Top 10 places to visit in Xian and Luoyang of China

For any city or country that I have visited, the first 2 posts I always write about, are about top places to go and top foods to try in that particular place. These stories are momentous and far-reaching for me since they portray my overall impression towards a city or country and are also to summarize my vacation travels experience in that destination. So here is the first of that two “must-share” posts for Xian from me, namely the top 10 places to visit in Xian and Luoyang. Mind you, these top rated attraction should entice you into booking a flight to Xian in a very short future!

A bit of a disclaimer here. There are literally more than 10 places where travellers can explore in Xian and Luoyang. My pick of these top 10 places to visit in Xian and Luoyang, is for people who wish to plan their first ever trip to Xian, and have limited budget and time. So I have considered both the cost and time to travel from one destination to another, before penning my recommendation here. Being a travel photography hobbyist for myself, these are also destinations with great photo taking opportunities.

Here are my pick of the thrilling top 10 places to visit in Xian, with the least cost and reasonable period, in no particular order. Since Luoyang is just 2 hour train ride away, and is a major tourist destination featuring the important UNESCO heritage site of Longmen Grottoes, I decided to include it also in the list. Hope it helps your vacation planning to these cities.

Top 10 places to visit in Xian - Qin Terracotta Army-pit-1

Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses (秦始皇兵马俑)

It is the main reason why people are coming to Xi’an, if not China. Created and buried underground for the Qin Shi Huang mausoleum in 200BC, Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses were discovered accidentally in 1974 by some local farmers while digging for well. The Qin Terracotta Warriors are located 7m deep down underground at the site of the ancient Qin Shi Huang mausoleum in Lintong district of Xian. The high standard of terracotta art and colouring techniques to create these 8000 pieces of life-size statues with individual outlook, costumes and facial expression at that time, has granted it one of the major UNESCO Heritage site in China. It is also widely regarded as the 8th Wonder of the world!

Hua-Qing-hot-spring

Huaqing Hot Spring (华清池)

Situated not far away from Qin Terracotta Warrior museum at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan, 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from Xian City, Huaqing Hot Spring (also called Huaqing Pool) is famous for both its dainty spring scenery and the romantic love story of Emperor Xuanzong (685-762) and his concubine Yang Guifei in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Its long history and location among the wonderful landscapes should entice any visitor to visit and take a bath here. As seen at the background of the image above, visitors can also take a cable car up to Mt. Lishan for a scenic panorama view of the district.

Bell Tower Xian-2

Bell Tower (钟楼) and Drum Tower (鼓楼)

The Bell Tower, is a stately traditional building, that marks the geographical center of the ancient capital. From this important landmark extend East, South, West and North Streets, connecting the Tower to the East, South, West and North Gates of the City Wall of the Ming Dynasty. The wooden tower, which is the largest and best-preserved of its kind in China, is 36 meters (118 feet) high. During the Ming Dynasty, Xian was an important military town in Northwest China, a fact that is reflected in the size and historic significance. The tower was built in 1384 by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang as a way to dominate the surrounding countryside and provide early warning of attack by rival rulers.

As seen from the above photo, Drum Tower is located not far away from the Bell Tower, across the Bell and Drum Tower Square. Both of them are called the ‘sister buildings’ or ‘morning bell and dark drum’. In ancient China, especially from the Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368), the drums were used to signal the running of time and on occasion were used as an alarm in emergency situations.

Great-Mosque

The Great Mosque (大清真寺) and the Muslim food and souvenir market

Within walking distance from the Drum Tower in the Muslim quarter, the Great Mosque of Xian is one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved Islamic mosques in China. Built in 742 during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when Islam being introduced into Northwest China by Arab merchants and travelers from Persia and Afghanistan during the mid-7th century. Some of them settled down in China and married women of Han Nationality and their descendants became Muslim of today. It is really well worth a trip to see the Great Mosque, not only for its centuries-old history but also for its particular design of mixed architecture – traditional Muslim and Chinese styles. Muslim food and souvenir market is another feature of the area where you can try countless local Muslim foods and snacks including Yang Rou Pao Mo (羊肉泡馍) and Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍), a Kebab like beef sandwich.

Xian-City-Wall

The ancient City Wall (西安城墙)

First built during the old Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) and later enlarged in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Xian City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived in China, as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. After the extension, the wall now stands 12 meters (40 feet) tall, 12-14 meters (40-46 feet) wide at the top and 15-18 meters (50-60 feet) thick at the bottom. It covers 13.7 kilometers (8.5 miles) in length with a deep moat surrounding it. It is especially pleasant to see at night when beautiful lighting are switched on.

It became an attractive tourist spot when visitors can hire a bicycle to slowly stroll down the 13.7km city wall to enjoy the surrounding city scenes. There are 4 main gates at East, South, West and North sides where you can rent or return your bikes if you are not planning or do not have time to cover the whole length.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda Xian-1

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda (大雁塔)

Being one of the symbolic structure of the ancient Chinese capital of Xi’an, Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Chinese: 大雁塔; pinyin: Dàyàn Tǎ), or Dayan Pagoda, is a well-preserved ancient Buddhist structure that recently being inscribed as one of the UNESCO heritage sites in China. Built in 652 during the ancient Tang Dynasty, it is a holy place for Buddhists simply because it used to hold sutras or Buddhist transcripts brought back and translated by the popular Buddhist monk, XuanZang.

Located in the southern suburb of Xi’an City, about 4 kilometers (2.49 miles) from the city downtown, Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian stands among buildings in the Da Ci’en Temple complex. It was originally a five storey building but then re-built to its current state of seven storey pagoda. Due to its significance in Buddhist history in China, visitors from all over the world drop by in droves for its fame in the Buddhist religion as well as its simple but appealing style of construction.

Shuyuanmen-alley

Ancient Cultural Street of Shuyuanmen (书院门步行街)

Situated on the eastern side of the South Gate, Shuyuanmen (Shuyuan Gate) is a cultural street factually restored in the style of the ancient architectures of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It is 570 meters (about 623 yards) long and 10 meters (about 11 yards) wide. Rambling down the street, you may taste the true life of people in Xian and find the remains of an ever-refulgent dynasty. After visiting the Bell Tower, walk along the South Avenue until you see a traditional archway on the east side of the road. That is Shuyuanmen.

Luoyang-Grottoes-big-buddha

Longmen Grottoes (龙门石窟)

Longmen Grottoes is one of the two most significant grottoes sites featuring Buddhist stone carving in excavated caves of China. Being inscribed as one of the UNESCO Heritage sites in China, Longmen Grottoes is one attraction that brought most of its visitors to Luoyang, as that Qin Terracotta Warrior and Horse to Xi’an. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Buddha and his disciples, it is located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of present day Luoyang. Merely 2 hours away from Xi’an by high speed train, Luoyang and the Longmen Grottoes site should not be missed.

Luoyang-Lao-Cheng-District

The old Luoyang town or Lao Cheng District (洛阳老城区)

The old Luoyang town is where you can experience the local folk culture and foods of Luoyang. Marvelous choice of foods can be found at the local night market street of East Zhong Zhou Road, including the famous Luoyang Shui Xi (Water Banquet), the ‘Top Banquet under the Heaven’. It originates from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and has a long history of over one thousand years. There are in total 24 dishes accompanied by different soups, hence the name of the feast. The dishes combine meat and vegetables together and are served according to a very strict order. You can delight your taste buds with the abundance of flavors that include sour, sweet, salty and hot.

Shaolin-Temple

Shaolin Temple (少林寺)

Shaolin Temple, in the region of Song Mountain, is located 80km South east of Luoyang. Reachable by taxi or private cab in about an hour, Shaolin Temple is reputed to be ‘the Number One Temple under Heaven’. Included on UNESCO’s World Cultural & Natural Heritage List in 2010, it is the cradle of the Chinese Zen Buddhism and the Shaolin Martial Arts such as Shaolin Cudgel. One can see wild flowers and pines on the mountain. With birds singing and a brook spattering, a beautiful scene full of life and vitality is revealed to the visitors. Shaolin Temple embraces many exciting attractions, such as the Hall of Heavenly Kings (Tianwangdian), the Mahavira Hall (Daxiongbaodian), the Pagoda Forest, the Dharma Cave and the Martial Art Training Center. Visitors may follow the virtual guide about the Shaolin Temple.

All of the above photos can be viewed in full resolution on my Flickr’s Xian photo and Luoyang photo Album.

These are the top 10 places to visit in Xian and Luoyang. I hope every holiday maker who loves to experience Xian and Luoyang with the least cost and time would find this exhilarating. If you wish to know more on each of these destination, watch this travel photo blog or subscribe the feed as I will keep posting new travel photos and information in the short future! :)Travel Feeder, your travel photo blog

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.