I've been trying to find out anything at all about the state of these cities during the 19th century or the Qing period in general, but there seems to be an information black hole. I know these cities were in deep economic (and cultural?) decline during the Yuan, Ming and Qing periods, but they definitely continued to exist. Does anyone know where I can find literally anything about what these cities were like, what buildings were still standing, what officials were in charge, what people lived in them, etc. during the Qing period?
Literally the only piece of info I could find about Xi'an from after the Song period was the construction of a new city wall during the early Ming. Nothing at all about Luoyang from after Song. Was nothing written about them or am I not looking in the right places?