Hey there, this is Jamie, the general manager of InternChina and I’m currently visiting Xi’an! Xi’an, formerly ‘chang an’ used to be the capital city of China and is arguably still the middle kingdom’s cultural capital. Xi’an is most famous for the terracotta army which was created and buried to defend the city and tomb of the former qin emperor Qin Shi Huang. The army is spectacular and its baffling to believe that only a small part of the entire archeological site has been discovered since local farmers discovered it in 1974 when sinking a well.
Xi’an has a more weathered feel to it than other more modernized Chinese cities. Plenty of cultural sites remain, such as the big goose pagoda and ancient city walls. Xi’an is also particularly cheap in terms of food and transport. Buses cost as little as half a yuan (about 5 euro cents) and taxis cost 6 yuan (about 70 euro cents) for the first few kilometres. Food is both cheap and delicious here, for example; xi’an is home to the ro jia mo (肉夹馍), the Chinese hamburger, which in my opinion tastes awesome and usually costs about 5 yuan. Another great local dish is liang pi (凉皮), cold noodles with vegetables and peanut sauce and chili sauce.

There is also some beautiful countryside close to the city which is great to explore. This will give you a welcome break from the chaotic and overcrowded city centre, where the traffic is a complete nightmare!