Shaanxi 陕西Shǎnxī

About Shaanxi

For more than a thousand years the plain around Xi'an was a seat of dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang, and the city marked the eastern end of the overland Silk Road. The Terracotta Army guarding the tomb of the first Qin emperor is the headline, but the complete Ming city wall, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the food streets of the Muslim Quarter are just as memorable. East of the city, the granite cliffs of Huashan offer one of China's most nerve-testing climbs.

Shaanxi at a glance

Area

205,800 km²

Population

39.5 million 2020

Highest point

Mount Taibai 太白山3,750 m

Borders

Chongqing, Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shanxi, Sichuan

Area, population and highest point from Wikidata; the population is the latest census or official estimate there.

What to eat in Shaanxi

• Roujiamo (肉夹馍)
• Mutton paomo (羊肉泡馍)
• Oil-splashed noodles (油泼面)

Places to visit in Shaanxi

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  Terracotta Army 兵马俑

  Thousands of life-size clay soldiers standing guard for China's first emperor

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: Most of a day · 5A scenic area · National heritage site · UNESCO World Heritage

• 

  Mount Hua 华山

  Sheer granite peaks, stairways cut into cliffs and a notorious plank walk

  Best time: Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct · Time needed: 1 day · 5A scenic area

• 

  Hancheng Old Town and Dangjia Village 韩城古城·党家村

  Ming temples in an old county town and a village of grey-brick Ming–Qing courtyard houses

  Best time: Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct · Time needed: Most of a day · 4A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Hanzhong Rapeseed Fields 汉中油菜花

  Spring rapeseed turning the Han River basin gold beneath the Qinling foothills

  Best time: Mar–early Apr · Time needed: 1 day

• 

  Mount Taibai 太白山

  Forest roads and a cable car climb to 3,511 metres on the Qinling range's highest peak

  Best time: May–Oct · Time needed: 1 day · 5A scenic area

• 

  Yulin Old Town and Zhenbeitai 榆林古城·镇北台

  A four-tier Ming watchtower on the Great Wall and an old garrison street under six towers

  Best time: May–Oct · Time needed: Most of a day · National heritage site

• 

  Big Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔

  A Tang-dynasty pagoda built for scriptures a monk carried home from India

  Best time: Apr–Oct; come at dusk · Time needed: 2–3 hours · 5A scenic area · National heritage site · UNESCO World Heritage

• 

  Famen Temple 法门寺

  A Tang relic temple, the treasures of its sealed crypt and a 148-metre modern stupa

  Best time: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Time needed: Half a day · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor 黄帝陵

  Ancient cypresses, an ancestral temple and the tomb mound of the legendary Yellow Emperor

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: Half a day · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Qianling Mausoleum 乾陵

  A spirit way of stone guardians climbing to the joint tomb of Gaozong and Wu Zetian

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: Most of a day · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Qingmuchuan Ancient Town 青木川古镇

  A curving market street of timber shophouses where Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan meet

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: 1 day · 4A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Tongwancheng Ruins 统万城遗址

  Pale rammed-earth walls of a 5th-century Xiongnu capital at the edge of the Mu Us Desert

  Best time: May–Oct · Time needed: Half a day · 4A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Huaqing Palace 华清宫

  Hot springs at the foot of Mount Li where a Tang emperor wintered with Yang Guifei

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: Half a day · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Louguantai 楼观台

  Taoist courtyards climbing to the terrace where Laozi is said to have taught

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Nov · Time needed: Most of a day · 4A scenic area

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  Baoji Bronze Ware Museum 宝鸡青铜器博物院

  Zhou dynasty bronzes, led by the He zun and the earliest known written 'Zhongguo'

  Best time: Year-round · Time needed: 2–3 hours · 4A scenic area

• 

  Han Yangling Mausoleum 汉阳陵

  Walk on glass above burial pits full of armless clay figures at a Han emperor's tomb

  Best time: Year-round · Time needed: 2–3 hours · 4A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Xi'an City Wall 西安城墙

  Cycle all 14 km of a Ming city wall, high above Xi'an's rooftops

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: 2–3 hours · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Daming Palace National Heritage Park 大明宫国家遗址公园

  Earthen terraces and a rebuilt gatehouse marking out the lost palace of the Tang emperors

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: 2–3 hours · 5A scenic area · National heritage site · UNESCO World Heritage

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  Shaanxi History Museum 陕西历史博物馆

  Tang gold and silver, original tomb murals and finds from Shaanxi's Zhou, Qin and Han past

  Best time: Year-round; weekdays are easier to book · Time needed: Half a day · 4A scenic area

• 

  Small Wild Goose Pagoda 小雁塔

  A slender Tang brick pagoda, cracked by earthquakes, in the grounds of the Xi'an Museum

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: 2–3 hours · 4A scenic area · National heritage site · UNESCO World Heritage

• 

  Bell Tower and Drum Tower 钟楼·鼓楼

  Two Ming towers at the heart of the walled city, where bell and drum once marked the day

  Best time: Apr–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: 1–2 hours · National heritage site

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  Datang Everbright City 大唐不夜城

  A lantern-lit, Tang-themed avenue of street performers, sculptures and evening crowds

  Best time: Apr–Oct; come after dark · Time needed: 1–2 hours

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  Muslim Quarter 回民街

  Halal street food and a temple-style mosque in the lanes north of the Drum Tower

  Best time: Year-round; liveliest in the evening · Time needed: 2–3 hours · National heritage site

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  Forest of Stone Steles Museum 西安碑林博物馆

  Inscribed stone tablets of classics, calligraphy and Silk Road history by the south wall

  Best time: Year-round · Time needed: 2–3 hours · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

Listed sites in Shaanxi

266 sites in Shaanxi are on the official lists, 4 of them rated 5A and 142 protected as national heritage. They are listed by city, with what each is and how to get there.

Cities and prefectures of Shaanxi

• Ankang 安康 City
  Old river ports, Qing rice terraces and tea on the hills along the Han
• Baoji 宝鸡 City
  The Zhou homeland, a Buddha's finger relic and the Qinling's highest peak
• Hanzhong 汉中 City
  Spring rapeseed, Three Kingdoms tombs and crested ibises south of the Qinling
• Shangluo 商洛 City
  Forested gorges, show caves and twin opera stages in the eastern Qinling
• Tongchuan 铜川 City
  Thousand-year kiln fires, the King of Medicine's hill and Xuanzang's last home
• Weinan 渭南 City
  Steps cut up Mount Hua's granite and a courtyard village by the Yellow River
• Xi'an 西安 City
  Clay warriors, Tang pagodas and paomo in the lanes of the Muslim Quarter
• Xianyang 咸阳 City
  Emperors' burial mounds strung across the loess north of the Wei
• Yan'an 延安 City
  A roaring yellow waterfall, a looping river and the Yellow Emperor's tomb
• Yulin 榆林 City
  Great Wall watchtowers, a Xiongnu capital and a stone city 4,000 years old

Before you go

• Visas and visa-free entry Can I visit China without a visa?
• Paying for things How do I pay for things in China without a Chinese bank account?
• Internet and apps Will Google and my other apps work in China?
• Trains and 12306 How do I book train tickets in China with a foreign passport?
• Book popular sights early Which sights in China need booking in advance, and how?
• When to go When is the best time to visit China?

On the map

Open Shaanxi on the illustrated map to see where its places sit, how far apart they are, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)