English: Standing in the Xi'an, China, city wall inner gate looking inside the wall towards the Bell Tower. Photo taken Richard Chambers, AAA Yangtze Sampler tour, May, 2004.

This photo was taken while standing inside the inner gate of the Xi'an city wall. Looking down the street you can see the Bell Tower.

Inside the Xi'an city wall is a bustling city heart which is centered around the old Bell Tower and there doesn't appear to be anything left of the original Forbidden City.

According to a small placque at the gate, this city wall was actually the wall which surrounded the Forbidden City when Xi'an was capital of China. During the Ming Dynasty the Chinese capital was moved to Beijing where a new Forbidden City was built to house the Emperor and his court.

At this particular location on the city wall is a portal made up of an inner gate, an outer gate atop which is a large guardhouse, and a courtyard between inner and outer gate.

The guardhouse atop the stone outer gate is made of wood.

See a photo showing the courtyard and the outer gate while standing in the inner gate which will shows the courtyard and a portion of the outer gate.