肉夹馍
Roujiamo
A griddled bun split and filled with slow-cooked meat. Eat it standing.
西安 · 3 days
Xi'an
Xi’an was a capital when a lot of famous cities were still ideas. The army is why the train arrives. The wall, the night market, and the noodles are why you stay after the pits close.
Stay near
Inside or just south of the wall
Give it
Three days, one of them at the army
Book first
The army, and the history museum
Watch for
Tourist-only stalls on the night-market lane
High-speed rail from Beijing is a long afternoon, not a connection through another airport. The station is enormous. Save the hotel name in Chinese before you exit.
Give the Terracotta Army a morning and come back into the city for the wall at the end of the day. The Muslim Quarter is dinner, not a morning of souvenirs. The history museum is extraordinary when a reservation exists, and closed to walk-ups when it does not.
Halal kitchens are a genuine part of the city, not a specialty detour. Eat where families are sitting. The empty banquet room facing the souvenir lane is selling the lane.
Eat this, not a poster of it
What Xi'an actually tastes like
biangbiang面
Biangbiang noodles
Wide belts of dough, chili oil, garlic, and vinegar. The character on the sign is famously complicated. You can point.
孜然羊肉
Cumin lamb
Skewers after dark. Walk one street past the first grill. Yangrou paomo, lamb soup with torn bread, is the sit-down version of the same appetite.
The sights
Where to go, and whether you can just show up.
Passport reservation
Terracotta Army
The pits east of the city. Everyone, including free-ticket visitors, reserves.
Ticket at the gate
City Wall
A bike ride on top of the Ming wall, best in the late light.
Free, just walk
Muslim Quarter
The night market under the Drum Tower. Free, crowded, and better one street off the main lane.
Temple ticket, then the climb
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
A Tang pagoda inside Da Ci'en Temple. The grounds and the climb are separate tickets.
Free, but reserve
Shaanxi History Museum
Free, and still the hardest ticket in the city. Reservation required.