Xi'an – City Wall, Museums and Tang Heritage

Xi'an brings together impressive traces of different dynasties, museums, religious architecture and contemporary cultural offerings. The city wall tells the story of military defence, while collections illustrate history from prehistoric times to more recent eras. When planning your trip, it is worth first considering whether you would like to focus mainly on historic buildings, museum visits, lively cultural offerings or destinations in the surrounding area.

Discover the City Wall and Museums

Xi'an's city wall was built more than 600 years ago as a military defence system, on the foundations of a structure from the Sui and Tang dynasties (581–907). The complex stretches for 13.74 kilometres. Visitors can walk on the wall or in the surrounding landscaped area. A tour app provides information about the history of the city wall and other attractions, and highlights popular photo spots. This connects the long course of history with the chance to explore at your own pace.

The Shaanxi History Museum's 370,000 exhibits illustrate a period spanning more than a million years, up to around 1840. Three permanent exhibition halls are devoted to prehistory, the eras from the Zhou to the Tang dynasty, and later history up to 1911. Another special feature is the gallery of Tang mural paintings, which displays 600 murals from more than 20 aristocratic tombs of the Tang dynasty. Those who like to choose museum visits by era or by particular art form will find a range of options here.

Xi'an Museum is in the southern part of the city, below the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. Its offerings include interactive activities, craft workshops, night tours and educational programmes. The exhibitions also feature virtual flipbooks, digital hologram presentations and interactive displays. The Shaanxi Archaeology Museum in Xi'an displays more than 5,200 cultural artefacts unearthed during archaeological excavations in Shaanxi Province.

History in Buildings and Collections

The buildings, too, tell different chapters of the city's history. Xi'an's Bell Tower was built in 1384 and served as an emergency alarm and to tell the time. The Drum Tower was built four years earlier and rebuilt twice during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The Daming Palace was the Tang dynasty's palace complex, where 17 of the 21 Tang emperors conducted political affairs. Experts consider Weiyang Palace to have been the political centre and national symbol of the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–24 CE).

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is part of the cultural heritage along the Silk Roads: the Chang'an–Tianshan Corridor, which is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. According to tradition, it was the place where the Buddhist monk Xuanzang translated the Sanskrit scriptures he had brought from India. Xi'an's Great Mosque is laid out like a traditional Chinese garden and is considered the only mosque of its kind in the world. Most of its surviving buildings date from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).

The Xi'an Guanzhong Folk Art Museum preserves more than 40,000 folk artefacts dating from the Western Zhou dynasty (approximately 11th century–771 BCE) onwards. As a visitor attraction, it is dedicated to rescuing, protecting, collecting, researching and exhibiting folk cultural artefacts. Those interested in everyday culture and material heritage can compare this focus with the dynasty-oriented collections in the city's museums.

Cultural Offerings, Food and Nearby Destinations

Today's Tang Paradise is a large-scale cultural theme park modelled on an imperial garden and built on the site of a former imperial garden. It is divided into 14 cultural theme areas. Music shows are held in Datang Everbright City, and illuminated lanterns line the streets. Several food streets with restaurants and food stalls shape the Muslim Quarter's Muslim cultural atmosphere. When planning your trip, you can weigh up visits to historic sites and exhibitions against a visit to a neighbourhood known for its food stalls.

The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang lies 35 kilometres northeast of Xi'an. It includes almost 200 associated structures, with life-size terracotta soldiers and horses, as well as bronze chariots and weapons. The Museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, in the nearby Mausoleum Site Museum of Emperor Qinshihuang, is divided into Pits 1, 2 and 3. It displays more than 7,000 clay figures of soldiers and horses, as well as chariots and weapons. Also nearby, Huaqing Palace is known for its hot spring and includes the Museum of the Imperial Tang Hot Springs Ruins.

When choosing a holiday apartment, you can therefore consider whether you want your stay to focus mainly on Xi'an's museums and historic buildings, or whether you would also like to set aside time for destinations in the surrounding area. The places mentioned offer different points of interest, and you do not have to fit them all into a single day.

More Destination Pages

More destination pages: Ankang, Jincheng, Shangluo, Yulin, Xinzhou, Tongchuan, Lvliang, Changzhi.

For the main travel overview: Shaanxi.