Overview
For more than a thousand years Xian, then called Chang’an, was among the largest cities on earth and the terminus where the Silk Road met the imperial capital. That long past shows in the grid of the walled old town, the Bell and Drum towers at its heart, and the Muslim Quarter shaped by centuries of trade. Modern Xian is a large provincial capital, but its draw is the density of history in and just beyond the walls.
Highlights
The Terracotta Army, the buried legion of the first emperor, stands in its excavation pits an hour east of the city and is the region’s essential sight. The Ming-era city wall can be walked or cycled in a full circuit above the streets, and the Muslim Quarter’s lanes serve the city’s famous street food. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Shaanxi History Museum round out the deep past that makes Xian a highlight of any China route.