Shaanxi Province travel guide

Xi'an · 2–4 hours

The Shaanxi Local History Hall displays seven major periods of history, from Lantian Man through to the Opium War: prehistoric, Zhou, Qin, Han, Wei–Jin–Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui–Tang, and Song–Yuan–Ming–Qing. It houses over 370,000 precious cultural relics unearthed in the Shaanxi region, making it the best place to understand the true culture of Shaanxi.

Xi'an · 2–3 hours

Standing before the Terracotta Army, the irresistible astonishment, fascination, delight and emotion that every attentive visitor feels is the highlight of any trip to Shaanxi. Nowhere else in the world has so many soldiers stood waiting for you for so long. Today the Terracotta Army Museum covers more than 20 hectares. Pit 1 covers 16,000 square metres and Pit 2 more than 6,000 square metres. A comprehensive exhibition building of over 17,000 square metres has been built over Pit 2 and serves as the main exhibition venue. Hall 1 in particular displays about 6,000 life-size terracotta warriors and horses. Along the walkways you can still see the black traces left when Xiang Yu's army set fire to Xianyang. The figures are vivid and lifelike, with well-proportioned and accurate bodies, and no two are alike. The sculpting is meticulous: even the stitching on the soles of the cloth shoes is evenly spaced, and the hair, beards, belts and the subtle expressions at the corners of the mouths, some angry and some smiling, make it feel as though you are facing an ancient army frozen by magic. The 360-degree cinema screens a film of several dozen minutes that outlines the process of the Qin unifying China and then falling. The scenes are grand, especially the thousands of troops fighting all around you in 360 degrees, which makes you feel as if you are right in the middle of the battle. It is a pity the sound quality is poor, which seriously undermines the sense of presence. However, the film is screened on a continuous loop, so you don't have to worry about missing a showing.