Before I write this Note, I am going to make a bold statement about it. I am going to make the claim that it will become the definitive: “What Is It About Xi’an That Makes It Xi’an And Makes It The Place People Like To Live?” Note. However, before any of you think I have lost my humble marbles in a blur of blogging arrogance I would like to offer a condition and an invitation.
First, this is an invitation to all of you out there who live here, or have done so recently, to add your own brief note in the comments section below about what Xi’an is to you, and what makes it different from other Chinese cities, even different from other places on earth. Plus, simply, what you like about it, as well as some of the things that you don’t quite like so much.
Second, the condition. The condition being that this will only be the definitive Note if those of you out there with experience of living in Xi’an do share your thoughts with us. This certainly won’t be the definitive Note if it is just written from my perspective.
Hopefully, if we can get this thread going we can provide a good stop off point for people who want to get to know a bit about Xi’an. There are now a good number of people that find their way to this site from different parts of the globe, who have different ideas about Xi’an, and about potential reasons for coming here. We can hopefully offer them a few pointers in the direction, whatever direction they do end up going in. So, whether its personal impressions and thoughts on Xi’an, bits of historical knowledge, circumstances where expectations were changed, or times when they really weren’t, or just a few spots in and around the city that you think are worth checking out, feel free to write about them below.
Thanks in advance, I look forward to reading. First, my own contribution, which I will also kick off in the comments section:
A page of the more Xi'an Centred Notes
What Is It About Xi’an That Makes It Xi’an And Makes It The Place People Like To Live?
西安
A question I was asked recently, in response to a Note I wrote about why I like Xi’an, was what is it that actually distinguishes Xi’an from other Chinese cities? The commentator felt my description could be applied to other Chinese cities also.
One problem would seem to be that many Chinese cities are evolving in the same direction: laid-back lifestyles and ramshackle back streets with friendly-habitants and great street food, are increasingly giving way to, or being sandwiched between, a vast number of high rises that have a steady stream of cars moving between them. This means that what you have seen in one place, and what you have felt there too, may also be seen and felt elsewhere.
That said, we still can’t forget the context: the environment that each city does exist within. Xi’an’s history stretches back over a thousand years and it is remnants of that history that this city still orientates around, both practically and spiritually. That, and having a 640,000 km² Loess Plateau to the north, and a 1200 km stretch of mountain range to the south.
Gaoxin, the High Tech District, may be developing at a hell of a rate over in the west, with its reach being felt up to the edges of Xiaozhai to the east, the third ring road to the south and the City Wall to the north. Qujiang may also be spreading its affluent reach further east and south, while brushing up close to Da Yanta (the Big Wild Goose Pagoda) to its north. However, it is the City Wall and Da Yanta, as well as the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, the Forest of Steles, the Bell and Drum Towers, and the Great Mosque that still act as orientating points both practically and spiritually for this city. It is from within these various locales that the idiosyncrasies of the Xi’anese and the quirks of Xi’an life can be found.
Xi’an represents the frontier. I know that sounds kind of ridiculous when you consider the city’s location, almost exactly in the centre of the Chinese landmass, but there was a feeling, which got stronger the longer I lived in Xi’an, that to the east of Xi’an is the ubiquitous modernizing economic ‘miracle’ of China, while to the west is an area that nominally accepts Chinese law but refuses to allow Han cultural norms to overwhelm other traditions.
Many locals describe Xi’an as the “Gateway to the North West”, and while that is a phrase beloved of tourism boards the world over, in Xi’an it seems apt. While Beijing is the gateway to… Beijing, and Shanghai the gateway to… the Yangtze Delta, the areas they define don’t excite in the same way as the North West: that simple phrase does it for me. How do you go about defining a space known as the “North West”? When it boils down to it, north west is a direction, it’s not a space, and you can follow directions forever; the sheer scale of what’s out there, to the west of Xi’an, is wondrous and stirring: places like Dunhuang, Kashgar, the Silk Road…
Xi’an is the end of civilization, and the beginning of the frontier. That’s what makes it special for me.
For me, Xi’an is unique. It certainly has more character than the faceless concrete building sites that make up most of China’s provincial capitals. There is still a reasonable smattering of old bits in Xi’an that take the sting out of the generic public toilet-style buildings so popular across China. There are also enough scruffy bits to offset the increasing number of glitzy shopping areas (which rapidly become pretty skanky, anyway).
More than that, Xi’an has personality. Although there are thousands of people flaunting their riches here, from the armies of little princesses out shopping to the pot-bellied Party hoods in their ridiculous cars, there are still a lot of people who just don’t give a shit. I like seeing the recycling guys sleeping in the back of their trikes at lunch time. I like all the badly-dressed pensioners who spend summer in the street on a ratty old wooden chair, under the shade of a tree. I like those massive NHS-style sunglasses worn by leathery-brown old men. I like seeing people squatting down on a kerb and burying their faces in a bowl of noodles. I sometimes wonder if the fact that Xi’an has been around for so long imbues the people with a lack of urgency, and makes them less easily swept up in all the consumer hype than some of their countrymen.
Besides my love of the questionable aesthetics of Xi’an, I also have more tangible reasons for appreciating the place. The food is, in my opinion, among the best in China. Cheap, plentiful and delicious-there is food from all over the country here and it is all worth trying. Western food is not quite so exemplary, but with so many Chinese flavours available at a snip of the price, I’m not about to complain. Students of Mandarin can also find a happy home in Xi’an, where almost everyone can speak the language well, unlike in countless other cities. In addition, the local dialect is generally not that difficult to understand, and in fact can be quite funny to listen to.
On the downside, the buses are beyond a joke, the summers are merciless, as is the dust, and it’s not exactly cosmpolitan here. I don’t think Xi’an will be giving, New York, Barcelona or Paris any sleepless nights. Compared to these young hipsters, Xi’an is an eccentric granny, but that in itself is something to be appreciated.
Describing Xi’an is a little bit like trying to define a color to the blind. While reading the Note above I had about a million sights, sounds, smells, and tastes running through my head, but as I sit here to type it’s as if all my words are inadequate and failing. Xi’an is a city that is at once laid back and on the move, it’s dusty ally ways and blacktopped thoroughfare, 5 RMB noodles and 400RMB steak, it’s a diversity that keeps every day an eye opener and new experiences just around the corner.
When I arrived to Xi’an it was not my intention to stay much longer than 3 months but 3 turned to 6 and 6 to 5 years…and as I sit here typing my thoughts I can only come up to the answer that fits. I like Xi’an because it feels like home, why does it feel that way? I’m not sure, I have tried to think about it, I have tried to explain it but I can’t, why do two people fall in love, why did you marry your significant other? These are questions that on first glace have ready answers but when looked at in depth the answer evaporate like so much water on a hot day.
Yes I could say food, lifestyle, and the Xi’an people and all of those are reasons that I love this city but I love American food, the American lifestyle, and (most) Americans so why have I decided to make Xi’an my home and not back in the US? Honestly, I don’t know and like catching a snowflake once I have an answer in my hand it melts away like it was never there.
Like being in love it’s a million little things that add up, and while I am not saying it’s the only place that could give me this feeling of “home” I am saying that I have traveled to quite a few places and seen quite a few things and never have I felt like I do in Xi’an.
As to what don’t I like…yeah it’s all similar to the above but as with any relationship (and we are all in relationships with the city we live in) it’s not about finding perfection it’s about finding the perfect match and so the crowded buses, the dusty air, and the increasing pace of life all suck but if you change them who knows what that would effect (for better or worse).
Will I stay in Xi’an for the rest of my life? No I don’t think so but for right now and the immediate future Xi’an is home and that’s where my heart is.
Thank you Gentlemen! A few great observations, insights and heart felt comments- not to mention a few flavours and aromas that are now drifting off the page.
It was nice to read the above notes. I will be coming to study at Xian international studies university in the fall semester. It would be nice to make contact with some other Americans and have a little bit of a support structure, I dont want to be totally lost, lol.
You’ll be fine James, the area around your Uni is pretty chilled (relatively). There will also be a bunch of you starting off together I am sure, I have no doubt you will be in the swing of it pretty quick. I was chatting to a couple of the boys who run the Vice Versa bar/music venue/skaters hang out/coffee shop in town a couple of days ago, and I reckon that would be a good place to check out, so to meet a few fellow Yanks. It is a good life here for us Laowai James. All will be well.
I love this comment by Adam Moorman from above:
“I don’t think Xi’an will be giving, New York, Barcelona or Paris any sleepless nights. Compared to these young hipsters, Xi’an is an eccentric granny, but that in itself is something to be appreciated.”
I haven’t thought of it that way but this comment is spot on
. Xi’an is an old city that doesn’t feel like an old city. The combination of old fortresses and modern high-rises is quite fascinating and gives the city a unique personality as mentioned above.
A list of some of the things I like or find fascinating about Xi’an:
1. The cheap and flavorful street food at night.
From bbq meat-on-a-stick to dumplings to stir-fried noodles, all for around 10 RMB per meal. It’s crazy how cheap the food can be here.
2. Cheap service industry.
The barber shops and massage parlors and spas all over the city are ridiculously cheap. Compared to the States where I was paying around $80 USD an hour, getting a 30 minute foot massage for 20 RMB (~$3 USD) is ridiculous!
3. Lack of aggression in traffic.
As mentioned in one of Richard’s articles, there is very little display of public aggression in the city. It’s amusing to see the chaotic dance of pedestrians and motorbikes and pedicabs and taxis maneuvering around each other, or the every-man-for-himself attitude when catching a cab or getting on a bus. Yet I haven’t seen one bit of road rage or many traffic accidents. Everyone just find ways to get around each other.
4. The unique mix of old and new
Compared to cities like Shanghai, which feels like a modern metropolis such as New York city (only with Chinese people) … or Beijing, where everything seems so strict and proper and old-fashioned, Xi’an seems to have the right mixture of culture and modern living. You can go visit the historical sites or grab a latte at a Starbucks just down the street.
There are certainly a few things I don’t like about Xi’an (the dusty air and construction noises for example), but I’m glad I’m staying in this city and not some other city in China. Except maybe Hong Kong, I will have to try living there one day
.
Thanks for your comments Huey Ly. Yep, I love Adam’s comment there too, it sums up pretty well how many of us feel about Xi’an, plus it is quite amusing. I do also agree with you about the mix of the old and the new here, there are certainly positives about some of the changes going on, plus there is still that sense of the more traditional life that exists under the surface and through some of the physical landmarks.
I am, though, actually about to put up a Note I have written about how I think the spirit and street level culture and atmosphere has been irreversibly damaged by the speed and depth of development here. I argue that Xi’an has become a bit too generic as a consequence of some of the changes that have come to pass in recent years, that the spirit of life here has changed, but I do agree it does still hold some of its old, eccentric, quirkiness.
Take care,
Richard.李志
While, yesterday, i stumbled across this interesting topic. I am a native of Lintong, the place where the first emporer Qin Shi Huang chose to be buried. I was In Xi’an for 8,years then left it’s dustiness and gray sky in the hope of no return. A decade later, I found myself come back to Xi’an. I asked myself, what is it that draws me back? i’ve lived in Singapore, in Fujian Southeast China, in Yunnan Southwest China. But home is nowhere to be found because I find myself incapable of belonging there.
One day in Kunming, Yunnan, I happened to see the original Shanbei Min Ge on TV(the high- pitched trational song indigenous to the north of Shaan’xi and Shan’xi Province), I have never really enjoyed that kind of “wild” song in the past, but, this time, hearing of the sound of it brought tears in my eyes, i started to realize, there is something about that yellow earth, that dust, that can never be cutting off by a will, any will.
Xi’an’s history is floating in the air. That yellowish, fine dust drifting in the air made Xi’an’s history so manifest and permeative. Apart from that, the cunningness or crafty side of Xi’annese is only recognized among Xi’anese. i bet no foreigner will ever apprehend that. Xi’anese do not like to live in other places, so without comparison, no Xi’anese will likely to admit among themselves. But it is easy to understand,as any old empire , the old bureaucracy never left this 13-dynasty old capital. To do anything(ban shi) is never easy without humiliating encounter and gift-giving or bribery(song li) to whoever in power. Nobody ever know what facilitating is all about because everybody is doing the exact opposite thing–even a doorman would sometimes like to flex his muscle and let you know what his job is all about.
But all in all, this is Xi’an. Maybe oneday, i will again escape Xi’an when i have enough of this and start the next circle of leaving and coming back.
“There is something about that yellow earth, that dust, that can never be cutting off by a will, any will. Xi’an’s history is floating in the air. That yellowish, fine dust drifting in the air made Xi’an’s history so manifest and permeative. ”
Hello Jinnafeng, it does seem to me too that there is indeed something timeless floating in the dust of this epic city. And may be it is that history, but whatever it is it certainly has something. I have lived in a few places, and I have travelled to many, but “something” keeps me here, and it isn’t the beaches, the blue skies, the wild meadows or the theatres, the fresh air or the concert halls, the varied exhibitions, the old architecture or the modern creatives – because there just isn’t really much of that. However, there is more than the “cunningness” and the backhanders, the conservatives and the greedy, the ignorant and the rude.
One thing is for sure, whatever sickness has gotten hold of you Jinnafeng – and that keeps bringing you back – it has gotten hold of me too.
Take it easy,
Richard.李志
My forte is photography, so my contribution to your note, and my reasons for liking Xi’an, is in the form of imagery.
http://zhouxingyu.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/10-things-i-love-about-china-an-adendum-48-2/
Thanks for the contribution, Mike. Your images certainly offer a realistic snapshot of Xi’an life.
Take care,
Richard.李志