Sights in Shaanxi (Shǎnxī)
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Shaanxi History Museum
Shaanxi's museum is often touted as one of China's best, but if you come after visiting some of Xī'ān's surrounding sights you may feel you're not seeing much that is new. Nevertheless, the museum makes for a comprehensive and illuminating stroll through ancient Cháng'ān, and most exhibits include labels and explanations in English.
The ground floor covers prehistory and the early dynastic period. Particularly impressive are several enormous Shang- and Western Zhou-dynasty bronze tripods (dǐng), Qin burial objects, bronze arrows and crossbows, and four original terracotta warrior statues.
Upstairs, the second section is devoted primarily to Han-dynasty relics. The high…
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Forest of Stelae Museum
Housed in Xī'ān's Confucius Temple, this museum holds over 1000 stone stelae (inscribed tablets), including the nine Confucian classics and some exemplary calligraphy. The second gallery holds a Nestorian tablet (AD 781), the earliest recorded account of Christianity in China. (The Nestorians professed that Christ was both human and divine, for which they were booted out of the Church in 431.) The fourth gallery holds a collection of ancient maps and portraits, and is where rubbings (copies) are made, an interesting process to watch.
The highlight, though, is the fantastic sculpture gallery (across from the gift shop), which contains animal guardians from the Tang dynast…
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City Walls
Xī'ān is one of the few cities in China where the old city walls are still standing. Built in 1370 during the Ming dynasty, the 12m-high walls are surrounded by a dry moat and form a rectangle with a perimeter of 14km.
Most sections have been restored or rebuilt, and it is now possible to walk the entirety of the walls in a leisurely four hours. You can also cycle from the South Gate (bike hire Y20 for 100 minutes, Y200 deposit). The truly lazy can be whisked around in a golf cart for Y200. Access ramps are located inside the major gates, with the exception of the South Gate, where the entrance is outside the walls; there's another entrance inside the walls beside the Fo…
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Great Mosque
One of the largest mosques in China, the Great Mosque is a fascinating blend of Chinese and Islamic architecture. Facing west (towards Mecca) instead of the usual south, the mosque begins with a classic Chinese temple feature, the spirit wall, designed to keep demons at bay. The gardens, too, with their rocks, pagodas and archways are obviously Chinese, with the exception of the four palm trees at the entrance. Arab influence, meanwhile, extends from the central minaret (cleverly disguised as a pagoda) to the enormous turquoise-roofed Prayer Hall (not open to visitors) at the back of the complex, as well as the elegant calligraphy gracing most entryways. The present build…
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Folk House
This well-rounded historic residence also serves as an art gallery, entertainment centre and teahouse. Originally the home of the Qing bureaucrat Gao Yuesong, it's a fine example of a courtyard home and has been tastefully restored. There are reception rooms, bedrooms, servants' quarters, an ancestral temple and a study (now the teahouse).
Tours start with an optional marionette or shadow-puppet demonstration (Y10). As the complex currently belongs to the Shaanxi Artists Association, there's an art gallery here where you can pick up reasonably priced traditional Chinese art. Confusingly, despite the address, this place isn't at No 144, but is about 20m down the street.
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Little Goose Pagoda
The Little Goose Pagoda is in the pleasant grounds of Jianfu Temple. The top of the pagoda was shaken off by an earthquake in the middle of the 16th century, but the rest of the 43m-high structure is intact.
Jianfu Temple was originally built in AD 684 to bless the afterlife of the late Emperor Gaozong. The pagoda, a rather delicate building of 15 progressively smaller tiers, was built from AD 707-709 and housed Buddhist scriptures brought back from India by the pilgrim Yi Jing.
You can mount the pagoda for a worthy panorama of Xī'ān.
Bus 610 runs here from the Bell Tower; from the South Gate take bus 203.
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Big Goose Pagoda
Xī'ān's most famous landmark, this pagoda dominates the surrounding modern buildings. One of China's best examples of a Tang-style pagoda (squarish rather than round), it was completed in AD 652 to house the Buddhist sutras brought back from India by the monk Xuan Zang. Xuan spent the last 19 years of his life translating scriptures with a crack team of linguist monks; many of these translations are still used today. His travels also inspired one of the best-known works of Chinese literature, Journey to the West.
Surrounding the pagoda is Dà Cí'ēn Temple (大慈恩寺; Dàcí'ēn Sì), one of the largest temples in Tang Cháng'ān. The buildings today date from the Qing dynasty.…
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Temple of the Eight Immortals
Xī'ān's largest Taoist temple dates back to the Song dynasty and is still an active place of worship. Supposedly built on the site of an ancient wine shop, it was constructed to protect against subterranean divine thunder. Scenes from Taoist mythology are painted around the courtyard. Empress Cixi, the mother of the Last Emperor, stayed here in 1901 after fleeing Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion. There's a small antique market opposite, which is busiest on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Bus 502 runs close by the temple (eastbound from Xi Xinjie).
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Drum Tower
While the Bell Tower originally held a bell that was rung at dawn, the Drum Tower marked nightfall. It too dates from the 14th century and was later rebuilt in the 1700s. Musical performances are held inside from 09:00 to 11:30 and 14:30 to 17:30. Close by, a covered market sells dried fruits and delicious cakes.
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Bell Tower
The Bell Tower originally held a large bell that was rung at dawn; it dates from the 14th century and was later rebuilt in the 1700s. Initially it stood two blocks to the west. Musical performances are held inside from 09:00 to 11:30 and 14:30 to 17:30. It is entered through the underpass on the north side.
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8th Route Army Memorial
The Communist Party's austere Xī'ān headquarters, the 8th Route Army Memorial, were located here from 1937 to 1946. The memorial consists primarily of old photos (no English) and one room dedicated to the activist Helen Foster Snow, the wife of journalist Edgar Snow.
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Tang Paradise Theme Park
The city's most popular destination for Chinese tourists is probably the 165-acre Disneyfied Tang Paradise Theme Park, which aims to re-create an entertainment-oriented version of the Tang dynasty.
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Tang Dynasty Arts Museum
The Tang Dynasty Arts Museum, on the eastern side of the Da Ci'en Temple, has a small collection specifically devoted to Tang clothing, architecture and artefacts.
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Da Ci'en Temple
Surrounding the Big Goose Pagoda is Da Ci'en Temple, one of the largest temples in Tang Cháng'ān. The buildings today date from the Qing dynasty.
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Yuánjué Pagoda
Looming over the old town and dating back to Tang dynasty, but rebuilt in 1958, this pagoda also acts as a memorial to Red Army soldiers killed fighting the KMT. It's not possible to climb the pagoda itself, but the steep ascent to it offers panoramic views over the old town. To get here, turn sharp right when leaving the Chénghuáng Temple and then take the first major right you come to. The walk takes you through the most evocative part of the old town; exit the pagoda through the park on the other side and you're back in the new town.
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Yángjiālǐng Revolution Headquarters Site
During their extended stay, the communist leadership shifted around Yán'ān. As a result there are numerous former headquarters sites. The most interesting, this site is located 3km northwest of the town centre. Here you can see the assembly hall where the first central committee meetings were held, including the seventh national plenum, which formally confirmed Mao as the leader of the party and the revolution. It's fun watching the red tourists pose in old CCP uniforms in front of the podium.
Nearby are simple dugouts built into the loess earth where Mao, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai and other senior communist leaders lived, worked and wrote.
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Yán'ān Revolution Museum
By far the most flash building in town is the new Yán'ān Revolutionary Memorial Hall (延安革命纪念馆; Yán'ān Gémìng Jìniànguǎn), fronted by a statue of Mao and housing this museum. It offers an excellent, if obviously one-sided, account of the CCP's time in Yán'ān and the Sino-Japanese War. More English captions would be nice, but there are plenty of photos of the good old days and other exhibits that are self- explanatory. Bus 1 (Y1) runs here.
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Xī'ān Museum
Housed in the pleasant grounds of the Jiànfú Temple is this new-ish museum featuring relics unearthed in Xī'ān over the years. There are some exquisite ceramics from the Han dynasty, as well as figurines, an exhibition of Ming-dynasty seals and jade artefacts. Don't miss the basement, where a large-scale model of ancient Xī'ān gives a good sense of the place in its former pomp.
Also in the grounds is the Little Goose Pagoda. The top of the pagoda was shaken off by an earthquake in the middle of the 16th century, but the rest of the 43m-high structure is intact. Jiànfú Temple was originally built in AD 684 to bless the afterlife of the late Emperor Gaozong. The pagoda…
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Wángjiāpíng Revolution Headquarters Site
Further south, this was the last site occupied by the communist leadership in Yán'ān. The improved living conditions at this site – houses rather than dugouts – indicate the way the CCP's fortunes were rising by the time it moved here.
Both Revolution Headquarters Sites can be reached by taking bus 1, which runs along the road east of the river and then heads up Shengdi Lu. Bus 3 runs along the other side of the river along Zhongxin Jie; get off when it crosses north over the river. Both of these buses start at the train station. Bus 8 also passes by these places and can be caught from Da Bridge (大桥). The taxi flag fall is Y5.
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Treasure Pagoda
Yán'ān's most prominent landmark, Treasure Pagoda dates back to the Song dynasty. For an extra Y10, you can climb the very narrow steps and ladders of the pagoda for a restricted view of the city.
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Tomb of Sima Qian
With its dramatic location atop a hill overlooking fields and the nearby Yellow River, the Tomb of Sima Qian is an imposing sight, even if there's an elevated freeway close by. Despite that, it's still a popular spot with picnickers. The actual tomb, though, isn't much to look at.
The tomb is 10km south of town. To get here, take bus 1 (Y1, 10 minutes) from the train station to its terminus at Nánguān, and then switch to the green Sīmǎ Miào bus (Y3, 20 minutes). You'll have to catch a taxi back (Y30).
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Qīngliáng Mountain
This was the birthplace of the CCP propaganda machine; Xinhua News Agency and the Liberation Daily both started life here when the place was known as 'Information Mountain'. Now, it's a pleasant hillside park with some nice trails and a few sights, including Ten Thousand Buddha Cave (万佛洞; Wànfó Dòng) dug into the sandstone cliff beside the river. The cave has relatively intact Buddhist statues.
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Muslim Quarter
The backstreets leading north from the Drum Tower have been home to the city's Hui community (Chinese Muslims) for centuries. Although Muslims have been here since at least the 7th century, some believe that today's community didn't take root until the Ming dynasty.
The narrow lanes are full of butcher shops, sesame-oil factories, smaller mosques hidden behind enormous wooden doors, men in white skullcaps and women with their heads covered in coloured scarves. It's a great place to wander and especially atmospheric at night. Good streets to stroll down are Xiyang Shi, Dapi Yuan and Damaishi Jie, which runs north off Xi Dajie through an interesting Islamic food market.
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Fènghuángshān Revolution Headquarters Site
More accessible from town, this Revolution Headquarters Site is about 100m west of the post office. This was the first site occupied by the communists after their move to Yán'ān, before being abandoned because it was too easy for enemy planes to attack it. There's a photo exhibit about Norman Bethune, the Canadian doctor who became a hero in China for treating CCP casualties in the late 1930s.
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Dǎngjiācūn
This remarkable, perfectly preserved, 14th-century village nestles in a sheltered location in a loess valley. Once the home of the Dang clan, successful merchants who ferried timber and other goods across the Yellow River, it's since evolved into a quintessential farming community. Three hundred and twenty families live here in 125 grey-brick courtyard houses, which are notable for their carvings and mix of different architectural styles. The elegant six-storey tower is a Confucian pagoda (Wénxīng gé). With its sleepy, timeless atmosphere, it's a fine place to escape the hustle of modern China.
Dǎngjiācūn is 9km northeast of Hánchéng. To get here, take a minibus (Y3, 20…
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