Atlas of China
Xi'an 西安Xī’ān
Clay warriors, Tang pagodas and paomo in the lanes of the Muslim Quarter
About Xi'an
Xi'an was the capital of the Western Zhou, Western Han, Sui and Tang, and as Chang'an it marked the eastern end of the Silk Road. Its Ming city wall rings the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower and the food lanes of the Muslim Quarter; to the south rise the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, built for the scriptures the monk Xuanzang brought from India, and the Shaanxi History Museum. In Lintong to the east, farmers digging a well in 1974 found the Terracotta Army.
What to eat in Xi'an
- Mutton paomo (羊肉泡馍)
- Roujiamo (肉夹馍)
- Biangbiang noodles (biangbiang面)
Featured places in Xi'an
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Terracotta Army 兵马俑
Thousands of life-size clay soldiers standing guard for China's first emperor
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Big Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔
A Tang-dynasty pagoda built for scriptures a monk carried home from India
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Huaqing Palace 华清宫
Hot springs at the foot of Mount Li where a Tang emperor wintered with Yang Guifei
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Louguantai 楼观台
Taoist courtyards climbing to the terrace where Laozi is said to have taught
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Xi'an City Wall 西安城墙
Cycle all 14 km of a Ming city wall, high above Xi'an's rooftops
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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
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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
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Small Wild Goose Pagoda 小雁塔
A slender Tang brick pagoda, cracked by earthquakes, in the grounds of the Xi'an Museum
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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
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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
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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
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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
Listed sites in Xi'an
50 listed sites are in Xi'an. These are the 24 rated 5A or 4A; see all 50 in the Shaanxi list.
- Bailucang 白鹿仓 4A scenic area · on the map
A themed leisure town on the White Deer Plain (Bailuyuan) south-east of Xi'an, opened in April 2017 and built around the life and folk customs of the plain in the early Republican era of the 1910s. - Banpo Museum 半坡博物馆 4A scenic area · National heritage site
The excavated site of a Neolithic village of the Yangshao culture, lived in roughly 6,800 to 5,300 years ago, on the east bank of the Chan River in eastern Xi'an. - Chanba National Wetland Park 浐灞国家湿地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A national wetland park on the floodplain of the Wei River at the northern edge of Xi'an, close to Weiyang Lake. - Cuihua Mountain 翠华山 4A scenic area · on the map
A national geopark in the Zhongnan range of the Qinling Mountains, south of Xi'an, known for the huge rock blocks and boulder fields left by ancient landslides. - Eighth Route Army Xi'an Office Memorial Hall 八路军西安办事处纪念馆 4A scenic area · National heritage site
This row of brick courtyard houses at Qixianzhuang on Beixin Street served the Chinese Communist Party as a covert liaison post from 1936, first in a rented dental clinic, and from 1937 to 1946 as the Eighth Route Army's open office in Xi'an during the wartime united front with the Nationalists. - Guangren Temple 广仁寺 4A scenic area
The only Tibetan Buddhist temple in Shaanxi, built on the Kangxi Emperor's orders in 1703–1705 just inside the north-west corner of Xi'an's city wall to lodge lamas travelling to and from the Qing court. - Guanzhong Folk Art Museum 关中民俗艺术博物院 4A scenic area
A privately funded museum at the foot of South Wutai Mountain, built by the collector Wang Yongchao, to which some 40 Ming and Qing courtyard houses from across the Guanzhong plain were moved and re-erected. - Hancheng Lake Park 汉城湖 4A scenic area · on the map
A long lakeside park in north-western Xi'an, created from 2006 out of the Tuanjie Reservoir, which had been dug in the 1950s along the old moat of the Han-dynasty capital. - Heihe National Forest Park 黑河国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A forest park at the headwaters of the Heihe River on the northern slopes of the Qinling in Zhouzhi County, opened in 2000 and made a national forest park in 2006, covering 7,462 hectares with forest over more than 90 per cent of it. - Jinlong Gorge 金龙峡 4A scenic area · on the map
A gorge scenic area on the northern edge of the Qinling Mountains in Huyi District, west of General Mountain (Jiangjun Shan). - Kunming Pool Qixi Park 昆明池·七夕公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A large lakeside park opened in 2017 on part of the Kunming Pool, the artificial lake that Emperor Wu of Han had dug in his Shanglin hunting park to train a navy, now refilled as part of a water project in Fengdong New City. - Qinling National Botanical Garden 秦岭国家植物园 4A scenic area · on the map
A botanical garden opened in 2017 on the northern slopes of the Qinling Mountains in Zhouzhi County, with a planning area of 639 km² that rises more than 2,000 m from the plain into the mountains. - Qinling Wildlife Park 秦岭野生动物园 4A scenic area · on the map
A large zoo at the foot of the Qinling Mountains in Chang'an District, with more than 300 animal species. - Qujiang Polar Ocean Park 曲江海洋极地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
An aquarium complex in the Qujiang district of southern Xi'an, made up of the Qujiang Ocean World aquarium, opened in 2005, and a polar hall added in 2013, on a site of about 4.7 hectares. - Shaanxi Natural History Museum 陕西自然博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
A natural history museum opened in January 2008 beside the Shaanxi TV Tower, with a crescent-shaped nature building and a glass-sphere science building. - Shijingli Town 诗经里 4A scenic area · on the map
A new themed town on the Feng River in Fengdong New City, opened in September 2017 and themed on the Book of Songs (Shijing), the ancient poetry anthology, close to where the Western Zhou capitals of Feng and Hao once stood. - South Wutai Mountain 南五台 4A scenic area · on the map
A peak of the Zhongnan range south of Xi'an, named for its five summit terraces and long a centre of Buddhist retreat. - Taiping National Forest Park 太平国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A forest park in the Taiping valley of the Qinling Mountains in Huyi District, named after a Sui-dynasty palace and rising from about 880 m to 3,000 m between steep cliffs, rapids and pools. - Tang West Market 大唐西市 4A scenic area
A Tang-style shopping and cultural quarter built in the 2000s on the site of the West Market, the international market of Tang-dynasty Chang'an. - Wangshun Mountain 王顺山 4A scenic area · on the map
A national forest park in Lantian County, part of the Zhongnan range of the Qinling, covering about 36 km² and topped by Jade Emperor Peak at 2,239 m, with sheer rock faces that have earned it the nickname of Shaanxi's little Huangshan. - White Deer Plain Film and TV City 白鹿原影视城 4A scenic area · on the map
A film and television theme park built by the Shaanxi Tourism Group on the White Deer Plain, the loess tableland that gave its name to Chen Zhongshi's novel, and opened in July 2016. - Xi'an Expo Park 西安世博园 4A scenic area · on the map
The grounds of the 2011 Xi'an International Horticultural Expo, laid out on the delta between the Chan and Ba rivers in north-eastern Xi'an and covering 418 hectares, of which 188 hectares are water. - Zhouzhi Water Street 周至水街 4A scenic area · on the map
A riverside leisure quarter laid out from 2012 along the Sha River, an old river that skirts Zhouzhi county town, with the Qinling Mountains as a backdrop. - Zhuque National Forest Park 朱雀国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
A forest park in the Lao valley of the Qinling Mountains in Huyi District, set up in 1992 and made a national forest park in 1999, covering about 26 km² from around 500 m to over 3,000 m.
Getting to Xi'an
Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.
- Luoyang 洛阳 high-speed train 1 h 15 min, 108 a day, from ¥178
- Zhengzhou 郑州 high-speed train 1 h 44 min, 129 a day, from ¥225
- Pingyao 平遥 high-speed train 2 h 25 min, 11 a day, from ¥159
- Lanzhou 兰州 high-speed train 2 h 28 min, 92 a day, from ¥216
- Taiyuan 太原 high-speed train 2 h 45 min, 47 a day, from ¥190
- Chongqing 重庆 high-speed train 5 h 12 min, 25 a day, from ¥312; 3 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 30 min in the air
- Chengdu 成都 high-speed train 3 h 5 min, 67 a day, from ¥300; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 35 min in the air
- Wuhan 武汉 high-speed train 2 h 41 min, 39 a day, from ¥428; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 45 min in the air
- Tianjin 天津 high-speed train 5 h 46 min, 11 a day, from ¥557; 8 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 50 min in the air
- Beijing 北京 high-speed train 4 h 10 min, 38 a day, from ¥587; 32 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 15 min in the air
- Nanjing 南京 high-speed train 4 h 41 min, 29 a day, from ¥600; 11 nonstop flights a day, 2 h in the air
- Hangzhou 杭州 high-speed train 6 h 31 min, 18 a day, from ¥758; 15 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 15 min in the air
- Kunming 昆明 high-speed train 10 h 39 min, 3 a day, from ¥807; 17 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 20 min in the air
- Shanghai 上海 high-speed train 5 h 50 min, 33 a day, from ¥756; 30 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 20 min in the air
Trips with Xi'an
- China in 10 days on a first visit: Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Suzhou 10 days · Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Suzhou
- Two weeks in China: Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Guilin and Shanghai 14 days · Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Leshan, Guilin and Shanghai
- North China’s heritage line: Beijing, Datong, Pingyao and Xi’an 9 days · Beijing, Datong, Pingyao and Xi'an
- The Silk Road by train: Xi’an to Dunhuang, Turpan and Ürümqi 11 days · Xi'an, Zhangye, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, Turpan and Ürümqi
On the map
Open Xi'an on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.
Open Xi'an on the map