As I explored the beautiful ancient courtyards, ornate arches and stone stele of Xi’an’s Great Mosque, I tried to imagine what life was like for this community back in the 700s. Unlike mosques in Arab countries, the Great Mosque is uniquely Chinese in its construction and architectural style. Except for some Arabic lettering and decorations, the structure has neither domes nor traditional minarets. Today, China’s oldest mosque is the center of life for a Hui Muslim community descended from early Arab merchants and religious figures who brought the religion to China along the ancient Silk Road.

Surrounding the mosque you’ll find the narrow alleys and aisles of the local Muslim market. Although much of the silk products and wares are now geared to tourists, the entrepreneurial ambience and ancient culture molded by Silk Road commerce has changed little over the centuries. Despite using electric woks and deep fryers, most of the food vendors still prepare their popular Halal delicacies such as the sweet and sticky Xi’an Huanggui persimmon pancakes or bing (fried-dough flatbread stuffed with meat) using ancient techniques and ingredients.

Since 200 B.C., Xi’an (or Chang’an, its original name) served as China’s first capital and terminus city on the Silk Road. Back then the name “Silk Road” didn’t exist and was actually a network of four or five different trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, Russia and China. It wasn’t until 1877, when the prominent geographer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen referred to the route as the Silk Road, that the name stuck.

The Silk Road prospered under Emperor Qin (221–206 B.C.), who standardized China’s currency exchange with other countries and instituted a system of standard weights and measures for trade. In an effort to protect China’s northern borders and the main trade corridor around and west of Xi’an, Emperor Qin consolidated existing border fortifications (including the wall ringing Xi’an) and authorized construction of new sections to complete about 3,000 miles of China’s Great Wall. By A.D. 700, Xi’an had grown into the world’s largest city and continued to serve as China’s capital for 11 dynasties.

The unification reign of Genghis Khan and the writings of Marco Polo greatly expanded trade along the route. But it was the Silk Road’s very success that most likely contributed to its downfall. By the late 13th century, China’s 5,000-year-old silkmaking secret had become common knowledge in the West, and silk was no longer the main commodity traded along the route. In 1271, Kublai Khan shifted China’s capital to Dadu (present-day Beijing), and the volume of other riches (precious metals, jewels, spices) traveling along the route reached a level too tempting for raiding warlords. The steady stream of marauding armies and traders moving east to west along the route eventually brought the bubonic plague, or Black Death, to many Western countries.

The plague existed in East Asia for centuries, but Westerners, especially Europeans, had no immunity to it. By the end of the 1300s, the disease wiped out a third of the European population. Fearing the spread of more disease and marauding warlords, many of the empires along the route closed their borders to trade and travel.

By this time, Europeans improved on some of China’s other great inventions such as the compass, paper and gunpowder. They used the new technologies to improve maritime navigation, mapping and defense to develop safer and more efficient sea trade routes. But despite all its ups and downs, the Silk Road remained the world’s most famous and influential land route for commerce and the exchange of ideas, cultures and religions for more than 1,800 years.

Besides its wonderful Muslim district, Xi’an boasts a number of other unique tourist attractions, including the 200-foot-tall Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. Completed in 704 during the Tang Dynasty, the pagoda is home to the Buddhist sutras and figurines that the Buddhist monk and translator Xuanzang brought back to China from India. Due to faulty construction and a 1556 earthquake, the structure leans perceptibly to the west, resulting in its affectionate nickname, “China’s leaning tower of Xi’an.”

But the city’s most famous attractions are those associated with Emperor Qin’s elaborate burial and afterlife. About 18 miles east of Xi’an, the five-square-mile Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and its surrounding gardens are contained in two large concentric walled circles. The tomb construction started when the emperor was only 13 years old and took 38 years to complete. The main burial chamber is located under a 200-foot-high burial mound.

Around the necropolis complex, workers excavated a series of large pits and trenches to house terra-cotta horses, chariots and the graves of the thousands of workers who died during the mausoleum’s construction. About a mile east of the central burial chamber, four enormous pits held the emperor’s terra-cotta army, assembled around 210 B.C. to protect the emperor during his afterlife.

After the Great Wall, the Terra-Cotta Warriors Museum is China’s most famous attraction. The site remained buried for about 2,200 years until 1974, when a local farmer uncovered the first of three massive earth and timber vaults while digging a well. To date, extensive excavations uncovered more than 6,000 life-sized terra-cotta warriors, horses and chariots. Many more still lie buried, and archaeologists estimate the site will eventually yield about 8,000 warriors, 150 chariots and 500 horses.

Archaeologists believe artisans in various workshops throughout the city fired parts of the clay figures (heads, arms, legs and torsos) separately and later assembled them on site. Recent studies suggest artisans used only eight different face molds and added various intricate facial expressions after assembly in the pits.

As I stepped onto the observation deck overlooking the immense, 700-foot-long and 200-foot-wide Pit 1 vault with its 11 separated trenches packed with lifelike warriors, chariots and horses, I had to remind myself to breathe. Workers placed the figures in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty. It’s truly one of the world’s greatest spectacles and so unique that UNESCO designated it a World Heritage site in 1987.

Of course, no visit to Xi’an would be complete without attending the classic Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show at the Grand Theatre. The riches from Silk Road trade during the Tang Dynasty (618–907) created almost 300 years of peace and prosperity for Xi’an. Chinese historians refer to this period as China’s Golden Age, a time of new religions, intellectuals, poetry, music and the blending of different cultures.

Dim sum © Michael DeFreitas

The wonderful dumpling (dim sum) banquet and fascinating show take you on a cultural journey back in time to China’s most influential era. While 100 performers wow you with traditional dances, acrobatics and music from the Tang Dynasty, Chef Sang Hua Rung, one of China’s top chefs, dazzles you with his scrumptious and artistic dumpling banquet.

Today, many regard Xi’an as the birthplace of the dumpling banquet. Local legend says an Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220) doctor from Xi’an named Zhang Zhongjing returned to his home town in Nanyang to find the villagers suffering from typhoid and weak with starvation. The doctor prepared a mixture of mutton, cayenne and a special medicine and wrapped the concoction in pieces of ear-shaped dough, which he then boiled to make it easier for the sick villagers to swallow. His dumplings saved the villagers and became a staple in the Chinese diet.

I’m not sure how factual the story is, but I do know I enjoyed all 16 different dumpling dishes I tried that evening.

INFO TO GO

China’s two main gateways from the United States are Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). From those hubs, dozens of daily flights connect into Xi’an Xianyang International Airport (XIY). Express airport shuttle buses and private taxis whisk visitors into downtown Xi’an every 30 minutes (50-minute trip, $5–25).