Ancient City Wall Walk 西安古城墙
We started the day quite early at 9am but apparently the sun rays were the strongest at this time too!
We took some pictures with the traditional structures and the heat got more intense as we walked about 500m to reach the rental bike point.
At that point, we found out that my daughter was not allowed to take a bicycle ride along the ancient city walls (Only 12 years old and above). Vin said we should just walk then but I still wanted the guys to at least try the cycling activity since we would never be able to do this again. Therefore, Vin and Dar rented two bikes each and cycled off the length of the wall. We had to pay a deposit for the bike and the deposit would be refunded back to us once we returned the bikes. It was also convenient that we could return the bikes to any rental point along the way. (We returned ours at the second one once we got tired of riding)
Ling and I took a long tiring walk under an umbrella, looking at the plaques of information along the way and admiring what was beneath the wall. However, the heat grew too intense at 10 plus am. Even with umbrella and wind breaker to cover my arms, I felt as if I was being “toasted”. Therefore, when they came back to meet us at the second stop point where there was a cafe and a museum to look at some exhibits, we decided to stop for a drink and did not continue the cycling after that. We left the place after about 2 hours there.
I would recommend to do this activity in the evening as the lantern lights on the walls look pretty at night. We had plans for a night show so I could not do this at night.
- Entrance Fee: Adult RMB 54 | Children Student: RMB 27
Shu Yuan Men 书院门
I read that this was a place where we could see artists selling handicrafts, calligraphy and Chinese traditional art stuff. These were the kinds of things which I am interested in. Thus, we headed to Shu Yuan Men 书院门, a walking street, to take a look.
Even though it was for pedestrians, we had to still be careful of some people driving small vehicles past us. As we walked from the start to the end, the artwork that caught my attention was of framed animal portraits. I was missing our doggy maltipoo who was with a pet caregiver while we travelled and thought it would be nice to have a keepsake of her. After looking through all the similar “animal portraits” store, the first stall we came upon at the start was still our favourite. Therefore, we walked all the way back to commission a portrait from the artist. To do that, we sent him a photo of our dog through WeChat after linking up with him.
As we had other places to visit, we told him to send the artwork to our hotel directly and paid him in advance. I did reflect later whether he might “disappear” after taking our money and not give us an artwork but it was too late by then. [ I did not know whether that might be just a makeshift stall] In the end, I was glad of it as he send us the photo in the late afternoon through WeChat and asked first whether we needed to make amendments. Once I confirmed with him to make a small amendment at the eye area, he completed it and passed it to the hotel front desk staff.
I was really happy to receive the completed artwork when we came back to the hotel to rest for the night. It was done really well!
- Artwork Cost: RMB 180 ( About SGD$32)
Lunch at Kai Yuan Shopping Mall 阿香米线
We took a long while to decide and settled on eating this as it would take less time. The taste was just normal and quite unimpressive as I do not have much memory of it after the trip.
- Price: RMB 74
Xi’an Bell Tower 西安钟楼
There was a replica of the ancient Bell the moment we climbed up the staircase to the base of the tower and everybody was patiently queuing up to take a picture with it. Vin helped the girls in front of us and they helped us back. Walking in, there were some relics to look at , some information to read and the inner roof architecture was decorated nicely. Without a guide, we did not know what to “look for”. We just roamed around and was out in no time. It is better to visit with a guide to understand more. My knowledge mainly come from Wikipedia and websites. We visited this due to it being a symbol of Xi’an City.
Historical Info – Why Visit?
The Bell Tower of Xi’an 西安钟楼 was built in 1384 during the early Ming Dynasty and is a symbol of Xi’an and one of the grandest of its kind in China. Xi’an Bell Tower was mainly used for time reporting and publishing news in ancient times. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Xi’an Bell Tower became an alarm station for warning the Japanese air raids because of its high terrain. In 1953, the Jing Yun bell was moved to Xi’an Beilin Museum and is now on display in Dongting. The replica was hung on the January 30, 1997 and open to tourists.
- Entrance Fee: RMB 30 each
- Opening hours: 8:30 am to 6 pm in the off-season (October 11 to March 31) and 8:30 am to 9:30 pm in the peak season (April 1 to October 10)
- Time of Visit: We visited around 12pm and there was no crowd.
You can also see a nice view of the Bell Tower from the rooftop of the fifth floor of Kaiyuan Shopping Mall.
Da Tang Mi Jing 大唐秘境- Souvenir Shop
We saw an interesting “old” building and walked in to discover the story of “Journey to the West”. We were not in the mood for a show so we continued our walk and landed in a souvenir shop where the exit opens out to the Muslim street. We managed to buy a food magnet and a small model of the bell tower from here.
Xi’an Muslim Street 西安回民街
We ate lunch as I do not expect to fill our stomach with street food here in Muslim Street. Some locals say to avoid Muslim street as it is overly priced and hyped. However, I just want to take a look to see why it was “famous” as a landmark in Xi’an.
When we started strolling through and see multiple similar kind of food stalls, I lost interest. Since we were there, I decided that we must still try the mutton satay 羊肉串 and mutton bun 羊肉肉夹馍 which are local Xi’an Muslim food. Surprisingly, Ling wants to try the mutton satay and she enjoyed it. Dar tried the 羊肉肉夹馍 instead and remarked that it was tasty. I tried the plum juice which was sold everywhere and taste was just so-so, kinda sour.
Later on, Ling saw a maple syrup candy on a stick and insisted she wanted the “Nezha” design (the current hottest cartoon character in China). It was too big and I knew it would be overly sweet. As we do not get to buy such candy back home, I relented and bought it for her. She enjoyed the taste but as expected, she could not finish such a big candy before we boarded the car and had to dump half of it.
Dinner at 小六汤包
We ate here for the soup dumplings again and ordered crispy chicken too. The order took a long while to come and we hastily ate. As we were rushing for the Tuo Ling Show, I ordered them to pack the rest for us to takeaway and they packed it nicely. Taste Review: I think each order was tasty. If we had more time, I would have enjoyed our food more. The rest of the food became Vin’s supper when we went back to the hotel. Interestingly, there was a microwave at the Yunheyebo hotel front desk for us to re-heat the food.
Theatre Show: Xi’an Tuo Ling Show 驼铃传奇
This show is highly recommended! I read the good reviews before we watched it and deemed it a cannot-be-missed show in Xi’an.
True enough, we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful backdrops which was shown to us by turning our seats for each scene. It is also suitable for my 10 year old and kept her very interested.
The long treacherous journey of the Silk Road was shown with the performers pulling real camels across the stage, crossing several dangerous terrains. Eventually, they reached Rome and traded their goods. Speech were shown in English on display boards so my girl could still read and understand the story even though she could not understand some Chinese words they were saying.
Notable Scenes
A particular exciting scene with the wolves jumping down from a high platform and performing “attacks” on the performers left a deep impression on me. According to information, these wolves used in the show are domesticated, having been bred in captivity for several generations and trained by professional handlers since 2018. Protective nets are raised and people were not allowed to move when the act was happening. [ I did not take pictures as we were hundred percent focused on the action-packed scene and did not want to miss any ]
The waterfall backdrop was also stunning and some splash of droplets fell on us. That was why we did not opt to buy the front stage seat as we do not want to get wet! The place we sat was the most expensive seats in the central core area. Though they were a bit far to see the performers in close-up but it allowed us to see the entire scene and the wolves’ performance in front of us. Those seated right in front of the stage who could see close up had to turn their heads back to watch the wolves’ action and some acts in the middle of the theatre.
As we were foreigners, it was hard for us to buy the tickets for the exact seating area I want (尊宾票 VVIP) from overseas. Thus, we asked for help from China Highlights RMB 1880 ($8 extra fee) when we booked a full day tour guide for Terracotta Army and Han Yang Ling. The tour guide passed e-tickets to us and we had to go to the ticket office in Huaxia Cultural Tourism Xi’an Resort 15 mins before the performance to exchange for a physical ticket before entering. It was a mad rush where we had to quickly stop our dinner and get to the Huaxia area which was out of the city.
- Entrance Fee: RMB 468 尊宾票 each （about SGD$84)
- Location: Xi’an Huaxia Cultural Tourism Grand Theatre
>> Read Next Post: China Xi’an Day 3_ Qinling Wildlife Park
>> Read Previous Post: China Xi’an Day 1_ Explore Xi’an City
Xi’an June 2025: Day 2 Itinerary
- Ancient City Walk 西安古城墙
- Shu Yuan Men 书院门
- Lunch at Kaiyuan Shopping Mall 开元商城
- Xi’an Bell Tower 西安钟楼
- Xi’an Muslim Street 西安回民街
- Dinner at 小六汤包 at Wanda Plaza (Daming Palace Store)
- Watched a Live Show: Legend of Camel Bell Show 驼铃传奇 at Huaxia Cultural Tourism Xi’an Resort
READ China Xian 2025 Itinerary Summary: 6-Day China Itinerary: Xi’an | Chengdu
Tips For Travelling in China: “Essential Tips for Safe Family Travel in China“
Past Explorations in China :
Read About our China 2018 Trip: 9-Day Family Travel Itinerary in China Shanghai, Suzhou & Hangzhou
Travel.Snap.Stories 
Leave a comment