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UN chief wraps up visit to NW China city

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-25 21:40

XI'AN: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon ended a brief visit Saturday to northwest China's Xi'an city, where he said he was impressed by Chinese culture.

As soon as he set foot on northwestern Shaanxi Province's capital of Xi'an Saturday morning, Ban headed for the Museum of the Terracotta army.    

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During the 50-minute visit there, Ban wrote an inscription in Chinese for the museum, applauding the terracotta army of guards and horses to be "a wonder and unequalled in the world".    

Ban said the terracotta army, which was listed as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, was common cultural heritage of human beings, and he hoped it could be preserved by posterity.    

Ban met with Shaanxi Provincial Governor Yuan Chunqing, and visited a sewage treatment plant and a factory at Xi'an High-tech Development Zone Saturday afternoon.    

Xi'an was the second leg of his four-day visit to China. Ban was scheduled to be back to Beijing Saturday evening, and leave for Mongolia to continue his Asian tour Sunday.