Xi'an
Xi'an was Chang'an, capital under thirteen dynasties and the eastern terminus of the Silk Road; under the Tang it may have been the largest city in the world, with Sogdians, Nestorians and Zoroastrians trading inside a walled grid. Farmers digging a well in 1974 found the terracotta army — around eight thousand individually modelled figures guarding a tomb that has never been opened.
Why go
The Terracotta Army — eight thousand figures guarding a tomb nobody has opened. The eastern end of the Silk Road — caravans left from here for two thousand years. Intact Ming walls — fourteen kilometres of rampart you can cycle around. The Muslim Quarter — Hui food and a mosque built as a Chinese temple.
The character
Xi'an was Chang'an, capital of thirteen dynasties and the eastern terminus of the Silk Road — under the Tang it may have held a million people and was probably the largest city in the world, with Sogdian merchants, Nestorian Christians, Zoroastrians and Muslims trading inside a rigid grid of walled wards. The Great Mosque, founded in 742, is built as a Chinese temple complex with courtyards and a pagoda-form minaret, and remains in use by the Hui community whose quarter surrounds it.
The tomb is older. Qin Shi Huang, who unified China in 221 BC, had an army of terracotta figures buried in formation a mile and a half from his burial mound — discovered by farmers digging a well in 1974, and now excavated into three pits with around eight thousand soldiers, each face individually modelled. The mound itself has never been opened; ancient sources describe rivers of mercury inside, and soil tests have found unusually high mercury levels. Modern Xi'an is a city of thirteen million with its Ming walls intact and a wild goose pagoda from 652 in the middle of it.
Places of character
Terracotta Army — Pit 1 first, then the smaller pits; go at opening or an hour before closing. City walls — hire a bicycle at the South Gate and ride the fourteen-kilometre circuit. Great Mosque — in the Muslim Quarter, Chinese in every architectural respect and entirely Islamic in function. Muslim Quarter food street — lamb skewers, roujiamo, biang biang noodles, and yangrou paomo. Shaanxi History Museum — the province's collection, from Zhou bronzes to Tang gold; free with a timed ticket. Big Wild Goose Pagoda — 652, built for the monk Xuanzang's sutras brought back from India.
The way to do it
Do the Terracotta Army first thing or last thing; the middle of the day is unbearable in every sense. Cycle the walls at sunset. Eat in the Muslim Quarter but step off the main food street into the lanes. And book the history museum in advance, since free tickets are capped daily.
One perfect day
Out at seven to the Terracotta Army, in Pit 1 as it opens with the ranks emerging from the earth and no crowd yet. Back by midday. Lunch of yangrou paomo, crumbling the bread yourself into the bowl as required. Afternoon at the Shaanxi History Museum for the Tang gold and the Silk Road material. Late afternoon on the city walls by bicycle, fourteen kilometres with the modern city on one side and the old grid on the other, finishing at sunset. Dinner in the Muslim Quarter lanes, then the Bell Tower lit at night.
Grand hotels
Sofitel Legend People's Grand Hotel — a 1953 Soviet-style government guesthouse, restored. Xi'an Yayun Business Hotel — practical; the city's hotel stock is functional rather than grand.
When to go
Best expression: September and October — dry, clear and comfortable for the walls and the pits. Consider: April and May, before the summer heat and the domestic peak. Avoid if possible: the October national holiday, and July and August when it exceeds thirty-five degrees.
The frame
Ideal stay 3 nights · Minimum 2 nights · Best arrival high-speed rail; Beijing is four and a half hours · Airport XIY, 40 km · Walkability the walled centre · Best without a car yes, with metro and taxis