Cuju or Ts'u-chü (蹴鞠) is an ancient Chinese ball game. FIFA cites Cuju as one of the earliest competitive ball games using the feet, but also that it did not influence any modern ball game. It is a competitive game that involves both teams trying to kick a ball through an opening into a central hoop without the use of hands whilst ensuring the ball does not touch the ground. This is similar to how hackey-sack is played today and the sport resembles a mix of basketball, soccer and volleyball. Descriptions of the game date back to the Han dynasty, with a Chinese military work from the 3rd–2nd century BC describing it as an exercise. It was also played in other Asian countries like Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

Chang'an is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in what is now the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty, China's first emperor, held his imperial court and constructed his massive mausoleum guarded by the Terracotta Army.