Xi'an: The Best Things to Do
Xi’an was Chang’an for thirteen dynasties, the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, and at its Tang-dynasty peak the largest, most cosmopolitan city on Earth. The Terracotta Army gets it on the map, but the things worth actually doing here go well past one archaeological site.
The Terracotta Army
Roughly 35-40km northeast of the city in Lintong District, this is still the reason most people book the flight. Farmers digging a well found the first fragments in 1974, not archaeologists on a planned dig, and the site has been excavated in phases ever since. Pit 1 is the big one, rows of soldiers in battle formation; Pit 2 has the best close-up work, including the bronze chariots; Pit 3 is smaller, believed to be a command structure. The emperor Qin Shi Huang’s actual tomb mound sits nearby and has never been opened, the “rivers of mercury” described in ancient texts is an unverified legend, not a confirmed fact. UNESCO listed the whole necropolis in 1987. Entry runs about CNY 120, and there’s no walk-up ticket window, book ahead.
The City Wall
Xi’an’s Ming-dynasty wall, built on Tang foundations, is the most complete ancient city wall left in China, a 13.7km loop you can walk or, better, cycle. Renting a bike at the top costs a fraction of what a guided tour charges and covers the full circuit in under two hours, versus 3-4 hours on foot. The view runs both directions, down into the old city’s rooftops and out to the modern skyline beyond.
The Muslim Quarter and the Great Mosque
Huimin Jie and its side alleys make up Xi’an’s best-known food district, home to the Hui, a Chinese ethnic group descended from Silk-Road traders who speak Mandarin, not Arabic. The neighborhood’s Great Mosque, founded in 742 CE, is one of the oldest continuously used mosques anywhere, and it looks nothing like the dome-and-minaret buildings most visitors expect: it’s built entirely in Chinese pagoda-and-courtyard style, with Arabic calligraphy the only real clue to its purpose. Non-Muslim visitors can walk the courtyards outside prayer times.
Bell Tower and Drum Tower
These Ming-dynasty towers mark the center of the walled city, where the four main avenues cross, and they’re at their best lit up after dark. A combined ticket covers both.
Big Wild Goose Pagoda (and the smaller one)
Built in 652 CE to hold sutras the monk Xuanzang carried back from India, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda anchors the Da Ci’en Temple complex and a free evening fountain show in the square outside. Don’t confuse it with the separate Small Wild Goose Pagoda (707 CE), a quieter, 13-storey pagoda across town at the Xi’an Museum grounds, two distinct sites with similar names.
Shaanxi History Museum
One of China’s best provincial museum collections, more than 170,000 artifacts spanning the Zhou through Qing dynasties. General admission is free, which is exactly why it’s the first thing to plan: entry needs a real-name timed slot booked online roughly five days ahead, and there’s no walk-up option if you skip that step.
Datang Everbright City and Han Yang Ling
The free, Tang-themed Datang Everbright City pedestrian street is best visited after dark, when the lighting and the hanfu photo crowds turn it into the city’s most photogenic evening walk. For a quieter counterpart to the Terracotta Army, Han Yang Ling, roughly 25km north, is Han Emperor Jingdi’s tomb complex, viewed through glass floors over pits still holding smaller figures, at a fraction of the crowd.
For where to eat between all of this, see our full Xi’an eating guide , and for how to fit it into a realistic number of days, our itineraries run from 2 days up to 7.