Foreword

As an ancient city with a long history and profound culture， Xi'an， the capital of 13 dynasties， has rich cultural heritage， unique natural scenes， as well as abundant tourist and cultural resources， which attract numerous tourists at home and abroad. As instructors living and working in Xi'an and engaged in teaching ESP in tourism， we would like to tell well Chinese stories and bring overseas tourists closer to the unique Chinese culture through this book. The Sights and Sounds of Xi'an （bilingual） is compiled with the purpose of meeting the market demand for a bilingual version by tour guides in Xi'an， of encouraging the second language learners to have a better mastery of English in tourism， of helping overseas tourists know more about China's （particularly Xi'an's） history and culture， and of letting English － speaking tour guides build up their cultural confidence in their motherland when communicating with overseas tourists.That is why this book has come forth.

The Sights and Sounds of Xi'an bilingually introduces to tourists from various places in the world famous tourist attractions and historical sites in Xi'an and those in its vicinity. A brief introduction to Xi'an， the local culture and museums， ancient mausoleums of emperors in different dynasties， ancient temples， royal palaces and gardens，intangible cultural heritage， local snacks， sacred memorial places with historical significance to Chinese Communist revolutions are included in the book. The bilingual introduction is expressive and laconic in language， accurate and reliable in contents. Hopefully， this book offers useful references for bilingual tour guides， English language learners and those engaged in tourism. In addition， the book can be used as a textbook for university students majoring in English for tourism.

We'd like to thank all those who offer us any valuable suggestions.

The book consists of 12 parts with a total wordage of 320，000. Part 1 to Part 6 were written and translated by Liu Ying， totaling 170，000 words； Part 7 to Part 12 were written and translated by Zhang Rui， totaling 150，000 words. Inevitably， there might be errors in either diction or wording in the book due to the author’s limited information and confined experience. We would like to thank friends from all walks of life for their admonitions and suggestions.

Author
April 10，2020