China has reported its highest daily rise in local COVID-19 cases in almost two years, driven by more than a doubling of infections in a northwestern city on Dec. 25. Xi’an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi and the latest COVID-19 hotspot on Chinese soil, entered its fourth day of lockdown on Dec. 26. The city of 13 million detected a day earlier 155 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms, according to the National Health Commission. Official data indicated the outbreak drove the national daily count to 158, the highest since the number of infections exploded in Wuhan city in January 2020, despite underreporting. Authorities reported about 500 local symptomatic cases in the past two weeks. But the numbers may be higher, local residents told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times. The city is also the oldest ancient capital of China and former home to the ruling houses of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and …