• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Tiny Urban Kitchen
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Michelin
    • Subscribe
    • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » World Travel

    Shaanxi Cuisine [Xi'an and the Terra Cotta Warriors]

    Published: Feb 2, 2011 · Modified: Jul 14, 2022 by Jennifer Che


    For thousands of years, the Chinese knew the legend of Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China. Emperor Qin ascended to the throne at the young age of 13. Obsessed with wanting to live forever, he began constructing his tomb soon afterwards. Qin wanted to be surrounded by the largest and strongest army possible in afterlife. According to Sima Qian, a well known historian who lived about a century after Emperor Qin (circa 100 B.C.), it took nearly 700,000 men over three decades to build this massive army.

    Chinese children grew up hearing stories about a magnificent tomb buried underground filled with thousands of life-sized terra cotta soldiers, precious jewels, and magical rivers.

    Imagine the shock and awe when, in 1974, a poor farmer hit upon this tomb while digging for water. For the first time in history, the legend had been validated.

    The army was real and incredibly well preserved.
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    How could such a tomb be so well preserved?

    Legend has it that Emperor Qin buried alive everyone that worked on the tomb in order to keep its location secret forever. He was obsessed with living forever. Ironically, he died from drinking a magical "elixir" that was supposed to help him live forever. The elixir was mercury.

    Soon after Emperor Qin's death, tomb robbers raided the site, setting it on fire. By some crazy stroke of luck, the ashes and the dirt fell on the soldiers, protecting them from the elements (e.g., oxygen, sunlight) for thousands of years, keeping them nearly perfectly preserved.
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    Excavation has been going on for about 30 years, although at times the Chinese government decided to stop digging because exposure to the air was causing these soldiers to lose their beautiful lacquered colors. Even though the warriors were brightly colored when they first emerged, exposure to the air caused the colors to disappear within 7-10 days.

    Scientists are still trying to figure that out. They've decided to keep some tombs covered until they can perfect the technology.
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    Rows and rows of unearthed soldiers, still buried and preserved

    Three pits of the tomb have now been at least partially unearthed, and thousands of soldiers have been slowly pieced back together.

    The variety of soldiers and animals is mind-numbing.
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    No two faces are exactly the same.
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    Pictured about is the "Control Room" where higher level generals met.
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    This massive room (Pit No. 1) is the most impressive of all. Rows of soldiers seem to go on forever. There are estimated to be around 8000 soldiers total, many of whom are still buried.
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian Lucky Soldier
    This guy is called the Lucky One because, to date, he is the only one that was found completely intact. He has become the symbol of the region.
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    So much work still to do . .

    Xi'An Dining
    Visting the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'An is a breathtaking experience and totally worth the extra two-hour flight from Beijing. We traveled to Xi'An solely to see this incredible life-sized clay army. We stayed for hours, just soaking in the immensity of the work. No photo can truly capture the sheer massiveness and wonder of seeing the warriors in person.

    The Shaanxi region of China (which is where Xi'an is located) has a few well known dishes. Their homemade noodles, especially their hand-pulled noodles, are well known. One deliciously simple dish we tried was the Chili Oil Noodles (油泼面 you puo mian). Essentially, they give you these REALLY WIDE noodles that you hand mix with their addictively spicy sauce.
    Biang Biang Noodles
    It's oily, chewy, and oh-so-satisfying after an entire morning and afternoon hanging out with the terra cotta warriors.
    Biang Biang NOodles
    The wide noodles are called "biang biang" noodles (see ridiculously complicated character shown above).

    Another very classic dish is the mutton stew (羊肉泡沫 yang rou pao muo). The waiter brings out a dry piece of wheat flour bread (almost like a really thick cracker) which you break up into pieces. He then takes the pieces back into the kitchen, to which he adds the rest of the stew.
    Xi'An Lamb mutton stew
    The stew was hearty and delicious (as long as you like the taste of lamb). I liked the texture of the crackers, which was slightly chewy and quite dense. Pickled garlic also seems to be quite popular.
    Xi'an noodles
    Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to try the third type of well-known Shaanxi dish, the dumpling banquet.  It would have been fun to try all the various colorful dumplings that are characteristic of these banquets. Some day . . .

    Hoping to return . . .
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    Xi'an holds what many consider to be the eighth wonder of the world. The site is continually changing as the workers clean up and restore more and more soldiers. It will be so cool to return once they have perfected the technique of preserving the colors on the soldiers.

    I would highly recommend making a stop at Xi'an, both for the fascinating history and also for the food. Xi'an was the first capital of China, and therefore has a ton of older Chinese history embedded within those old walls (yes, the inner city is still completely walled! It's really cool!).

    Looking forward to the day I return. Until then, I guess I can always pull my own noodles. 😉
    Terra Cotta Warriors Xian
    This is part 14 of the China Series detailing my recent trip to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. 

    Other posts in this series: 
    part 1: Wander the Streets of Beijing
    part 2: Xian'r Lao Man (handmade dumplings)
    part 3: Made in China (Peking duck)
    part 4: Noodle Bar (hand pulled noodles)
    part 5: Bao Yuan Dumpling (handmade dumplings)
    part 6: Da Dong (Peking duck)
    part 7: Jia Jia Tang Bao (Soup dumplings / xiao long bao)
    part 8: Yang's Fry Dumpling (Pan fried steamed buns / shen jian bao)
    part 9: Din Tai Fung (dumplings)
    part 10: Eating At the World Expo
    part 11: Crystal Jade (Dim Sum)
    part 12: Jiu Men Xiao Chi (Nine Gates Snack Street) - the best Street Snacks in Beijing
    part 13: Noodle Loft {Mian Ku}
    China: Lost in Translation
    Happy Birthday Bryan: an Ode to Noodles and Ducks
    ©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
    All Rights Reserved

    More World Travel

    • peas tart
      Restaurant Virtus Paris
    • NE/SO Paris (Neso Paris)
    • Les Enfants du Marche Paris
    • Wong Kee Restaurant 旺記打冷小菜館

    Recent Posts

    • Restaurant Virtus Paris March 27, 2023
    • NE/SO Paris (Neso Paris) March 24, 2023
    • Les Enfants du Marche Paris March 18, 2023
    • Wong Kee Restaurant 旺記打冷小菜館 March 14, 2023
    • Frenchie Wine Bar (Frenchie Bar à Vins) March 13, 2023
    • Dublin Ireland Trip Report March 12, 2023
    • Palazzo Parigi Milan, Italy March 9, 2023
    • Ricard Camarena Valencia Spain February 28, 2023

    Reader Interactions

    Trackbacks

    1. Epcot World Showcase Disney World - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      April 28, 2015 at 7:04 pm

      […] Xi’an. At left is the replica from Epcot; at right is a photo of the real soldiers from my visit to Xi’an back in 2010. We didn’t eat any of the food in China this time around, though we did dine at the Nine […]

      Log in to Reply
    2. PANDA GOURMET (Washington, DC) | simply dolicious says:
      June 21, 2015 at 9:08 am

      […] cuisines, it has a unique style and very strong local characteristics of Shaanxi, a province with Xi’an, which an ancient capital and a historic city famous for the terra cotta warrior statues. Shaanxi cuisine consists of imperial dishes, official dishes, merchant dishes, temple dishes, folk […]

      Log in to Reply
    3. Xi'an Famous Foods New York - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      January 15, 2016 at 12:36 am

      […] first discovered the cuisine of the Shaanxi region of China in 2o11 when Bryan and I visited the city of Xi’an to see the world famous terra cotta warriors. Though food was not the main purpose for that […]

      Log in to Reply
    4. Chengdu Weekend Trip - Sichuan China - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      January 24, 2019 at 11:33 am

      […] Posts Shaanxi Cuisine: Xian and the Terra Cotta Warriors Shanghai: Eating at the World Expo Wandering the Streets of Beijing The Best of Beijing Street […]

      Log in to Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

    More about me →

    Explore

    • Recipe
    • Restaurant
    • US Travel
    • World Travel

    Popular Posts

    • Frenchie Wine Bar (Frenchie Bar à Vins)
    • Ireland
      Dublin Ireland Trip Report
    • space
      Palazzo Parigi Milan, Italy
    • aged tuna? ricotta, zucchini?
      Ricard Camarena Valencia Spain

    Recipes

    • Appetizer
    • Snacks
    • Meat
    • Vegetables
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Noodles

    Recently Traveled

    • Hong Kong
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Boston
    • California
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Spain

    Support Us

    Recognition


    Featured on the front page
    of the FOOD Section: 2015

    Best Food Blog Awards:
    Restaurant & Dining 2012

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • My Equipment
    • In the Press
    • Project Food Blog
    • Privacy Policy

    Eating Guides!

    Eating & Travel Guides
    Trip Reports
    "Kawaii" (Cute Foods)
    Around the World

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Mail
    • RSS Feed

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Shop at Amazon

    Copyright © 2022 Tiny Urban Kitchen