Xi'an - China

Apologies for the delays here but here we go after already having documented the Shanghai and Beijing portions of my China trip. We were only in Xi'an for a couple of days, which proved to be more than enough time to see what I wanted to see: the Terracotta Warriors, the city wall and the Muslim Quarter. In fact, we even saw a little bit more, though mostly we saw rain . . . and then some more rain. . . . oh, and them some more rain.

We hired a guide/driver in advance of our trip to take us to the Terracotta Warriors and he was fantastic. He picked us up at our hotel, spoke very good English and dazzled us with his knowledge of the history of the site. Peaceful, rural surroundings led us to a modern entrance and ultimately led us back centuries in time:










Though the Terracotta Warriors were undoubtedly the sightseeing highlight of Xi'an, the Muslim market was the culinary highlight. Even through the pouring rain I could smell the wicked aromas of chili peppers, cumin and more drawing me closer. Yet navigating the night market with an umbrella proved to be complicated, particularly after one of the vendors cautioned me to put my wallet away quickly. I would later learn that theft/pickpocketing are major issues at the night market.

So here we go, rain and all:






The sights and scents at the market were almost like nothing I've ever experienced - brilliantly bright colors, intoxicating aromas and endless eating options. Though I'm partial to Thai food and the food I've eaten at Thai night markets, this market blew me away.

There was magnificent pita bread:








Then there were these magnificently crisp, hot, delicious bread-like pastries filled with lamb and onions.






There was also plenty of meat, beef and lamb but no pork of course. Let's start with some skewers:






And gorgeous lamb shanks, with chili peppers, cumin, sesame seeds, scallions and cilantro:






Very similar flavors went into the tofu:






And then there were these fantastic wok-fried potatoes, also with chiles, cumin and scallion. Hot as hell in terms of temperature, pretty spicy too, and served with a couple of sticks so we could stab at and eat them:








In addition to street stands, there are many restaurants/stalls you can visit in the market. Many featured dumplings and hand pulled noodles. Here is an order of some piping hot steamed lamb dumplings:






But to me, the star of this spot was not the dumplings but the hand pulled noodles, liangpi noodles to be precise. They ask you how you'd like them garnished: there's a sesame sauce, hot chiles in oil, black vinegar and cucumbers. All of the above please. I can think of very few noodle dishes I'd rather eat than great spicy sesame noodles and these hit the spot - spicy, great flavor from toasted sesame seeds, nice tang from the vinegar, cool cucumbers and nice, chewy noodles. They were so good that I tried another version at another stall which was similar, but not quite as good. Pictured below, my favorite version.










Moving back to the street, there were numerous shops offering spices, nuts and dried fruits:






Roasted walnuts too:






And don't forget about the sticky, delicious persimmon cakes Josephine wrote about here:






I think my favorite sweet was this dense cake that I understand may be made in part with glutinous rice. It was soaked through with a syrup of dates and rosewater which gloriously perfumed the air:









Of course, there's also the hamburger of Xi'an, roujiamou, which I enjoyed outside of the Muslim market, this one with lamb:





On our flight from Xi'an to Chengdu, we were also served a meal (all flights in Asia seem to offer meals), which just happened to be a roujiamou with chicken, and a pretty good one at that.




We wandered all around Xi'an, including considerable time on the city wall that once protected the city's borders. Not quite my understanding of a "wall," as it's wide enough to hold several cars:







Not quite the Great Wall, yet certainly massive:






And of course, more street food. Not quite sure what these were:






Then there was some grilled squid, with the ubiquitous mixture of chili and cumin. I suppose you could tell the popularity of any particular stand by the number of used wooden skewers left behind (back of picture in the blue bucket):






More sticks:







I'll finish up soon with a couple of last meals, one of Yangrou Paomo and another of fast food, and maybe a few more pics. But you now have a pretty decent idea of Xi'an street food, particularly what's found in the Muslim market.

Gorgeous. Makes me hungry just looking at it. You have really captured the essence of those outdoor markets. Definitely the land of sensory overload. But with awesome food as part of that sensory overload.

Did you also get to the Shaanxi Museum in Xian?

Thanks Cynthia!

Sadly, we could not get into the Shaanxi Museum. We misunderstood the reservation system and despite arriving early in the morning could not even purchase any tickets for that same day. My advice for anyone reading this thread is to arrange for or purchase tickets immediately upon arrival for the following day (or day after). I was told that if you go to one museum in China, make it the Shaanxi Museum . . . another time.

That looks fun.

BR wrote:Thanks Cynthia!

Sadly, we could not get into the Shaanxi Museum. We misunderstood the reservation system and despite arriving early in the morning could not even purchase any tickets for that same day. My advice for anyone reading this thread is to arrange for or purchase tickets immediately upon arrival for the following day (or day after). I was told that if you go to one museum in China, make it the Shaanxi Museum . . . another time.

Always good to have a reason to go back. If you ever go to an LTH event that I'm attending, let me know, and I can bring along the museum catalog, to give you an idea what the museum holds.

Definitely Cynthia - thanks.


Elsewhere I wrote about my favorite dish from Xi'an, yangrou paomo. It's a lamb soup served with a very dense, dry pita that you tear into tiny pieces (many places serve the pita pre-torn) and put in the soup, along with pickled garlic that you peel and hot/sweet chile sauce. I've read reports of people finding this dish to be boring. I don't get that. To me, it was comforting in a chicken and dumplings sense, with the torn pita pieces taking on the texture of dumplings in the soup. And with delicious, fatty lamb and a quality lamb broth, I barely came up for air. I could imagine a lesser version where you're missing one of those three main elements, but this was sensational. As I type this on a cold, snowy Chicago winter night, I dream of steaming, delicious bowl of yangrou paomo. And as you travel through Xi'an, you'll see restaurant after restaurant serving nothing but yangrou paomo. Search for the one that's packed to the gills.

The yangrou paomo spot we visited was tucked in a little mall not more than a 10-minute walk from our Sofitel hotel. There was restaurant after restaurant in this mall (and nothing but restaurants . . . and food stands), and plenty of seating too since some restaurants didn't offer their own seating:





But this is the spot you're looking for in the mall:







Just some of the packed house enjoying their yangrou paomo:





The menu (use your Waygo app to translate):





The kitchen:





And my bowl of yangrou paomo - lamb, lamb soup, glass noodles, torn pita, green onion, bean curd and mushrooms:





You can see that the pita ends up looking for like little dumplings (same texture too):





Pickled garlic (requires peeling):





And finally, the chile sauce:






I'll admit that we didn't know exactly how to eat the yangrou paomo when we first sat down, but the husband and wife running the restaurant came over and helped us quite a bit. And after I told them in my best Mandarin how much I loved it, they both gave us big hugs as we left. Another fantastic moment in travel where food overcomes most language barriers.

I loved the yangrou paomo so much and I was lucky enough to find it bagged at the Xi'an airport. You can find almost anything to eat at the airports. I still have it . . . haven't made it yet:






We would also eat at a local fast food restaurant to check it out. We enjoyed a pretty decent fried chicken sandwich:







If only I could remember what this was:





Sesame balls with red bean paste and fried purple taro balls, both of which were delicious:







Of course, you always feel at home in China where you can visit a KFC, 7-11 or Apple store almost everywhere. Oh . . . wait . . . not quite. And you thought the Bean was the only thing stolen:









And of course, the ubiquitous, massive shopping mall (all offering numerous dining options, and not like American mall food):






So that's it for my Xi'an posts. A new thread for Chengdu awaits.

So now I need to go back -- to track down that lamb soup.