His family was forced by banditry to move to Anling, in the area of modern Xi'an, some 500 km west of their ancestral homeland.
Chang'an (modern Xi'an), the national capital, was the largest city in the world of its time.
It is, however, known that his family was from Lantian (藍田, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi).
Two years later, Liu Bang built Weiyang Palace north of modern Xi'an.
Zhou lived in the Tang capital of Chang'an, which is now modern Xi'an, during the 8th century.
During this period the capital was at Chang'an (modern Xi'an).
Their capital was at Xianyang (in modern Xi'an).
The site of the Han capital was located 3 km northwest of modern Xi'an.
In 601 Tardu's army besieged Chang'an (modern Xi'an), then the capital of China.
He was born in Chang'an (modern Xi'an) into an elite family whose fortunes were declining.