8 Xi'an Hotels Inside the Ming City Walls

Xi'an still has its city wall. Thirteen point seven kilometres of it, built in the 1370s at the start of the Ming dynasty on the foundations of the Tang imperial city, twelve metres high and between fifteen and eighteen metres wide along the top — wide enough that it was designed for troops to move along at speed.

It is the largest and most complete city wall in China and the circuit is unbroken. You can hire a bicycle at any of the four main gates and ride the whole thing in about ninety minutes, looking down into courtyards on one side and at towers on the other. Very few cities anywhere let you do that.

What the wall was protecting

Xi'an was Chang'an, capital of thirteen dynasties and the eastern end of the Silk Road. Under the Tang in the eighth century it was plausibly the largest city on earth, with a population approaching a million and a foreign quarter of Persian, Sogdian and Arab traders. The Muslim community that arrived then is still here, still centred on the same quarter behind the Drum Tower, and the Great Mosque in the middle of it is built as a Chinese temple complex — courtyards, pavilions and a minaret that looks like a pagoda.

The army under the field

In March 1974 farmers digging a well east of the city hit fired clay. What they had found was the outer edge of a buried army of something over eight thousand life-size figures, arranged in battle formation, guarding the tomb mound of the first emperor of unified China, who died in 210 BC.

No two faces are the same. They were originally painted and most of the pigment was lost within minutes of excavation as it dried and flaked, which is why large sections of the site remain deliberately unexcavated — the technology to preserve the colour did not exist and largely still does not. The tomb mound itself has never been opened.

The site is about an hour east of the city and is best in the first hour after opening.

The eight below are grouped by position relative to the wall.

Inside the walls

Within the Ming circuit.

Sofitel Legend People's Grand Hotel Xi'an occupies a 1953 Soviet-influenced building set in gardens, restored with the original scale and detail intact, with a pool and considerable grandeur. It is the most interesting building any hotel here occupies.

Shangri-La Hotel Xi'an sits inside the walls near the Bell Tower with a pool, a spa and the Muslim quarter a short walk away.

Eastern House Boutique Hotel occupies a converted property in the old town with a design drawn from Tang motifs and a small room count.

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda

South of the walls, in the temple quarter.

Gran Meliá Xi'an sits beside the pagoda with a spa, two pools and gardens designed around water, and it is the most comfortable hotel in the city.

Wyndham Grand Xi'an South occupies a position in the southern district with a very large spa, several restaurants and full facilities.

The high-tech and southern districts

Newer, and better value.

W Xi'an occupies a tower with a rooftop bar, contemporary rooms and a livelier ground floor than the older hotels.

Hilton Xi'an sits south of the walls with a pool, a spa and reliable rooms at a lower rate.

Grand Park Xi'an occupies a position near the high-tech zone with large rooms and good value.

What we have left off

The courtyard guest houses inside the walls are excluded, and a handful occupy genuinely old buildings in the lanes. They are guest houses rather than hotels.

What to do

Cycle the wall, ideally in the late afternoon when the light is low and the lanterns come on along it.

Go to the terracotta warriors at opening and start with pit one, then two and three, and then the bronze chariots in the museum, which are the finest objects on the site.

Eat in the Muslim quarter: hand-pulled biang biang noodles, roujiamo — a flatbread filled with stewed pork or beef, sometimes called China's oldest sandwich — and yangrou paomo, a mutton soup you crumble your own bread into.

Climb the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, built in 652 to house sutras brought back from India by the monk Xuanzang, whose journey became the basis of Journey to the West.

See the Han Yang Ling, a second-century BC tomb complex with a glass-floored underground museum, which almost nobody visits and is more atmospheric than the warriors.

Practical notes

Xi'an's airport has domestic and regional connections and the city is a high-speed rail hub — Beijing in four and a half hours, Chengdu in three.

March to May and September to November are best. Summer is hot; winter is cold, grey and can have poor air quality.

The terracotta site is an hour east by road or by a direct tourist bus from the railway station.

Questions people actually ask

Can you cycle the wall?

Yes. Bicycles at the main gates, about ninety minutes for the full 13.7-kilometre circuit.

Why is the site partly unexcavated?

The original paint was lost within minutes of exposure in early digs, and preservation technology still is not adequate. The emperor's tomb mound has never been opened.

Inside or outside the walls?

Inside for the Bell Tower, the Muslim quarter and the wall itself. South for newer hotels and better value.

How many nights?

Two. One for the warriors and one for the city.

If you only book one