Ruins of Efang Palace

(Local Name: Efang Gong) The ruins of the Palace of Efang lie 15km/9.5mi west of the city. They are the remains of part of a complex of buildings constructed on the orders of the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC). Whenever the emperor defeated an enemy army, in the course of the unification of the empire, he would have a building erected here in the architectural style of the enemy country concerned. There are said to have been more than 270 such buildings; in 206 BC, however, an insurgent general reduced them all to ashes.

Today a few ruins are all that remain of the once magnificent imperial palace - a terrace of compressed clay 20m/66ft high and 31m/100ft round, and a platform, also of