Xi'an

My trip to Xi’an did not disappoint me. Discovering this city and learning about the Terracotta Soldiers as a youngster I became interested in Chinese history. The movie I saw when I was in middle school was a documentary of Emperor Qin’s tomb which is located in Xi’an. His tomb remains sealed to this day, but it is said that in it exists a model map of the known world at that time with bodies of water filled with mercury. Greatly influenced by this movie and China’s magnificent culture I began to study Chinese in high school. Now nearly ten years later I found myself at the place where my interest in China began. The trip began at the overcrowded Beijing train station as you can see from the picture of the waiting area. The train station itself is a spectacle of modern times, but what I found amusing was that it did not even compare to the spectacle which was created over two-thousand years ago in Xi’an, the tomb of Emperor Qin.

Xi’an in located in Shaanxi province, the cradle of Chinese civilization and outlined by two of the largest bends of the Yellow River. Primitive human fossils from over 500,000 years ago have been found in this area and Chinese history runs deep. Xi’an itself is considered the center of power during ancient China and saw the height of its prominence during the 9th century AD. At that time Xi’an (called Chang an, a name it would hold for over 1,000 years) was one of the largest cities in the world and the end of the Silk Road. Xi’an saw the greatness of the Qin through the Tang Dynasty. In 202 BC, during the Han dynasty Xi’an was declared the capital and would have significance until the fall of the Tang in 907 AD. This marked the end of importance for Xi’an as the Silk Road became less traveled and shipping lanes started opening up. As a result the capital moved east. The city, however, maintained its military importance through the Ming and Qing dynasties and the city walls remained intact (see pictures).

Xi’an is an interesting mix of Muslims who have migrated generations ago via the Silk Road and central and southern Chinese (as you can see from the picture I assimilated with the Muslim culture when we visited the Great Mosque). The culture in Xi’an is unlike any other city I have visited and the food is a delicious blend of savory and hardy meals with lamb as the staple meat. My favorite dish is called yang rou pao mo translated as “lamb foam.” The dish is a soup in which they break up hot pita bread into tiny pieces at the bottom of the bowl and then pour in a delicious lamb stock soup with noodles and chunks of lamb over it. I added a little hot pepper, and it was the best dish I have had in China, hands down! I actually had three bowls!

Later in the weekend we went to the Buddhist section of the city and saw the Big Goose Pagoda which is seven stories tall and has lived through a few earthquakes in its time. The story behind the name is that one day monks were out in the field of the monastery and praying to Buddha for something to eat. They were not the Buddhists who were vegetarians so they prayed for some meat. At that instant a wild goose fell from the sky and on that spot the pagoda was built. It was a very relaxing day and then we went to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch, at that point I turned violent. I was in a good zen-like place until I was served fake meat made of vegetables. I said, “we are in the capital of delicious lamb and we are eating mushrooms flavored like lamb?” After some unfulfilling dishes we paid and left and I walked to a street vendor to get some lamb shredded in a pita…I no longer wanted to kill anyone.

Over all I would say that Xi’an is my favorite city in China. It still has a lot of preserved history and is being modernized at the same time. I enjoy living in Beijing, but if I could choose another city to live in for six months it would be Xi’an for three reasons: 1. the history, 2. the culture, and 3. the lamb.
Next weekend...the beaches of Qing Dao.


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Jordan J. Foley
傅力波