Travel & Outdoors | China's Xian offers a lot more than just its famed terra-cotta warriors | Seattle Times Newspaper

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China's Xian offers a lot more than just its famed terra-cotta warriors

Walking through the alleyways of Xian's Muslim quarter, assembling a movable feast of snacks made from dates and sweet potatoes, I felt as if I were wandering the back streets of Cairo rather than one of China's oldest cities.

The meal was a reward for a windy bike ride atop the city walls, where the views from the ancient stone watchtowers are of skyscrapers and construction cranes.

Travelers on a tight schedule can fly into Xian in the morning from Beijing, see its most famous attraction — the Army of the Terra-Cotta Warriors — and catch a plane or train out later that night.

But day-tripping through this 4,000-year-old city would be like flying into Seattle, taking the elevator to the top of the Space Needle and leaving in the afternoon for Portland or Vancouver.

At the eastern end of the Silk Road trade route, Xian became one of China's great melting pots. The capital of the modern Shaanxi province, it was once the capital of some of China's most powerful dynasties.

With three nights booked in a $23-a-night European-owned chain hotel, my husband, Tom, and I spent a half-day touring the warriors site filled with thousands of life-size soldiers and horses dating from 210 B.C. Then we set out on buses and bikes to discover what awaited us in modern Xian.

Riding on the ancient city walls

Enclosing the oldest section of ...

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