At its height in the seventh and eighth centuries, Chang'an, the Tang capital, was probably the biggest city in the world, with a population of around a million and a street plan so precise that Japan copied it for Kyoto and Nara. At the north of the city, on a plateau above the rest, stood the Daming Palace, the imperial residence from the 630s, with a great audience hall, the Hanyuan Hall, set on a raised platform, from which the emperor looked out over the city. It was the political heart of the empire, and a place of ceremony, intrigue and banquets, receiving envoys from Persia, Japan, Korea and Central Asia.
Today nothing stands but earth platforms and foundations, which have been preserved in a large archaeological park with a museum, and the site gives a sense of scale, since the palace area was several times the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing. UNESCO listed it in 2014 as part of the Silk Roads, and it is a quiet counterpoint to the crowds at the Terracotta Army, which is about thirty-five kilometres east, in a different era, and which also forms part of the picture of ancient Shaanxi.
Xi'an is a big, busy city of several million, and riding in it means dense traffic, electric scooters, and crowded intersections. The Ming-era city walls, which are still intact, can be cycled on top, and the Muslim Quarter near the Drum Tower is a maze of lanes with food stalls. Away from the city, the Qinling mountains to the south have good roads with long climbs and bends, and the sacred mountain of Huashan is a few hours to the east. Winters are cold and dry, summers hot and humid, and the best seasons are spring and autumn.
Fuel and food are plentiful, and Xi'an is famous for its noodles, especially the wide, hand-pulled biangbiang noodles, for roujiamo, a pork-filled flatbread, and for a stew of lamb and bread called yangrou paomo. The park is large, so wear comfortable shoes and bring a hat, and allow time for the museum, which explains the buildings that are no longer there.