Ancient Capital of Thirteen Dynasties, Five Millennia of Xi'an (I)

Three years of pandemic kept us from seeing the world.

Yang Guo, Yang Kang, and the little one set off together for Xi’an on the evening of the ninth day of the first lunar month.

I hadn’t planned a trip in ages and felt a bit rusty, especially for a city with five millennia of history. Its mystery made me afraid of missing something, but time was tight and choices had to be made. In the end, we booked an overnight soft sleeper, combining sleep and travel to squeeze out three full days for exploring.

The train station buzzed with crowds, a world apart from three years of quiet. That familiar festive joy of Spring Festival was back, along with the holiday crush. Not sure if it was his first soft sleeper or just the excitement of finally travelling again, Little King climbed up and down the bunk, completely wound up. He even went to ask the attendant for a tour of the whole train… Faced with her cheerful yes, he chickened out and mumbled, ‘Maybe next time…’ The compartment was dry, hot and noisy, and we drifted in and out of sleep all night…

Day 1: Off the train, Metro Line 4 took us straight to the hotel. The hotel was only two stops from Dayan Pagoda, right by the interchange of Lines 4 and 5, opposite Wanda Plaza – super convenient for transport and dining. The decor was a bit dated, but it was a star-rated hotel after all, fully equipped and good value. The plan for Day 1 was to cover the city wall, Yongxingfang, Dayan Pagoda, Datang Everbright City… Time was tight but we hadn’t mapped out a specific route. Big King, always obsessed with food, had heard that the Nanshaomen morning market was full of good eats and insisted on going. We thought about shared e-bikes, but Xi’an only has shared bicycles. Big King decisively chose Shank’s pony – walking. He dragged Little King a solid two stops on foot. By the end, the three of us were half dead, and poor Little King’s short legs had really suffered.

The Nanshaomen morning market is right near Nanshaomen metro station, but by the time we got there it had already packed up. Luckily, just around the corner at the intersection of Simin Lane and Zhongmao Street we found a hulatang with beef meatballs, packed with locals. We grabbed a seat and ordered a cured pork roujiamo, a crispy beef pie, and a bowl of the meatball hulatang. True to its name, the roujiamo was filled with cured pork – a first for us. We still preferred the fresh pork with green pepper version. The crispy beef pie was as delicious as any we’d had elsewhere. Now the meatball hulatang deserves a special mention: it had potato, cabbage, carrot, meatballs, green beans (more or less) and was thickened with starch. Gooey, very salty, with a strange taste – adding chilli helped a little. That was our one and only hulatang of the trip.

After eating, we rather awkwardly squeezed onto a shared bike (Little King perched on the rack) and pedalled half a stop to the South Gate of the city wall, Yongning Gate, where we bought tickets and climbed up.

It was still Spring Festival, so the wall was adorned with lantern displays, each themed around Xi’an culture. We strolled past them quickly; what really captivated me was the wall itself. I’d read travel tips saying that walking on the wall lets you feel what it was like to be an emperor. To be honest, we walked a long way and maybe my heart just wasn’t big enough – I didn’t quite feel it… Glancing at a roadside sign turned out to be the highlight of the wall visit. The arrow tower and barbican combined to trap enemies like catching a turtle in a jar, while the bastions and wall worked together to eliminate blind spots below, allowing defenders to attack from three sides. Puzzling it out, I marvelled at the clever brains of the ancients. You can rent bikes on the wall; a tandem costs 90 yuan for 3 hours. If you want to ride the whole loop, I’d recommend renting one. Little King’s biggest joy on the wall was sitting at the back of the tandem – scared at first, then didn’t want to get off.

Descending at Zhongshan Gate, we arrived at Yongxingfang. If you want to sample Xi’an’s street food, this is the place to let your belly loose. A dizzying array of snacks and a jostling stream of foodies. With limited manpower and stomach space, we only tried a few, all pretty good. I especially liked the chilli garlic sheep’s blood and Qinzhen rice noodles, and we finished with a hawthorn bayberry jelly to cut the grease. Oddly enough, despite being in the first lunar month, it didn’t feel cold.

Around 4pm we grabbed an express car back to the hotel to rest up before the night out.

As the lights came on, Metro Line 4 took us straight to Dayan Pagoda Station.

The defining feature: people, people, people… a sea of humanity, shoulder to shoulder. Every phrase for ‘crowded’ falls short. As Big King put it, you didn’t need to walk – the crowd carried you along. We’d thought we’d missed the peak Spring Festival holiday, but in reality, three years of lockdowns had driven people stir-crazy. Everyone just needed to get out and say goodbye to those years.

Because of the crowds, to avoid long gatherings, the fountain show at Dayan Pagoda Square and the performances in Datang Everbright City were cancelled. Little King had his heart set on the Tumbler Lady – didn’t get to see her, could only gaze at the performance area full of regret.

Twinkling lights, a poem at every step. Tang dynasty poetry merged with modern lighting technology to softly tell the story of ‘Poetic Chang’an’. Legend says there are Buddhist relics inside Dayan Pagoda, and each person sees them in a different colour. We only admired the pagoda’s night-time silhouette from afar, not climbing it – keeping the illusion, keeping the mystery. We went with the flow of the crowd; the lanterns were gorgeous, and the sculptures along the way brought the prosperity of Tang culture back to life.

Since it was so crowded, all Everbright City performances were cancelled. We changed plans on the fly and managed to snatch tickets through the mini program to get into ‘Twelve Hours of Chang’an’.

‘Twelve Hours’ is a recreation of a Chang’an street, with costumed ladies in Tang dresses with exquisite makeup, and staff dressed as imperial guards, soldiers, and merchants. Brightly lit and bustling, it felt like first glimpsing Chang’an, dreaming our way back to the Tang dynasty. It takes three to four hours to explore leisurely, with lots of shows and food. Again, because of the crowds, we only saw the backs of heads from the outer edges. We caught a snippet of the Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat dance via the front-row cameras held high.

Exhausted, we headed back to the hotel.