Modi in China: To the 14th Century and back

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday visited the Xi'an City Wall which is the oldest and the largest surviving wall of its kind in China and was given a traditional Tang dynasty welcome at the historic site.

Modi visited the wall, which at its base is 50 or 60 feet wide and at the top is about 40 feet wide, after holding wide-ranging talks with President Xi Jinping and visiting the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda.

The wall, which is a 40-foot tall rectangle and stretches for about 14 kilometres, was erected in the 14th century Ming Dynasty, under the regime of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

The current City Wall is an enhancement of the old Tang Dynasty structure, as a result of emperor's wall building campaign. Parts of the wall date back to 7th century and the wall as it is known today was completed in the 14th century.

Since then, it has been refurbished three times -- roughly once every 200 years -- in the late 1500s, the late 1700s and, most recently, in 1983.

Prime Minister Modi was given a Tang dynasty welcome at the Ancient City Gate in Xian. At the City Wall complex, Xi also hosted a banquet in Modi's honour.

The menu at the dinner had many 'Chinese specials' like sour and spicy soup with fired dough, assorted vegetables with pancake and red bean rice, beancurd with mushroom and water chestnut in bean sauce among others.

After the dinner, Modi and Xi watched a colourful cultural event.

Modi will hold bilateral talks with Premier Li Keqiang on Friday in Beijing.