Xi’an Food Travel Guide

Xi’an is one of the oldest cities in China and one of the most fascinating food destinations in Asia. As the eastern terminus of the ancient Silk Road, Xi’an absorbed culinary influences from Central Asia, Persia, and the Arab world over thousands of years, producing a food culture unlike anywhere else in China — one shaped as much by the city’s large Muslim Hui community as by Han Chinese tradition. The Muslim Quarter (Huimin Jie), a labyrinth of narrow lanes in the old walled city, is the beating heart of Xi’an’s food scene: a kilometre-long corridor of food stalls, teahouses, and restaurants that is perpetually crowded from morning until well past midnight.

The Muslim Quarter’s essential dishes are legendary among food travelers: roujiamo — slow-braised spiced lamb stuffed into a crisp flatbread — is one of the great street foods of the world, its lineage traceable back over two thousand years; biangbiang noodles, hand-torn into wide, belt-like ribbons and dressed with chilli oil, Sichuan pepper, and vinegar, are named for the sound they make slapping against the wooden board; and yangrou paomo — a lamb and bread soup in which diners tear their own flatbread into a broth — is Xi’an’s definitive cold-weather comfort food. Beyond the Muslim Quarter, Xi’an’s local restaurant scene offers excellent dumpling banquets and cold noodles dressed in the city’s distinctive sauce. Xi’an is essential eating.