Home » Xi’an » Must-Do and Must-Not-Do in Xi’an for your first trip to China
Do you know about your first trip to Xi’an and what you must do and must-not-do in a short period? This article will help you to plan a three to four days trip to Xi’an.
Must-Do and Must-Not-Do in Xi’an #1
Must watch the musical “The Long Regret.”
‘The Long Regret’ is a drama telling a story that happened in the performance place, Huaqing Palace, more than 1300 years ago. Based on the famous historical work, ‘The Long Regret’ combines the art form of large-scale song and dance drama with high-tech choreography and lighting to restore the moving love story of Emperor Longji Li and his beloved imperial concubine, Yang.
Do not buy tickets after arriving in Xi’an. It’s hard to get a ticket for ‘The Long Regret’.
Must-Do and Must-Not-Do in Xi’an #2
In one evening, you must go to the Great Tang Everbright City and the Great Tang Paradise.
The Tang Dynasty 1400 years ago was ancient China’s most economically developed and culturally diverse time. Chang’ an, the traditional name of Xi’an, is the capital city and the center of the Tang Dynasty’s politics, economy, and culture.
The Great Tang Everbright City is a 2100-meter-long commercial pedestrian street with Tang-style architecture and decorations besides. When night falls, the lights come on. Various street performances on the pedestrian street appear one after another. While walking, watching performances, and eating street food, nights in the Datang Everbright City bring people back to the Lantern Festival in the Tang Dynasty. （There is a performance schedule at the end of the article).
The Great Tang Paradise, covering an area of 1,000 acres, is located in the north of the original Tang Dynasty Paradise Garden site. It is a huge theme park in royal-garden style to reappear the flourishing Tang Dynasty. The ancient music and dance shows, 《Dream back to Tang Dynasty》and 《Dreamchase of the Great Tang Dynasty》，are staged every night.
Do not go to the Grand Tang Everbright City and the Great Tang Paradise during the daytime.
Must-Do and Must-Not-Do in Xi’an #3
Visiting the Shaanxi History Museum
In addition to the Terracotta Warriors, the Shaanxi History Museum is the most not-to-miss attraction in Xi’an. The Shaanxi History Museum has 7.75 million cultural relics, including 762 national first-class cultural relics, 18 national treasure-level cultural relics, and nine prohibited from going abroad. Making your ‘homework’ in advance is the tremendous respect for this museum. Booking tickets before you get to Xi’an because it is hard to get one. Bring passports and bottles of water when visiting. Additionally, a professional museum guide or renting a narrate machine is necessary.
Do not go to the museum on Monday, which is the closing time. Do not bring large luggage, knives, lighters, selfie sticks, tripods, trekking poles, and umbrellas which are not allowed in the museum.
Must-Do and Must-Not-Do in Xi’an #4
Must try Roujiamo, Liangpi, Yangrou Paomo and Bingbing noodle
Roujiamo (Xi’an Hamburger)
As one of Shaanxi’s intangible cultural Heritages, Roujiamo is a wonderful combination of meat in preserved sauce meat and steamed buns. These two foods complement each other and maximize their respective flavors. The sauce for the meat is prepared with more than 30 kinds of seasonings. Due to the fine selection of materials and the perfect firework, the taste of the flesh is unique, fragrant, soft, and waxy. The buns are baked on an iron plate and are crispy outside and tender inside. When you take a bite of it, the gravy overflows from the crispy steamed bun, and the aftertaste is endless.
Liangpi (Cold noodles)
Liangpi is a kind of strip noodle that is smooth and gluten. It is mixed with cucumbers, bean sprouts, and seasonings, like chili, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, etc. The taste of Liangpi is fresh and tender, sour and spicy. It is said that this kind of food originated in the period of Emperor Qin Shihuang and has a history of more than two thousand years.
Yangrou Paomo (Flatbread in mutton or beef broth)
According to historical records, Yangrou Paomo evolved based on old mutton soup. About 2800 years ago, the mutton soup was listed as the food for kings and princes in the Western Zhou Dynasty. After founding the People’s Republic of China, national leasers have chosen Yangrou Paomo as a delicacy for many foreign guests. Different from general food, the cooking technology for Yangrou Paomo is stricter. Roasting buns, cooking meat, cutting meat, stewing buns, and other crafts are meticulous. The bun is crispy and dry and does not melt into the mutton soup. Before eating, customers must break the steamed bun into pieces. The smaller the cracked bun is, the better to facilitate the soup’s flavor into the bun.
Biangbiang noodles (Hot oil noodles)
Biangbiang noodles are made by hand-pulling the dough into wide and thick noodles, adding soy sauce, vinegar, monosodium glutamate, pepper, and other condiments, and finally, top with hot vegetable oil. It has a chewy texture, hot and sour taste, and is loved by the locals.
Don’t order too many dishes for one meal in Xi’an because each one will be a lot.
Must-Do and Must-Not-Do in Xi’an #5
Arrange one day to go to Mount Hua
Mount Huashan has the honor of being the most dangerous mountain in the world. It is the holy land of the mainstream Quanzhen Sect of Taoism in China, known as the “Fourth Cave.” It is also widely worshiped by Chinese people as the god of Mount Hua, the Western Yue. Mount Hua has 72 semi-suspended cavities and more than 20 Taoist temples. It is the “Western Mountains” of the Five Great Mountains of China, with the highest peak at 2.154.9 meters.
Do not go to Mount Hua in winter and drive alone because unfamiliar roads are dangerous for visitors.
Performance Schedule in the Great Tang Everbright City
| Tumbler Girl | |
| Time | 19:30 – 19:50; 21:30 – 21:50 |
| Location | West Gate of North Square |
| Samurai Carving | |
| Time | 19:20-19:40; 20:20-20:40; 21:20-21:40; 22:20-22:40; 22:50-23:00 |
| Location | Central landscape zone of the Grand Theater Concert Hall |
| Dunhuang Flying Apsaras | |
| Time | 19:00-19:20; 19:40-20:00; 20:40-21:00; 21:40-22:00; 22:40-23:00 |
| Location | The south side of Zhenguan sculpture |
| Opera thread | |
| Time | 19:20-19:40; 20:20-20:40; 21:20-21:40; 22:20-22:40; 22:50-23:00 |
| Location | The south side of Buddhist culture sculpture |
| Goddess of Tang Dynasty | |
| Time | 19:00-19:20; 19:40-20:00; 20:40-21:00; 21:40-22:00; 22:40-23:00 |
| Location | South side of empress Wu Zetian sculpture |
| Poet Li Bai | |
| Time | 19:00-19:20; 20:00-20:20; 21:00-21:20; 22:00-22:20; 22:40-23:00 |
| Location | In the middle of the poetry sculpture group |
| Suspended generals | |
| Time | 19:00-19:20; 19:40-20:00; 20:40-21:00; 21:40-22:00; 22:40-23:00 |
| Location | In the middle of the poetry sculpture group |
