AI translation notice: This English version was translated from the original Chinese article with AI assistance. Some nuances may differ from the original.

October 27: Wake up at 4:30 a.m. and go to the airport → arrive in Xi'an at 9:50 → first lunch stop (Cantonese beef hot pot) → Terracotta Warriors Museum → Bell Tower → Muslim Quarter → Drum Tower → Bell Tower → homestay

October 28: Wake up at 6:50 a.m. → buy medicine → meet Le-ge → walk on the city wall → Beilin Museum → Shaanxi History Museum → homestay → Giant Wild Goose Pagoda → Great Tang All Day Mall → homestay

October 29: Wake up at 7:00 a.m. → Small Wild Goose Pagoda → airport

An Exciting Day — October 27

Our flight left at 6:50 in the morning, so I needed to get up around 4:30 and go to bed early. I lay down at 11:30 but did not fall asleep until around one. All night I kept thinking that the next morning I would finally feel the autumn air of a place that felt like home. I was incredibly excited. When it was time to get up, I was surprisingly not tired at all. I set off for Xi'an full of energy.

After arriving in Xi'an, we took the metro and followed our plan toward the Terracotta Warriors. We stopped to eat along the way because a restaurant's flyer looked interesting. The food was fine, but coming all the way to Xi'an to eat Cantonese food made the Guangdong member of our group feel personally defeated.

Xi'an is very good at tourism. The metro stations had notes explaining which public-transport route to take to famous attractions, as well as how much a taxi should cost and how long it should take. This helps prevent visitors from being overcharged by unscrupulous drivers. I was genuinely moved by the effort this city had made to think about its visitors.

We then reached the Terracotta Warriors. There was a little disappointment: two of the three people in our group decided not to hire a guide, so we went without one. After quickly walking through the three pits, we ran out of time and missed the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. We also did not make it to Huaqing Palace, which is supposedly not that impressive anyway.

Dinner that night was quite good. The restaurant was neither famous nor conspicuous, but according to the owner of the osmanthus-cake shop, it was authentic. When we asked for “Lao Liu's Lamb Paomo,” the shopkeeper's eyes lit up as she happily explained how to get there. Perhaps it really was good.

The Wind on the City Wall — October 28

I woke up with irritated eyes because the homestay was not very clean, so I activated the Sharingan first thing in the morning. I went out to buy medicine and wasted more than ¥80. From now on, I will always bring some common medicines when traveling.

After meeting Le-ge, we bought an egg-stuffed flatbread from a street stall. Eating a simple, ordinary, piping-hot breakfast in the slightly chilly autumn air felt like a small piece of human happiness. It was even more satisfying than eating a full meal in the warm cafeteria at my university in Xiamen.

There were not many people on the northern section of the city wall, so we rode bicycles. The air was not very humid and felt much lighter, almost as though I did not need to inhale because it would flow into my lungs by itself and fill me up. My body seemed lighter too, as if buoyed by water. From the wall, the entire layout of Xi'an unfolded in the distance. The feeling of having one's expectations fulfilled was wonderful. The autumn wind refreshed me and blew away my stress; for a young person, perhaps this wind could not yet carry melancholy. Watching the kindergarten children running a “marathon” along the wall made the whole scene feel even more energetic.

The Shaanxi History Museum was also completely without a guide. It was crowded, the space was relatively small, and the stuffy air made it difficult to settle down and appreciate the exhibits. The artifacts were all national treasures, and the guides seemed professional, but after one pass I did not retain a particularly deep impression.

It was hard not to compare the museum with those I had visited before, especially since it is already such a remarkable institution. It might be more exciting if museums could exchange artifacts with other countries, allowing visitors to see the histories of different regions from the same period side by side. The British Museum offers something like that. As for the building itself, it is also hard to compare with the National Museum of China: one is narrow and crowded, the other grand and spacious.

Despite these shortcomings, the Shaanxi History Museum left a strong impression on me. I hope I can return someday and listen to a proper guided tour.

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and the Great Tang All Day Mall at night were genuinely awe-inspiring. The street design showed a lot of thought and encouraged visitors to interact with it: piano-key paving stones, dance-floor-style tiles that changed color, and fountains whose flow was controlled by the sound of the crowd. There were many performances along the street, including a viral “Mimou” show and a concert. The street was broad enough that even with imposing historical sculptures in the middle, snack stalls on both sides, and girls in Tang-style clothing taking photos along the edges, everyone could still walk around freely.

The buildings along the street were thoughtfully designed as well. The books displayed in the Xinhua Bookstore's reading room were niche without being bizarre, numerous without feeling disorderly, and ornate without being gaudy. Someone was playing the piano, and the space was perfect for one person to calm down after the bustle outside and read without interruption. The books also suited Xi'an as a city. A bookstore really can be a city's soul.

The Osmanthus Rice Ferment drink from Chahua Nong that night was genuinely delicious. When I had something similar from Chabaidao on October 30, the flavor was nowhere near as impressive. Chahua Nong emphasized the rice ferment and tea, while Chabaidao pursued the sweetness of osmanthus so single-mindedly that it lost the flower's clean fragrance.

The Journey Home — October 29

We woke up a little late today and everyone slept comfortably. My body, however, had begun to react to the change of season, and my nose felt terrible.

We only took a quick look at the Small Wild Goose Pagoda from the entrance because we were out of time, then continued to the airport. We did not talk much on the way. We were savoring this spontaneous, slightly fantastical journey as we boarded the plane back to Xiamen. It felt as though I had gained a little more sense of belonging to Xiamen. I still had more than two years left there, but I wondered when I would truly feel that I was also a part of the city.