changing the subject or cropping the source frame.
Photo: Hancheng Lake Park · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Daming Palace National Heritage Park · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Weiyang Palace Site of Han Chang'an City · xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0. Full frame retained; EXIF orientation normalized, proportionally resized to at most 800 pixels and converted to WebP. No generated pixels or subject changes. Cards may crop the display.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.