In the past four decades, Xi’an has become a famous travel destination to see the Terracotta Army, a collection of terracotta sculptures of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s army that date back to the third century BC. Xi’an is a city with much more than the Terracotta Army to offer, though, and has a rich history that predates Emperor Qin Shi Huang by another 4,000 years! Oh, and it also happens to offer some of the best food in all of China, something that is definitely worth bragging about. Since moving to China two and a half years ago, it has been one of the top places I’ve wanted to visit and, this past May Day holiday, I was able to check it off my list.
I arrived in Xi’an on the last flight in on a Saturday night. By 3:00am, I found my hotel, the Left Art Fashion Hotel, and crawled into bed, eager to begin exploring the city in the morning. As its name implies, the Left Art Fashion Hotel is a boutique hotel where each room is beautifully and uniquely decorated; mine was done up with huge paintings of hummingbirds on every wall. It is located in the heart of the city, a five-minute walk from the 600-year-old Bell Tower that sits in the middle of the central intersection of the city.
I woke up in the late morning to a heavy rain beating against my windows. I contemplated spending a few more hours in bed till the rain subsided, but there was too much to see. I threw on my rain gear and walked 20 minutes to the Muslim Quarter. Xi’an was the starting point of the Silk Road, and as such, it has one of the largest Muslim populations of any city in China. The Muslim Quarter, northwest of the Bell Tower, is home to The Great Mosque, the largest mosque in China. It is also the place to go to find the best food stalls and restaurants in the city, which took precedence as I searched for a late breakfast.
I settled in at one of the restaurants, where I could escape the rain for a seat inside, and ordered up my first Xi’an specialty: 羊肉泡馍 ( yángròu pàomó), lamb meat and bread soup. After being seated, I was handed an empty bowl and two pieces of flatbread and instructed to break up the flatbread myself into the bowl. The locals advised breaking the bread into the smallest pieces possible. After I was done shredding, the server took my bowl to the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with a steaming bowl of tender lamb meat and garlic in a savory broth ladled over my crumbled flatbread. The soup was the perfect dish to warm me up on a cold and rainy day.
With my belly full, I decided to spend my afternoon by checking out some of the sights within walking distance. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, but I didn’t want to stray far from the hotel if the storms came back and, besides, there was plenty to see right around me, starting with The Great Mosque.
The Great Mosque dates to the late 1300s and feels like a mixture of Chinese and Islamic sensibilities. Beautiful calligraphy, written in both Chinese and Arabic, line the exteriors of the 20 or so buildings in the complex. The buildings are separated by five ornate courtyards with lush gardens. I spent some walking through the gardens and into the smaller buildings that non-Muslims were allowed to enter before moving on.
After leaving the Great Mosque, I strolled back through the Muslim Quarter, this time taking my time to stop and enjoy the street markets. The streets of the Quarter are lined with vendors hawking snacks, sweets, or meals on the go. I sampled some famous Xi’an snacks: peanut cake, sesame bun, and stuffed persimmon cakes before I ended up at the Drum Tower.
The Drum Tower was built by the Ming Dynasty in 1380 and still offers one of the best views of the city. Originally, the large drum that earned the Tower its name was beaten at night to signal the end of the day. Today, the Tower serves as a museum and also a live performance place. I was lucky enough to catch one of the daily, traditional Chinese musical performances while I was there.
Located a block away, is the Drum’s Tower’s sister tower, the Bell Tower. As the Drum Tower signaled for the end of the day, the Bell Tower welcomed dawn with the tolling of a large bell. The Bell Tower also became the central hub of the town and has a rich history. During the Revolution, a fierce battle was fought on the spot and, in 1939, the Bell Tower suffered significant damage when it was bombed by the Japanese.
After touring the Bell Tower, I was back at my hotel. I decided to have a rest and get out of my wet clothes. A few hours later, I was on the hunt for dinner and tracked down yet another Xi’an specialty: Biang Biang noodles. Biang is the most complex of Chinese characters; it takes all of 58 strokes to write it properly and I have yet to meet a Chinese person that can write it from memory. The word also doesn’t have much of a meaning, other than to refer to the noodle dish – it supposedly got its name from the “Biang Biang” sound made when slamming the hand-pulled noodle dough on a table.
The place I found, Liu Laosi Niurou Gan Mian Zhuang, was recommended by a few locals as having the noodles in the city. Biang biang noodles are a very thick and long hand-pulled noodle. The ones at Liu Laosi were tossed with beef, beans, carrots, celery, garlic, and cilantro in spicy chili oil. The old proprietor sat down next me to observe my first bite and confirm that his kitchen delivered on the flavor. They definitely did and I made short work of the bowl. I thanked him and paid the bill, all of about $2.50 US.
Before heading back to the hotel, I decided to go for a nightcap. I tracked down the Xi’an Brewery, a small craft brewery tucked away on the second floor of a mall, located about seven kilometers south of my hotel. After a coffee stout and a citrus IPA, both of which could hold their own against craft brewer in the US, I took a walk around the area, was lit up for the May 1 holiday in a style that resembled the gaudiness of Las Vegas.
Strolling through all of the faux temples and palaces that were erected, I almost completely missed the 1500-year-old Giant Wild Goose Pagoda humbly tucked away amidst the bright reds and golds of the decorations. Such is often the way in China; a drastic mix of the old and the new. I remember standing in the nearly 2000-year-old Jing’an Temple in Shanghai and being distracted by the sounds of engines revving at the Ferrari dealership located next door.
Finally, I made it back to my hotel for a relatively early night, excited to wake up the next morning and make my way out to the Terracotta Army. Stay tuned for that trip and more of Xi’an in Part 2, coming next week.