During the reign of Qianlong of the Qing dynasty (1781), the wall was enlarged; drainage features, crenels and other modifications were made; and the structure as it is now seen came into existence.

[6] During the Second World War, when the Japanese carried out air bombings from 1937 to 1940, the residents built around 1,000 bunkers, as anti-aircraft shelters within the wide base (thickness of more than 15 metres (49 ft)) of the wall.

[6] According to the Shenboo Atlas of 1933, in the 1930s most people lived within the perimeter of the Xi'an Wall but still there were a lot of unoccupied open areas.

Among the visitors who came to see the Xi'an Wall were American captain (later general) Stilwell in 1922 and the Czech sinologist Jaroslav Průšek (1906–1980) in 1933.

[1] In March 1961, the Xi'an City Wall was fully approved as a heritage site as a National Historical and Cultural Town.

[1][8] The Xi'an Wall is rectangular in shape and has a total length of 14 kilometres (8.7 mi), with almost all stretches subjected to some kind of restoration or rebuilding.

There are parapets on the outer side of the wall, built with 5,984 crenels, which form "altogether protruding ramparts".

[11] The southern embrasured watchtower constructed in 1378, was destroyed by fire in 1926[8] during the civil war of 1926, and was restored in September 2014.

The other three watchtowers forming the northern, eastern and western gates of the wall were also examined during the planning phase of the modifications done for the South Tower.

Created as a large trap-like chamber, capped by a tower filled with windows, it gave an advantageous position for archers to shoot arrows (in the initial years of building the wall) and later cannonballs at the opposing revolutionary forces.