16 Sights in Xi'an, China (with Map and Images)

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda, is a monumental Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It was built in c. 648 – c. 649 during the Tang dynasty and originally had five stories. It was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick façade was renovated during the Ming dynasty.

Wikipedia: Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (EN)

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda, sometimes Little Wild Goose Pagoda, is one of two significant pagodas in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, the site of the old Han and Tang capital Chang'an. The other notable pagoda is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, originally built in 652 and restored in 704. This pagoda, along with the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and other sites along the Silk Road, was inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor World Heritage Site.

Wikipedia: Small Wild Goose Pagoda (EN)

Shaanxi History Museum, which is located to the northwest of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in the ancient city Xi'an, in the Shaanxi province of China, is one of the first huge state museums with modern facilities in China and one of the largest. The museum houses over 370,000 items, including murals, paintings, pottery, coins, as well as bronze, gold, and silver objects. The modern museum was built between 1983 and 2001 and its appearance recalls the architectural style of the Tang dynasty.

Wikipedia: Shaanxi History Museum (EN), Website

Tang Paradise is a large theme park in the city of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, Northwest China. The park is at or near the site of an earlier garden Furong Garden (芙蓉园) complex in the city of Chang'an, the capital of the Tang dynasty.

Wikipedia: Tang Paradise (EN), Website

The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting him in his afterlife.

Wikipedia: Terracotta Army (EN), Website

The Drum Tower of Xi'an, located in the heart of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, Northwestern China, along with the Bell Tower is a symbol of the city. Erected in 1380 during the early Ming Dynasty, it stands towering above the city center and offers an incredible view of Xi'an. The Drum Tower is in a predominantly Muslim district of Xi'an, known as the Drum Tower Muslim District (DTMD).

Wikipedia: Drum Tower of Xi'an (EN)

Banpo is an archaeological site discovered in 1953 by Shi Xingbang, and located in the Yellow River Valley just east of Xi'an, China. It contains the remains of several well organized Neolithic settlements, like Jiangzhai, carbon dated to 6700–5600 years ago. The area of 5 to 6 hectares is surrounded by a ditch, probably a defensive moat, 5 to 6 meters wide. The houses were circular, built of mud and wood with overhanging thatched roofs. They sat on low foundations. There appear to be communal burial areas.

Wikipedia: Banpo (EN)

Huaqing Pool (華清池), or the Huaqing Hot Springs (華清宫), are a complex of hot springs located in an area characterized by mild weather and scenic views at the northern foot of Mount Li, one of the three major peaks of the Qinling. The Huaqing Hot Springs are located approximately 25 kilometers (16 mi) east of Xi'an, in the province of Shaanxi, China.

Wikipedia: Huaqing Pool (EN)

Chongyang Palace, the full name of "Chongyang Wanshou Palace", is one of the three ancestral gardens of Taoism, and is as famous as Beijing Baiyun Temple and Shanxi Ruicheng Yongle Palace. It is located in Zu'an Town, Hubei District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China. The palace is the place where the patriarch of Quanzhen Dao, Wang Chongyang, cultivated and was buried.

Wikipedia: 重阳宫 (ZH)

Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum, located at the site of the Confucian Temple in Sanxue Street, Beilin District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, China, is a museum that collects and studies epitaphs and other ancient stone carvings. Gathering ancient Chinese exquisite stele art, there are many steles, like "stele forest", hence the name. There are abundant epitaphs of steles, stone carving art and some remnants of the ancient buildings of the Confucian Temple.

Wikipedia: 西安碑林博物馆 (ZH), Website

The Great Learning Lane Mosque is located on the north side of the Great Learning Lane on West Street in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, and is far away from the Huajue Lane Mosque. The temple building is larger, second only to the Huajue Lane Mosque located on its east side, and the two are called the two major mosques in the east and west. According to the existing stone tablets in the temple, the temple was founded in 705 AD. It was named Qingjiao Temple, Xuanzong Dynasty changed its name to Tang Ming Temple, Yuan Zhongtong gave the name back to the Four Thousand Shan Temple, and Ming Hongwu gave the name of the mosque. It is one of the oldest mosques in Xi'an. In 2013, it was included in the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Wikipedia: 大学习巷清真寺 (ZH)

The palace of the Ming and Qin kings is located in the new city of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, the People's Republic of China, which is the palace of the Qin kings of the Ming Dynasty and the cultural relics protection unit of Shaanxi Province, with a circumference of 671 meters from north to south, 408 meters from east to west, and a circumference of 2158 meters. Outside the palace of the king of Qin is the palace city, there are two circles of city walls, the inner ring city gate is equipped with four city gates, the east gate is the east outer gate, the south gate is the Lingxing gate, the west gate is the west outer gate, and the north gate is the north outer gate. The outer ring is also divided into four city gates, the east gate is the Tiren Gate, the south gate is the Duanxu Gate, the west gate is the Zunyi Gate, and the north gate is the Guangzhi Gate. In 1370, Zhu Yuanzhang's son Zhu Fan was named the king of Qin, and in the same year, the palace of the king of Qin began to be repaired, and was presided over by Geng Bingwen, the left minister of the king of Qin. In 1378, Zhu Fan moved into the palace of the king of Qin. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng invaded Xi'an, and Zhu Cunzhu, the king of Qin, surrendered to Li Zicheng, and the palace of the king of Qin became the palace of Dashun. During the Qing Dynasty, the palace of the Qin Dynasty was demolished, and basically only the city wall remained. At the time of the Xi'an Incident, Yang Hucheng used this place as his command center. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Tiren Gate, Duanxu Gate, and Zunyi Gate were demolished again, leaving only the Guangzhi Gate and part of the city wall. The Shaanxi Provincial People's Government once held a government office in the Qin Palace. In 1985, Guangzhimen was demolished again. In 2003, the ruins of the city wall of the Ming and Qin palaces were listed as the fourth batch of cultural relics protection units in Shaanxi Province. During the floods in southern China in 2020, on the morning of August 8, due to the impact of heavy rain for several days, the masonry of the restoration and protection of the ruins of the Ming and Qin Dynasty city walls collapsed about 20 meters, causing damage to a bus and three private cars, and four people were slightly injured.

Wikipedia: 秦王府 (ZH)

Daci'en Temple is a Buddhist temple located in Yanta District, Xi'an, Shaanxi. The temple is the cradle of East Asian Yogācāra in China. It is notable for the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. The pagoda was originally built under the supervision of the monk Xuanzang, whose pilgrimage to India inspired the novel Journey to the West. Alongside Daxingshan Temple and Jianfu Temple, it was one of the three sutras translation sites (三大译经场) in the Tang dynasty.

Wikipedia: Daci'en Temple (EN)

The former site of the Xi'an Office of the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army is located at No. 1, Qixianzhuang, near Beixin Street, Xincheng District, Xi'an City; It was the earliest, longest-lasting and most influential office among the 15 offices of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army in the country; In 1959, it was rebuilt as the memorial hall of the Xi'an Office of the Eighth Route Army, including the first, third, fourth and seventh courtyards of Qixianzhuang; In 1988, it was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Wikipedia: 八路军西安办事处旧址 (ZH)

Qinglong Temple, also known as Shifo Temple, is a Buddhist temple located in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. In the mid-Tang dynasty (618–907), Huiguo taught Vajrayana at the temple, his Japanese disciple Kūkai introduced it to Japan, since then, Qinglong Temple became the cradle of Vajrayana of both Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. Qinglong Temple was completely damaged in 1086 during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) and gradually it became unknown to public, the nascent version was completed in the 1980s with Tang dynasty architectural style.

Wikipedia: Qinglong Temple (Xi'an) (EN)

Xi'an Mosque, located in Huajue Lane, northwest of Xi'an Drum Tower, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, China, is also known as Huajue Lane Mosque, Halal Mosque, covering an area of about 13,000 square meters, with a construction area of more than 6,000 square meters. The whole temple is rectangular along the east-west direction, and is divided into four courtyards. Xi'an Mosque is one of the four major mosques in China and the earliest mosque in Xi'an.

Wikipedia: 西安大清真寺 (ZH)