Step into Xi'an, the Ancient Capital of 13 Dynasties: A 2-Day Tour of the Most Essential Sites, Traveling Through 6000 Years

Foreword: Finally stepping into Shaanxi, one of the few provinces I hadn't visited

Shaanxi is one of the few Chinese provinces I hadn't yet explored. Xi'an had always been a city I'd heard so much about—a place that's been hugely popular in recent years, steeped in history. After so long yearning to visit, as I finally approached it, I even felt a touch of unease. Though my stay in Xi'an was brief, I managed to see several of its most essential, classic sights and soaked in the weight of its history. And I traveled in a rather special way—by RV.

Tang Paradise, Terracotta Warriors, Shaanxi History Museum, Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, North Square Music Fountain at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Great Tang All Day Mall

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Xi'an, this ancient city, is permeated with history and culture. This time, we traveled across time and immersed ourselves in Xi'an, a city full of historical tales. Tang Paradise is China's largest architectural complex imitating a Tang Dynasty royal garden, where the imperial grandeur is vividly brought to life.

The name "Furong Garden" (Lotus Garden) was finalized only after revisions by several emperors. When the King of Qin reigned, he was captivated by the beautiful natural scenery of the Qujiang area and built a royal forbidden garden here. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Qujiang was renamed Furong Garden, and with this new name, the garden showcased the splendor of imperial landscaping, undergoing many renovations. By the Tang Dynasty, the garden was expanded, and its cultural significance grew immensely. It was no longer a place reserved for royalty; commoners could also visit.

The expansion of the royal garden's structures was carried out by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and subsequent rulers. Emperor Xuanzong greatly enlarged Qujiang, adding many famous pavilions and towers such as Ziyun Tower and Caixia Pavilion. The palaces within the former Tang-style Furong Garden were spectacular and stretched on continuously. Cultural and entertainment activities flourished, reaching what could be called a peak. This was also the only public garden in Chang'an City. After being destroyed, the garden's buildings were ruined, but today's Tang Paradise is a complete reconstruction based on the Tang Dynasty royal garden model, offering a full display of the Tang era's features.

This grand complex, built in imitation of a Tang royal garden, is breathtaking. The moment I stepped into Tang Paradise, I felt the prosperous atmosphere of Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty. I could also imagine how it was once a vibrant hub of literary activity. As a royal garden, it was spectacular; it was the setting for many well-known literary anecdotes, and both royalty and commoners could come to enjoy themselves and hold large-scale events. Though today's royal garden is a recreation, it vividly presents the flourishing scene of the Tang Dynasty, drawing visitors back into that history.

Ziyun Tower is the centerpiece of Tang Paradise. From its side, you can take in the surrounding scenery, which beautifully showcases the magnificence of this imperial garden.

Today's Tang Paradise sits on the original site of the Tang Dynasty's Furong Garden. The water area covers 300 mu, and the total area is over 1,000 mu. There are many themed zones, such as the Imperial Culture Zone, the Imperial Examination Culture Zone, and the Tea Culture Zone, all vividly bringing the architectural charm of the Tang Dynasty to life.

Ziyun Tower truly deserves to be the best vantage point in the garden. It features stone bridges connecting to other structures, allowing you to walk to small pavilions and admire the surrounding beauty.

Some sights are spread around Furong Lake. You can also take a boat on the lake to enjoy the views of this magnificent royal garden—places like Apricot Garden, Poetry Soul, and Peach Blossom Cove all lie around the lake. This large-scale royal garden that so faithfully recreates the style of the flourishing Tang Dynasty, a 5A-level tourist attraction, feels like dreaming your way back to the Tang era and experiencing its splendor.

Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum

No trip to Xi'an is complete without visiting the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum. The Terracotta Warriors are one of the world's top ten ancient tomb treasures and a symbol of ancient Chinese wisdom. This enormous ancient funerary sculpture, built as an emperor's burial objects, is truly spectacular and a testament to the ancients' ingenuity.

Construction of the Terracotta Warriors began while Emperor Qinshihuang was still on the throne. The project was so vast that it remained unfinished when he died; two years later, his son, Qin Er Shi, completed the massive mausoleum. In total, the mausoleum and its warriors took 39 years to build. The Terracotta Warriors are one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in history. Currently, we can visit three pits, while the fourth pit's warriors have yet to be unearthed.

The Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum is the largest ancient military museum in China. It covers an area said to be equivalent to 78 Forbidden Cities. Row upon orderly row of Terracotta Warriors stands before you, and you can't help but think of an era of constant warfare, when soldiers fought valiantly to defend their homeland. The discovery of the Terracotta Warriors fills the Chinese people with immense pride.

The warriors are arrayed according to the strategic military formations of the time. Standing at the front are the generals leading all the soldiers, followed by ranks like infantry warriors, archers, and so on—each with their own symbolic status. In ancient times, these figures represented soldiers dedicated to defending the country, all with high levels of horsemanship and martial skills.

We can visit three pits. Pit 1 is the most impressive in scale, with over 210 warrior figures. This massive army forms the vanguard, and the sheer force of it gives you an overwhelming, earth-shattering sensation.

Pit 2 is L-shaped, with a more complex formation than Pit 1 and a more complete range of troop types, including those that signify higher status. Pit 2 is now the largest and most comprehensive historical site exhibition hall in China. The arrangement of the warriors here instantly transports you back to a battlefield, with troops lined up in precise order. The clever, intricate strategies ignite a desire to fight in battle, making Pit 2 a window into ancient military thinking on battle formations and tactics.

Pit 3 was the third pit discovered by the archaeological team. It is well-preserved and was not burned by fire. The warriors here served as commanders. At the museum, you can see how meticulous ancient military strategy was, with soldiers and warhorses all depicted in magnificent detail.

The Terracotta Warriors have suffered damage from grave robbers, and there are signs of burning, so many figures are not fully intact. Yet, an imperial mausoleum of this scale remains a miracle of China, vividly illustrating ancient military strategy. Pit 4 contains no warriors—perhaps it has not yet been excavated, as current technology isn't sufficient for it. The Terracotta Warriors are the golden calling card of ancient capital Xi'an. The museum is huge, and the figures are arranged by rank. The sheer number of warriors, organized by their status, showcases ancient military tactics and brings the brave soldiers on the battlefield to life.

With its profound history, Xi'an is a must-visit for museums. The Shaanxi History Museum, located near the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, displays ancient artifacts of daily life. It's only about one kilometer from the pagoda. The museum building mainly reflects the grandeur of the flourishing Tang Dynasty. Inside, you can also find simple stone tools from early human societies.

The Shaanxi History Museum is a comprehensive historical museum. Its exhibits showcase the wisdom of ancient people. Covering an area of 8,000 square meters, the museum organizes its collections very clearly. Here, you can appreciate the history and culture of Shaanxi.

We entered Exhibition Hall 1 to see the Hejiacun Hoard unearthed artifacts. The treasures from Hejiacun were an eye-opener, with astonishing bronzes and pottery. We also saw the Tang Dynasty's national treasure, the agate cup, which is one of the museum's most prized pieces.

There were many exquisite historical items we had never seen before, and we marveled at the creativity and wisdom of the ancients. The most memorable was the gold bowl with lotus petal and mandarin duck design, the most magnificent work of the Tang Dynasty, still shining brilliantly in the museum today.

I'm particularly interested in historical artifacts with a more robust shape, like the silver jar in the photo, which has incredibly fine texture. The ancients were fond of horses, and horse motifs appear on many vessels.

The museum houses over 3,900 bronze items of many types, including musical instruments and weapons. The most striking are the very lifelike statues of early humans.

Many bronze vessels are tripod-style dings. There are also numerous pottery figurines that vividly depict warhorses, animals, and scenes from ancient life. I found the ancient coins particularly interesting: all are round, and the patterns inside represent the currency of different dynasties.

The museum also features Buddhist sculptures, with a strong Buddhist cultural atmosphere. The carvings on the walls—figures, birds, flowers, and stones—are all exquisitely done.

Tang Dynasty murals are a major highlight. They depict not only Tang architecture, hunting scenes, high officials at court, and neighborly relationships, all vividly portrayed. With so many exhibition halls and such precious relics, the amount of information is overwhelming and hard to absorb in one visit. But that's part of the experience—I left with a weighty sense of gain, and even after returning home, I'll revisit this magnificent history, mulling it over again.

Thanks to the recent popularity of Great Tang All Day Mall, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is even more unmissable. Its charm lies in its brick imitation of wooden architecture. As the saying goes, "You haven't been to Xi'an if you haven't seen the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda." It truly is a symbol of Xi'an, as well as an architectural masterpiece exuding the artistic charm of Tang Dynasty Buddhism.

The pagoda's majestic presence was already celebrated in Tang Dynasty poetry. For example, Cen Shen praised it with the line: "The pagoda springs up like a surge, towering lonely toward the celestial palace." The imposing aura is palpable. This brick-and-wood-style pagoda is unique; from a distance, you'd almost think it was made of wood. It has seven stories, each with its own historical stories and relics, including statues of the famous Buddhist figure Sakyamuni. The current pagoda is slightly tilted because it suffered damage over the centuries. Slight tilting is common in ancient towers, given the less precise building techniques of the time. Despite being hundreds of years old and leaning a bit, this brick-imitation-wood pagoda remains very sturdy.

The pagoda has been renovated many times. In the Tang Dynasty, it was a famous tourist site, filled with scholars and large Buddha statues that the monk Xuanzang had brought back from India. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang built the pagoda according to Xuanzang's plans and also constructed smaller pagodas around it to enhance the beauty of the surroundings. The original pagoda collapsed after about 50 years of weathering, so the one we see today is a reconstruction.

This brick pagoda imitating wood, with its form tapering from bottom to top, is a grand and spectacular piece of architecture. Its design is relatively simple and unadorned, yet from the outside, it exudes a strong sense of solemnity and antiquity. From the top floor, you can look down and see the entire ancient capital of Xi'an.

Entering through the south gate, you can see many famous inscribed steles, along with exhibits highlighting the brilliant life of Xuanzang. On the second floor is a solemn statue of Sakyamuni and many precious relics. The third floor houses diagrams and notes from Xuanzang's original plans for the pagoda. On the fourth floor are palm-leaf sutras covered in Sanskrit—a script beyond the understanding of ordinary mortals like us. The seventh floor, the highest, offers a panoramic view of all the beauty of ancient capital Xi'an, and features a lotus-shaped ceiling.

The incense offerings around the pagoda are plentiful, and the surrounding temples are highly representative and magnificent. The bronze statues enshrined here are dignified and solemn, and the incense keeps burning endlessly. Some statues of meaningful historical figures are displayed in the temples, such as in the Hall of Wealth, where you can pray for prosperity and good fortune. The history-laden Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an gave us a deep sense of Buddhism's historical significance.

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is the symbol of ancient capital Xi'an. The smaller halls around it also have their own beautiful historical tales. Every building in Xi'an seems to have its own story. Lose yourself in this ancient city and feel its history in every corner.

At night, colorful lights around the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda's music fountain create a dreamlike, time-traveling atmosphere. This is also the largest matrix fountain plaza in Asia. Standing before this majestic spectacle, the fountain produces a thunderous roar as it lands, and with the added light effects, Xi'an at night takes on an even more mysterious allure.

The North Square Music Fountain at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda boasts the most luxurious landscaping, and even the restrooms are touchless. The sculptural groups here stretch up to 200 meters. The fountain is the centerpiece of the pagoda area, situated north-south. Jets of water shoot over 20 meters high, creating a magnificent display. Paired with the square's colorful lights, it transforms this ancient capital into a bustling, vibrant scene.

The fountain show has only two performances each day, both after dark. The multicolored lights enhance the fountain's unique charm, with the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda standing solemnly in the background. Water jets reaching 20 centimeters into the sky look stunning in the illuminated night. I'd never seen such a grand fountain; it was both thrilling and enjoyable. Of course, visitors should be mindful of safety—the large water volume can get you soaked and poses a splash hazard.

Long before the show starts, the North Square is already packed with people, all sorts of recording devices ready to capture the spectacular fountain. Parents carrying children on their shoulders so the little ones can better see the magnificent view—it was a lively night, the ancient capital more enchanting than ever.

The nighttime scenery around the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is incomparable. Trees hung with red lanterns are both beautiful and festive. The charm of the pavilions at night always touches something deep inside, and the ancient architecture draws you in. The North Square Music Fountain area at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is bustling at night, with visitors almost shoulder-to-shoulder amid endless beautiful sights. Such a prosperous and historically rich Xi'an is always appealing.

At Great Tang All Day Mall, we enjoyed a "tumbler" performance. The performer, dressed in gorgeous Tang Dynasty attire, was brilliant. The tumbler show also keeps Xi'an's historical culture alive. We also saw tumbler souvenirs—cute, chubby little figures with great collectible value.

The audience for the tumbler show was huge. The young lady's movements were so skilled, her dance gracefully swaying back and forth, with a smile remaining on her face throughout. Her wonderful performance once went viral online. The difficulty of the act was mesmerizing; even after it ended, I couldn't forget it. The tumbler performance extends Tang culture, and this Tang-style architectural complex and its artistic charm are simply intoxicating. Xi'an is truly a city worth visiting. It has not only so much scenery, personality, and culture but also a deep, profound history. I think I'll come back again.