Chang'an, now Xi'an, was the eastern end of the Silk Road, and in the Tang dynasty it was probably the biggest city in the world, a grid of walled wards with a million people, Persian merchants, Sogdian horse traders, Japanese students and Buddhist pilgrims from India. This point is south of the modern city, at the Xingjiao Temple, where two small brick pagodas stand on a bluff over the Fan river. They hold the remains of Xuanzang, the monk who walked to India in the seventh century and came back after sixteen years with hundreds of scriptures, and of two of his disciples. His journey inspired the later novel Journey to the West, with its Monkey King, and the temple has a quiet, scholarly atmosphere.
The three pagodas are modest in size, the tallest of them about twenty metres, with rows of brick eaves and small windows, and they stand in a leafy compound with old cypress and pine trees. After the crowds at the Terracotta Army and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it is a relief. Beside the temple, a small hall shows the story, and monks go about their business, with incense and slow bells.
Riding in Xi'an is a different matter. The city is a vast grid of ring roads, traffic jams, electric scooters, taxis and buses, and the provincial and national rules about foreign vehicles make it hard for a visitor to ride in person. Most arrive by metro or a hired driver. The city wall, which is the Ming wall rebuilt on the Tang foundations, can be cycled on a rented bike in an afternoon, and the south gate at dusk, with the lights on the battlements, is wonderful. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, summer is hot and heavy, and winter is dry and cold, with smog some days.
Everything is within reach, since Xi'an has over six million people, and the Muslim Quarter is the place for food. Try the roujiamo, a stuffed bun filled with spiced lamb or pork, biangbiang noodles, which are broad and chewy, and the steamed lamb and bread soup called yangrou paomo. Fuel and repair shops are in the suburbs, as one would expect. Visit the temple in the morning, when it is calm, and check opening hours, which can change. Carry your passport for hotel check-ins and some tickets.