Ancient Linzi

Linzi (Chinese: 臨淄; pinyin: Línzī), originally called Yingqiu (Chinese: 營丘), was the capital of the ancient Chinese state of Qi during the Zhou Dynasty. The ruins of the city lie in modern-day Linzi District, Shandong, China. The city was one of the largest and richest in China during the Spring and Autumn Period. With occupying Linzi in 221 BC, King Zheng of Qin completed his conquest of the Chinese rival states and declared himself the first emperor of Ancient China shortly afterwards. The ruins of the ancient city were excavated in 1926 by Japanese archaeologists and in 1964 by Chinese archaeologists.

Linzi covered an area of around 668 square kilometres (258 sq mi) with the city built between two parallel rivers that ran north-south, the Zi River to its east and the old course of the Xi River to its west.

The city was surrounded by a 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) perimeter wall of rammed earth. The city consisted of an outer city and an inner city. The outer city wall reached a maximum of 43 metres (141 ft) in base width, averaging between 20 to 30 metres (66 to 98 ft) in width. The inner city wall reached a maximum of 60 metres (200 ft) in base width. The city had a sewer and water supply system.

The palace was located in the inner city, located in the southwestern corner of Linzi. A large rammed earth platform was found inside the inner city, commonly referred to as the Duke Huan platform. The remains of the platform measure 86 by 70 metres (282 by 230 ft) and are 14 metres (46 ft) high.

"Seven broad avenues, some 20 metres (66 ft) wide and over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) long, ran north-south and east-west, roughly forming a grid pattern. Four major avenues met in the northeast section of the city. This area yielded the richest cultural remains from the Western Zhou to the Han."

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Wikipedia