This week, I was fortunate enough to have a few of my classes cancelled. This left me with six free days, so I took the opportunity to travel to the city of Xi’an, the capital city of the Shaanxi province located in northwest China. The city was originally called Chang’an, or “perpetual peace”, during the Ming dynasty and was later renamed Xi’an, which means “western peace” in Chinese. The city is historically significant – it has served as the capital city for numerous dynasties throughout Chinese history.
Furthermore, Xi’an marks the starting point of the Silk Road, an elaborate trade route that led to significant cultural interaction between East and the West. Most tourists today know it as the home of the Terracotta Army – a grand army of sculptures including infantrymen, archers, and cavalry that were buried along-side Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, to protect him in the afterlife.
My reasons to travel to Xi’an were, of course, to discover the historical and cultural aspects of the city. But even more importantly, I wanted to discover the food. In New York City, there is a restaurant called “Xi’an Famous Foods” with its original location in Flushing, Queens. The restaurant became so popular that the owner branched out to open multiple locations across the city. It is one of my favorite restaurants, so of course I had to try Xi’an food straight from the source.
