Shaanxi Tourism Classic Route -- the Modi Shaanxi Tourism Route

In May 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi took Shaanxi Province as the first leg of a visit to China. In his own online social networking account, he praised continually: “I was welcomed warmly and paid a visit to the great Terra Cotta Warriors”, “The Da Xing-Shan Temple is very beautiful”...

Photos of Modi’s visit to the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi’an were also printed on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, and tourists of home and abroad were once again attracted to the ancient capital of Xi’an.

Modi’s visit of the Da Ci’en Temple, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, the South Gate Embrasured Watchtower, the Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, the Da Xing-Shan Temple is also referred to as the “Modi Tourism Route” by the tourists both at home and abroad. The route has become a classic route of Shaanxi tourism.

Are you interested in the “Modi Shaanxi Tourism Route”?

The Da Ci’en Temple - The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda:

The Da Ci’en Temple is the city’s most famous and most gorgeous buddhist temple. In the Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty twenty-two years ( the year of 648), Prince Li Zhi created this temple. Xuan Zang was in charge of this temple, here led tube of sutras translation field, founded the main object of one of the eight sect of Chinese Buddhism, as only the ancestral knowledge. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is of the great temple Xuan Zang supervised and built personally, so the Da Ci’en Temple has a very prominent position in the history of Chinese doctrines, has been brought to the attention of the buddhist circle both at home and abroad.

The Da Ci’en Temple and the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda were recognized in 1961 by the State Council as the national key cultural relics protection unit. On June 22, 2014, they were included in the “World Heritage List”. On May 14, 2016, the only living Shorea robusta subtree planted by Xuan Zang in the world, after years of cultivation, was successfully transplanted to the Da Ci’en Temple in Xi’an.

Traffic information: Take buses No. 5, 19, 21, 22, 27, 41 in Xi'an City, and get off at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda stop.

The South Gate Embrasured Watchtower：

Among all the gates in the ancient city of Xi’an, the South Gate is the oldest, which was built in the early of Sui Dynasty. It was a gate on the east side among the three southgates, and was called Anshang Gate. In the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed as Yongning Gate. The Xi’an inhabitants usually call it as the “South Gate” because of it is located in the south of the city. Every door has three layers: Que building, embrasured watchtower and the due building. The Que building is outward, embrasured watchtower stands in the middle, and the due building is inside. Between the embrasured watchtower and the due building is the barbican.

The South Gate Embrasured Watchtower was built in the early Ming Dynasty, and is an important part of the ancient yugoslav capital construction system of the Xi’an City Wall "towers, embrasured watchtower, brake building". It was destroyed in the war in 1926. On May 1, 2014, the South Gate Embrasured Watchtower after rehabilitation was officially open to the visitors.

Traffic information: Take Subway Line 2 and get off at the Yongning Gate Station; you can also take buses to the "South Gate” in the city.

The Emperor Qin’s Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum：

The Emperor Qin’s Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum is located in the east of Lintong County of Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, and is a large vault in China’s first feudal emperor Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleums, with an memorial park area of 2.18 million square meters. The museum is based on the Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warriors and was built on the original site of the terracotta warriors. It is also China's largest ancient military museum.

The Terra Cotta Warriors have been known as “the Eighth Wonder of the World”, “one of the great discoveries of the archaeological history of the 20th century”. In December 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization listed the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (including the Terra Cotta Warriors pit) in the “World Cultural Heritage List”.

Traffic information: At the east square of Xi’an Railway Station, take tourism bus 5 (306) and 307 shuttle bus and get off at the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum stop.

The Da Xing-Shan Temple:

The Da Xing-Shan Temple was a royal temple in the Sui and Tang dynasties. It is one of China’s “eight” Buddhism “tantric” cradles. The temple was built in the Taishi to the Taiking years (265-289) of Emperor Wu in the Jin Dynasty, Sima Yan, and was called Zunshan Temple at the beginning. In the second year of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty (in 582), Da Xingcheng was built. The temple was moved to Xindu and recognised as a national temple.

The Buddhism was prevailed in Xi’an during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the monks from India to be missionary or study in Xi’an translated and taught the buddhist tantra in the temple, thus the Da Xing-Shan Temple became one of the three translation fields of the buddhist script ures in Xi’an, and also a memorable place for the cultural exchanges between India and China. On May 14, 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping accompanied Indian Prime Minister Modi to visit the Da Xing-Shan Temple.

The Da Xing-Shan Temple is an ancient temple with important impact both in China and abroad. In 1983 it was listed by the State Council as one of national key temples open to the public.

Address: 55 Xing-Shan Temple West Street, Xi’an, Shaanxi

Traffic information: Take buses in Xi’an City and get off at the “Small Village” or “Changan Interchange” station.

Take Subway Line 2 and get off at the “Small Village” stop.