The pyramids of China are approximately 100 ancient mounds, many of which were used for burial. Most of them are located within 100 kilometres of the city of Xi'an, on the Qin Chuan Plains in the Shaanxi Province, central China.
The existence of pyramids in China has come in two stages. Most early stories were focused on the existence of "Great White Pyramid." A photograph of this pyramid in the Qinling mountains was taken by Americans in 1945, but remained in military files for 45 years. US Air Force pilot James Gaussman is said to have seen a white jewel topped pyramid during a flight between India and China during World War II, but there is scant evidence for a source on this story.
However, it is now believed that the Gaussman story was actually based on Colonel Maurice Sheahan, Far Eastern director of Trans World Airlines, who told an eyewitness account of his encounter with a pyramid in the March 28, 1947 edition of The New York Times. A photo of Sheahan's pyramid appeared in The New York Sunday News on March 30, 1947. It is this photograph that later became attributed to James Gaussman.
It is now known, thanks to efforts of Chris Maier, that the particular pyramid shown in the photo is the Maoling Mausoleum. This pyramid sits just outside of Xi'an. In 1994, German tour operator and author Hartwig Hausdorf was noted for photographing and studying several pyramids.
He drew attention to the structures' existence with his 1994 book Die Weisse Pyramide, the subject of an article in Nexus Magazine in 1995 by Philip Coppens, later translated into English under the revised title The Chinese Roswell (1998).
The pyramids of Xi'an can now be visited on trips from Xi'an and no longer are located in "forbidden zones". Several pyramids have small museums attached to them.