There are many reasons to like Xi’an and not all of them come on a stick. I’m referring to the city’s vibrant, and delicious, Muslim quarter, but we’ll come back to that. Last summer, a couple of months before that holy day when Li Ning flew around the inside of the Bird’s Nest torch in hand, my girlfriend, her father, and myself took the overnight train to Xi’an. 

Emerging somewhat sleepily from the train we found our tour guide and were soon in a minivan headed to the museum. The Shaanxi museum is an impressive collection of archeological artifacts and, of course, some terracotta warriors, but the exhibits that describe the development of the city are even more intersecting. There were also swarms of children making use of their visit to the museum to get their grubby mitts all over everything they could touch, and leaving smudgy handprints on the glass defending the centuries old relics from their groping.

The warriors are no joke, and neither is the gift shop on the way there. The ‘official’ government factory has a large hall with a couple of women dutifully stamping out terracotta warriors to be sold for the official price - double that of those purchased on the street – and its own guide to explain the process.

The scale of the Xi’an terracotta warriors find is massive – there are thousands of clay soldiers standing stolid guard in an immense underground tomb accidentally tumbled into by a group of farmers in 1974 - and the scale of the shopping structure built around the site isn’t so modest either. In fact when we visited, just months before the Olympics, it was still half full and felt more like a dying strip mall than an imperial project. Perhaps it serves to make staying power of the warriors that much more impressive.

The Terracotta Army

The lines of warriors spill down row after row, filling the giant airplane hangar-like enclosure with a blend of grandeur and sadness. Even surrounded by the deafening clicking of camera shutters, one can’t escape the lingering maniacal delusions, the wealth and power that drove the first Qin Emperor to employ 700,000 workers, many of whom died alongside their creations, to manufacture a going away party for him. Also epic is the eight-sided video hall that you pass through on your way in. The eight movie screens arranged all the way around the walls of the hall show the history of the warriors from when the first clay was molded until they were found so many years later.

The Drum and Bell towers aren’t too bad and the performances in the bell are especially nice. They offer you a view of the city from a unique perch – the bell tower is in the midst of a traffic roundabout and on all sides you can see the city unfold in wide green streets studded with shopping malls and fast food restaurants. You can also try to figure out from there what tunnels you need to get under the massive cluster of roads but it won’t help you much – you’re going to spend some time down there in a warren of hair band shops, cinemas, and upscale supermarkets before you pop up on another side of the road. 

Drum Tower Performance

In Xi'an’s Muslim Quarter sits one of the oldest mosques in China, a serene courtyard surrounded by low buildings with a pagoda in the center, that requires women to drape borrowed shawls over their shoulders if they’re not wearing longer sleeves.

The Quarter is a delightful run of small streets filled with a bustle of food making and selling, chatting and hawking, that can’t have changed much in the past hundred years. Along the main pedestrian street every store is selling sour plum juice for 1 yuan a cup and all assortments of roasted meat and sweet sesame snacks. I took at least three trips through trying out things I didn’t recognize and enjoyed myself greatly.

The Xi’an City Wall is a great way to see a modern Chinese city and better understand an ancient one. The wall stretches 11.9km (over 7 miles) around what is now the center of Xi’an and the best way to see it all is to rent bikes atop the wall and cycle around. Be sure to stop frequently, though, to gaze down at the city as it sprawls along.

The Drum Tower

The first Ming Dynasty Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, build the Xi’an city wall on the advice of a hermit. Zhu Sheng advised Emperor Zhu to take things easy, “Build high walls, store abundant food supplies, and take time to be an Emperor.”

Modern Xi’an is a friendly little city of 8 million people, with high walls and an abundance of delicious food, both on sticks and off. Visitors to China and expats living in China seeking a respite from the rush and grime of Shanghai or Shenzhen will do well to take a little time enjoying  Emperor Zhu’s wall, Emperor Qin’s terracotta troops, and the many other delights this big small town has to offer.

Related Links
Xi'an City Guide--Your Guide to Xi'an Travel & Expat Life
A Guide to Xi'an's Bars and Nightlife
Xi'an Cafes: Where to Spend the Cold Winter Nights

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