A Full Moon at Xi An
After Beijing, my journey continued west to Xi An, a city that feels both ancient and modern at the same time.
The high-speed rail (HSR) whisked me to Xi An in about 5 hours.
During this trip to Xi An, we took a day trip to visit the Terracotta Warriors and spent the other days in the city itself.
It’s hard to walk through Xi An without feeling the weight of time beneath your feet — the birthplace of the Terracotta Army, the Silk Road, and countless stories that shaped China’s history.
Let’s start off with the highlight of my Xi An trip – Terracotta Warriors.
Terracotta Warriors 兵马俑
On the plane, I watched the Netflix documentary on Terracotta Warriors to learn more about the history before visiting.
But nothing could prepare you to see this:
Thousands of life-sized soldiers, each with distinct facial expressions and details, standing silently in formation.
There are also horses, chariots that were recovered.
P.S. You can zoom in to see the crowd along the pit – it was a huge crowd.
Built during the reign of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, the army was meant to guard him in the afterlife — a reflection of his power and his vision of a unified China.
The grand scale of it, it’s like history staring right at you in the eyes.
Some of the soldiers had red paint still intact.
Tip: Get a tour guide. I got mine after entering the attraction, their explanation will help bring the history to life with stories that made the visit far more meaningful.
Shuyuanmen Ancient Cultural Street 書院門步行街
Heading back to the city, there are plenty of things to explore in Xi An.
In the day, we explored Shuyuanmen Ancient Cultural Street.
It has many small local boutique shops, something like Haji lane in Singapore.
We spent a chill afternoon walking along the street, having some coffee and egg tart.
Xi An City Wall 西安城墙
Spanning over 13 km and 12m in height, the Xi An City Wall was originally built during the Ming Dynasty serving as protection against invasions.
It’s one of the oldest and best-preserved city walls in China.
This is another part of Xi An where I feel like makes it ancient and modern at the same time.
Even in the main city area, you can see the modern city skyline as a backdrop against the city wall that has it’s history rooted back hundreds of years ago.
Tip: You can walk, or rent a bicycle along the city wall — a fun way to take in panoramic views of the city. There’s an entrance fee to go up, and it was quite chilly when we visited.
大唐不夜城 Datang Bu Ye Cheng
When doing research about Xi An, I came across a video about Da Tang Bu Ye Cheng.
I thought – wow this street looks so huge and filled with bright lights.
Well being there exceeded my expectations – exactly like the name of the street, “Datang Everbright City”, the city never sleeps!
There are tons of restaurants, street food vendors, and even live performances.
Golden Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔
You can spot this tower while walking towards Datang Bu Ye Cheng.
Bell and Drum Towers 钟鼓楼
The Bell Tower chimed at dawn in the morning, and the Drum Tower at dusk.
They are located both quite nearby each other, and you can spot them both as you walk around the city.
There are many people dressed up in Han fu (Chinese traditional costume) and taking photos.
With the full moon hanging in the sky and the city’s dazzling lights below, my mind found a quiet peace — even amidst the sensory overload of the bustling streets.
Food
Tried Biangbiang noodles, which is quite a popular dish in Xi An.
The word “biang” is onomatopoeic, imitating the sound made when wide hand-pulled noodle dough is slapped against the table, “biang biang”!
There are similar types of dry noodles dish found in Asia, just that this one is very thick.
Fun fact, the word “𰻞” (biang) is one of the Chinese characters with the most strokes.
For dinner, we had 大厨小馆 at Datang Everbright City.
We ordered sauerkraut fish, salt baked-chicken and long beans with wild mushrooms.
The crispy chicken is very flavourful. The waitress helped us to rip it apart for easier eating.
Zui Chang An 醉长安
We ordered 3 dishes – garlic fish, crispy chicken and traditional dessert.
The garlic fish is very flavourful, along with the freshness of the fish – it was hands down our favourite dish.
Still think of this dish till now, even after a year!
At night there will be live performances, but we visited in the afternoon. You can probably make a booking / queue online in advance.
Highly recommend this restaurant if you are visiting Xi An.
Crab meat rice and Xiao Long Bao
Stumbled upon this small diner that serves crab meat.
This one is far better than the one at Ping Jiang Lu in Suzhou!
The steaming hot xiao long bao did not disappoint too.
Next city…
Despite visiting several spots in Xi An city, I left Xi An with one key activity not explored – Hua Shan mountain.
Xi An’s charm leaves me a reason to be back again, I enjoyed both the ancient history and soaking in the vibrant night vibes.
The journey continues as I travel to the next city in China, Suzhou.
