Tidbits on Xi’an
-Agricultural , tourism & education (top 3 in China)
-1sq meter is $10k in the outer
-Avg salary is 1000USD/month.
-Xi’an use to have 16 rivers running through but they dried up so they pump water from the mountains in the south.
-Las Vegas of the Tang Dynasty.
-Outer, inner & bright city. Different districts. Modern but mixed.
-Xi’an palace was 4 times bigger than the forbidden city but it got burned down.
-Xi’an is known as the Bright city – all the nice area is decorated with lights & lanterns. You can see the history from all the dynasties still erect such as a pagoda. Only 2 pagoda have survived. The rest are artifacts in museums.
-Xi’an has 13 dynasties. Original culture, art & history going back 5000 years. 73 emperors. Population of 13 million. 24 million shanghai, 36 million Beijing.
-Xi’an has 36 different type of noodles due to the agriculture of wheat. Dumplings are a specialty. This is one of the foodie cities.
-Qing, Han (silk road opened during this Dynasty – Iran, Pakistan, turkey etc started to travel due to trade).
-The Tang Dynasty inspired many different countries such as Japan & Korea. Whether it is the layout of fortresses or the looks of pagoda or styling of buildings.
-Xi’an was Chong an – permanent peace. The 1st emperor wanted Xi’an to be the capital for ever peaceful. They lost the capital and it was renamed Xi’an which means western peace.
-Voluptuous is better back in the day similar to Greece.
-Eventually Xi’an could be the future largest hub for trains as it is central to everything.
-They use to get down to – 13°C but now with global warming they don’t get snow anymore. New record high of 41°C.
-City Wall (14km long) was built in the 13th century AD in the ming Dynasty. The tang dynasty made the wall with clay.
-Big roads with lots of greenery surrounding. No grass but lots of trees.
-Tang Dynasty Empress Wu – the only female ruler and 1/3 of her soldiers were females.
-Qing / Ching (European referred to Ching-a)
-Oven cities – Xi’an, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chongqing – all super hot cities.
-Pomegranate is the city flower (in the Han Dynasty, they brought it from Afghanistan). Persimmons are also a local fruit.
-Xi’an is also known for the hot springs & onsens.
-Writing brush, rice paper, ink, ink stone these were Xi’an specialties.
04/21/25
Beijing to Xi’an (she anne) 13-18°C rainy but humid perfect in the evening – the day before was 41°C in Xi’an.
630AM breakfast. Checked out and on the bus by 710AM. Over to Beijing West station (45min-1hr drive from our hotel) and off we went to Xi’an. 4 hour high speed train. We took the 955AM train to arrive in Xi’an at 205PM. The high speed train goes 320-350KM/HR.
To exit the train station as a foreigner, you need to exit at the manned gate for passport scan.
We said goodbye to Judy in Beijing and had Betty/Yan Yan for our Xi’an leg. Betty was very energetic, extraverted and very knowledgeable as she studied History and English. Very passionate about history and her love for her city Xi’an. She has a son.
We stayed at the Delta Hotels BY Marriott Xi’an – 西安德尔塔酒店 – 龙首原地铁站店.We had a bit of time to rest before meeting back up for dinner so Jessica and myself walked around a bit and found ourselves grabbing snacks from “Want to come” 好想来 where the logo features a white shopping bag that looks like a white rabbit. Inside the store you can pick up snacks that are individually vacuum sealed ranging from a variety of meats to sweets and when you purchase, they calculate the price by the weight.
We went to the Food Gallery for dinner. Such an array of flavours and presentations. A tree with crab/shrimp balls shaped as lychee (a special local delicacy). There was a dessert set that looks like brushes that are different flavours you dip into yogurt, coffee “ink” & berry compote.
After dinner, we did the optional tour of the Grand Tang Everbright City ($69USD/pp ($103CAD)). We got transported back to the Tang Dynasty and dressed up in that era. A 40 min drive from our hotel. If it was a weekend or holiday, easily 1.5-2HR.
We were taken to the National Cultural Industry demonstration area. We went and chose our Tang Dynasty outfits. We all got makeup and hair/hats. It is the most pale I’ll ever be. I chose a princess outfit. The 2100 meter long pedestrian mall we walked has many beautiful sculptures and all the buildings are lit up. The design is inspired by the Tang Dynasty and to showcase the wonders that make Xi’an what it is. Betty took us around, posed us & took a bunch of photos for us. She took us all the way to the end where one of the last pagoda’s still standing to this day. Overall we spent about 2.5HR start to finish including wardrobe selection and walking around.
04/22/25
Xi’an – 12-23°C – hot in the sun, cold in the evenings
830AM departure to see the City wall.
The City Wall is 14KM in length & the park is 20KM long. It is one of the best preserved city walls. Originally made of clay, it was rebuilt with bricks.
Since 1950, there are now 18 gates.
About an hour drive, we visited a Government factory where we got to see & touch the clay that was similar to how the original warriors were made. We were led through rooms full of giant statues, tea pots/cups, lacquer ware & silk needle thread artwork.
Lunch buffet on the 3rd floor of the government factory. The stars of the show were the freshly pulled handmade Noodle soup & Chinese hamburger.
Back on the bus to the Museum of the Terra Cotta Warriors also known as the Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum. 8th wonder of the world.
So far, they found 2000 warriors but 6000 haven’t been uncovered. The warriors were all painted colourfully but the colours have faded. The ones that aren’t uncovered, they are still unsure how to preserve them if they do. The moment the warriors are exposed to the air, it starts to fade them.
The tomb has never been raided by robbers. But it might have collapsed over 2000 years ago. The Terra Cotta Warriors are there to protect the tomb. They are 6ft tall & weigh 300-400lb built in the image of real warriors. Warriors from all over China not just from Xi’an.
3 farmers found Terra Cotta Warriors on their land. They are no longer farmers but they are 76 years old now and have gained fame. One is the governor of the museum. The location use to be a well & farmers tombs. They moved the farmers tombs away.
The Terra Cotta Warriors were made of clay but held real weapons made of metal & bronze and repurposed. When the emperor passed away, his youngest son became the emperor. He was afraid of being overthrown by his siblings that he had the murdered. 3 years after, he was killed and majority of the Qing Dynasty artefacts were destroyed including some of the Terra Cotta Warriors.
Warriors have special hair placements and arm & hats. A hair knot on the left and kneeling is an archer, general soldier has a top knot to the right. Hands together w whale tail hat is high ranking official.
The warriors in the pit have never been moved. They have a “hospital area” in the pit where they are slowly restoring the smashed up soldiers. Once they are put back together, they are placed back to where they were found.
The site is divided into 3 separate pits.
Pit 1 – 230M long x 48M wide x 5M deep. It is the largest – just foot soldiers. First 3 rows were the young (teenagers) & first defense. Sacrifice their lives first.
Pit 2 – still being uncovered diligently. There is the golden boy – one soldier who remains 100% intact.
Pit 3 – this was discovered after pit 1. The smallest pit but most important because they found a general there.
Pit 4 – doesn’t exist because the emperor died too early so they didn’t make more warriors.
Built in the Qing Dynasty, the Warriors face east as all the enemies came from the east.
After 3.5HR going through the pits, we made it back to the hotel for an hr rest.
Dinner was an optional Dumpling banquet & traditional Tang Dynasty Singing & Dancing show ($68USD/pp ($103CAD)).
We started with cold dishes (radish, cucumber, pork, duck) before eating hot dishes like dumplings. Different meats inside the dumplings such as duck, chicken, beef, pork, seafood, fish etc). The fancy dumplings we only got 1 per person however we could have unlimited “normal” dumplings. We also got Duck soup with micro dumplings – it is said – how many dumplings you get in your soup represent different things. If you get 1- do anything you wish, 2 – good husband/wife, 3 – wealth, 4 – make money and finally 0 – no worries. Plum juice & lemon water included. Dessert dumpling – Tong yuung.
The show is about the legacy of the female ruler Empress Wu & tells the story of the Tang Dynasty.
After 3.5HR going through the pits, we made it back to the hotel for an hr rest.
Dinner was an optional Dumpling banquet & traditional Tang Dynasty Singing & Dancing show. The show showcases Empress Wu’s legacy as a ruler.
Started w cold dishes & unlimited plum juice/water. Got 11 different types of dumplings w unlimited “normal” dumplings.
