Xianyang City is in Shaanxi Province, 28 km north west of Xi’an, the Provincial Capital. It is 50 km west of the world-famous Entombed Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses. Xianyang Municipality has a population of 5 million with 2.5 million living in Xianyang City. Xianyang is a modern regional city on the historic Wei He River is surrounded by a fertile countryside and many villages. Xianyang is in an area that was the cradle of early Chinese Civilization. The area was the centre of Chinese government for much of the time between the 11th century BC to the 10th century AD. Consequently Xianyang has many historic sites. Xianyang was the imperial capital of China’s First Emperor Qin Shihuang. The Entombed Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses are part of the Mausoleum of The First Emperor. Directly behind Xianyang there is an elevated plateau known as The Plateau of Emperors where there are the tombs of 28 Chinese emperors (including China’s only Empress) and numerous wives, concubines, high officials, generals and siblings. Many of these are large earthen pyramids. Xianyang is the ancient home of the Qin, Han and the Tang dynasties -3 definitive dynasties which influenced China’s history. These 3 dynasties spanned the period of 220 BC to 907 AD. However, another formative time in China’s development was the Zhou Dynasty which ruled for approximately 300 years from the Capital of Haojing, which was located 30 km south east of present day Xianyang.