As the cradle of Chinese civilisation, Xi'an was capital under thirteen dynasties, the Silk Road's Eastern starting point and an urban planning model for several Eastern historic capitals. Today, the antiquity and historicity of Xi'an linger in the de-spatialised dimension of absence, nostalgia and placeless memory resulting from the common tabula rasa practice applied to any morphological or topographical sign. Defining what is precisely the object of preservation and enhancement is a key issue to assess both conservation and enhancement methodologies aimed at overcoming the falsification resulting from diffused forms of cultural commodification and a total absence of urban project. By reading the historical development of Xi'an through the structuring and typomorphological unity of the Xiaoyan Pagoda, part of a primary li fang of the Tang city and currently a UNESCO site, the book presents a methodology distancing from the notion of 'setting' and reading the Chinese city as a historically and physically defined context.