In the twilight, the ancient city walls of Xi'an glow with a faint bluish-gray halo. The historical scent seeping through the cracks in the bricks intertwines silently with the aroma of coffee from the street corners. The city is like a well-worn, open-bound book, each page soaked in the ink traces of Qin winds and Han moons, yet marked with modern bookmarks that add new annotations. As you walk through the alleys of this ancient capital that has witnessed thirteen dynasties, there’s always a magical moment where time seems to overlap at every corner.

I. The Time Creases Beneath the City Walls

In the early morning, the fragrance of spicy soup drifts through Yongning Gate, while elderly people practice Tai Chi, their robes flowing in a way that seems to echo the flags fluttering atop the city walls. Renting a bicycle and riding along the walls, the wheels roll over the moonlight from six centuries ago and the dew of this morning. The shadow of the watchtower’s flying eaves is cast across the glass curtain walls in intricate patterns. By the moat, a performer plays the erhu, the music flowing with fragments of the Dance of the Immortals.

The old book market at Shuyuanmen feels like a spilled time pouch, where yellowing letters and comic books emerge alongside young people fiddling with film cameras. A girl dressed in Hanfu walks past the Stele Forest with a selfie stick, her phone case decorated with cartoon characters that amusingly contrast with the small seal script on the stone tablets. In the old tea shop, the copper kettle steams as it brews tea, while the neighboring bubble tea shop’s electronic screen flashes the words "Mango Sago Half Price."

The most touching encounter occurs at the site of the Hanguang Gate Museum. Beneath the glass floor, the Tang Dynasty gate lies dormant, forming an odd dialogue with the flowing headlights overhead. When squatting down, you can see the hoofprints of camel caravans from a thousand years ago, and when you stand up, the unlocking sound of a shared bicycle rings sharply in your ear.

II. A Journey Through Time on the Tip of the Tongue

The dusk of Huimin Street is illuminated by food. The aroma of lamb soup dumplings carries the sound of camel bells from the Silk Road, and the sweetness of persimmon cakes encapsulates the autumn frost of Chang'an. The arc made by the chef’s hands when kneading the dough aligns quietly with the filter effects in a Douyin livestream in some dimension.

In the crisp sound of crockery smashing at Yongxing Fang, the collision of bronze wine vessels and glass cups creates a symphony spanning over a thousand years. Young people carefully collect the broken porcelain shards into silk pouches, just as their ancestors once hid poetic manuscripts in ceramic jars. Next door, in the intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall, the shadows danced by the shadow puppet artist's fingers are converted into millions of shares on mobile phone screens.

The modern teahouse by Qujiang Pool is a magical space. Robot tea masters brew Longjing tea with flowing grace, while holographic projections on the walls depict the tea-making techniques from the Tang Dynasty. When the sweetness of matcha mousse meets the spiciness of oil-splash noodles, the taste buds become a portal to travel through time.

III. The Dying Dream of the Tang Dynasty in the City That Never Sleeps

When the lights of the Tang Dynasty's "City That Never Sleeps" flicker on, the entire city transforms into a flowing Along the River During the Qingming Festival. Holographic projections of flying apsaras sweep across the shopping center's exterior, while dancers in flowing robes twirl in front of glass windows, their reflections shimmering amidst an array of luxurious brand logos. The tourists moving through this space become blurred pixels at the intersection of past and present.

On the water screen of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda’s musical fountain, digital technology recreates the route of Xuanzang's journey to the West. As the chanting of mantras mixes with the beats of electronic music, the flying eaves of the pagoda appear and disappear in the neon glow, creating a delicate balance between religious solemnity and the joy of the secular world. Children chase petals in the shifting light, as if pursuing the poetic essence of the ancient Qujiang River where poems once flowed.

At the stroke of midnight, from the Bell Tower, four great streets stretch out like golden veins toward the horizon. The blue taillights of delivery riders cross paths with the lanterns of the night watchmen in a time-space tunnel, while in the 24-hour convenience store, people still clutch copies of The Longest Day in Chang'an, waiting to check out.

The day I left Xi'an, the plane soared over the Weihe Plain. The city’s outline outside the window resembled both the blueprint of the Weiyang Palace and the intricate patterns of a circuit board. This city is forever completing some marvelous alignment of time and space—optical fibers growing among Qin bricks and Han tiles, while the hum of data streams blends with the ancient pentatonic scale. When I pinned the gilded bronze silkworm brooch I bought at the museum onto my denim jacket, I suddenly understood: Chang'an has never grown old. It has simply distilled the years into a subtly intoxicating wine, waiting for each passerby to savor the patina of time.

About SLKOR:

Mr. Song Shiqiang, the General Manager of SLKOR and Kinghelm

Mr. Song Shiqiang (Huaqiangbei Song Shiqiang) is the founder and general manager of two high-tech enterprises, SLKOR and Kinghelm Electronics. He is also the first scholar to deeply study the "Huaqiangbei Spirit" and summarize the "Huaqiangbei Culture." He is a researcher of the private economy at the State Council Economic Development Center, an expert at the China Association for Science and Technology, a specialist at the Chinese Electronics Society, a business research expert on Huaqiangbei, and a popular science columnist.

Mr. Song Shiqiang’s works on Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei and macroeconomic research have been widely reported by over 100 mainstream media outlets both domestically and internationally, including People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Sina Finance, Guangming Daily, as well as international sources like the Associated Press, Twitter Tech, The Wall Street Journal, Hollywood News, European Times, Global Finance Network, Global Fashion Network, Travel Online, BBC News, Patent Weekly, Radio Express, IT Information Network, Global Industry Network, Auto Weekly, Electronic Information Journal, and Online Business Weekly.

SLKOR semiconductor, founded in 2015, headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. is dedicated to the design, production, and sales of power components. With a professional technical team, the "SLKOR" brand includes products such as TVS diodes, diodes, transistors, and Hall elements, which are sold globally. The company has launched over 2,000 products, widely used in fields such as communication equipment, medical devices, consumer electronics, battery-powered equipment, GPS navigation, and in-vehicle positioning.

SLKOR is a national high-tech enterprise primarily driven by new materials, new processes, and new products for its development. The company provides products and supporting services to global customers. The SLKOR team is mainly composed of experts from Yonsei University in South Korea and Tsinghua University in China. The team has mastered internationally leading production processes for silicon carbide MOSFETs and fifth-generation ultra-fast recovery power diodes. Originally a FABLESS design company, it has now developed into a comprehensive company integrating design and R&D, production and manufacturing, system solutions, and sales services.

SLKOR has obtained ISO 9001 quality management system certification, as well as EU RoHS and REACH certifications, ensuring the company's rapid domestic and international growth and guaranteeing product quality.

Author Biography

Name: Liu Mingying

Position: Warehouse Keeper at Sako Microelectronics

Hometown: Hezhou, Guangxi

Aspirations: Love life, love work, and treat oneself kindly.