Ming city wall
Xi'an City Wall
13.74 km Ming wall around Xi'an's old city: the South Gate with its barbican and archers' tower, the rampart and its bastions, the Tang Hanguang gateway and the round corner tower.
Xi'an, China
Xi'an Audio Guide
Walk old Chang'an with 33 audio stops narrated by experts. From the bastions of the Ming wall to the pits where the first emperor left his clay army in formation, every place explains how a capital of dynasties, travelling monks and Silk Road merchants still stands beneath today's city.
- ~8.5h of audio
- 7 routes · 33 audio stops
- Offline mode
- English
Coming soon
- 7Landmarks
- 33Audios
- ~8.5hOf narration
Photo: A Chinese ID, CC BY-SA 4.0
7 audio guides in Xi'an
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Ming clock tower
Bell Tower
36-metre Ming clock tower at the crossing of Xi'an's four avenues: bricked-up arches, the replica of the Tang Jingyun bell, the steles of the 1582 move and the balcony facing the Drum Tower.
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Historic quarter
Muslim Quarter
Xi'an's Hui quarter beside the Drum Tower: Beiyuanmen Street, the Gao family's Ming house, the cured lamb of Lao Tong Jia, yangrou paomo and the Great Mosque of Huajue Xiang.
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UNESCO heritage
Small Wild Goose Pagoda
Tang brick pagoda in Xi'an's old Jianfu temple: the top broken in 1556, the carved green-stone doors, the inscription of the crack that let light through and the Jin bell of 1192.
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Stele museum
Forest of Steles
Stele museum in a former Confucius temple beside Xi'an's south wall: the Shitai Xiaojing, the 114 Kaicheng Classics, the Nestorian stele of 781 and Taizong's horses.
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Tang Buddhist pagoda
Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Buddhist brick pagoda raised in 652 at Xi'an's Da Ci'en temple: the Preface steles, the Tang lintel of the west door, the climb to the arches of the upper floors and a leaning tower that is straightening.
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Imperial mausoleum
Terracotta Army
The funerary pits of the first Qin emperor, at the Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum: the army of Pit 1, the command post of Pit 3, the kneeling archer of Pit 2 and the bronze chariots.
Xi'an Audio Guide
What to see in Xi'an with the EarGuide audio guide
Xi'an is read in layers. The top one is Ming: a 13.74 km wall with triple gates, bastions and a moat, which at its core wraps the walls of the Tang Imperial City of Chang'an and survived the wrecking ball of 1958; at its centre, the Bell Tower, taken apart in 1582 and put back together a kilometre farther east to remain at the exact crossing of the four great streets. Beside it, next to the Drum Tower, the Muslim Quarter keeps the halal cooking of the Silk Road merchants and a mosque built like a Chinese temple of five courtyards. Right against the south wall, the Forest of Steles has kept since 1087 a stone library with the Confucian classics on 114 Tang slabs. Lower down appears the Tang layer: the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, which housed the scriptures of the monk Yijing, and the Big Pagoda, raised in 652 for the sutras Xuanzang brought from India. And at the bottom, the Qin layer: the Terracotta Army, thousands of life-size clay soldiers that farmers found in 1974 digging a well.
With the EarGuide Xi'an audio guide, every place reveals its history through professional narration prepared by guides who know the city and imperial China inside out. Unlike a free walking tour or a conventional guided visit, you set the pace, the order and the stops. No groups, no timetables, no internet connection.
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No internet needed
Download the routes before you head out and explore without using data.
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Smart geolocation
The narration starts by itself when you reach the point of interest.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about the Xi'an audio guide
How much does the Xi'an audio guide cost?
The EarGuide app is free. The Xi'an audio guide includes 7 independent routes with about eight and a half hours of professional narration spread across 7 sites and 33 audio stops, and it is found inside the app itself.
Do I need an internet connection to use the audio guide?
No. EarGuide works entirely offline. Download the routes over WiFi before you set out and you can use the audio guide with no connection and no data use throughout your walk around Xi'an. The map shows your GPS position in real time even without coverage.
What languages is the Xi'an audio guide available in?
The Xi'an audio guide is available in Spanish and English, with professional narration prepared by guides and experts in the history of Xi'an and of imperial China.
How long does the full tour take?
The audio guide brings together 7 independent routes with about eight and a half hours of narration in total, from 40 to 120 minutes per route. They are designed to be spread over two or three days: you can do them separately or string together the ones in the walled centre in a single walk.
Is the audio guide better than a free walking tour or a guided visit?
They are different experiences. The EarGuide audio guide lets you walk Xi'an without timetables or groups, pause and resume whenever you like, and replay any explanation as often as you need. It suits independent travellers, families and anyone who prefers to understand the city at their own pace, with no prior knowledge of China.
Which landmarks and points of interest does it include?
The Xi'an audio guide covers 7 main sites: the Xi'an City Wall, the Bell Tower, the Muslim Quarter, the Forest of Steles, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Terracotta Army, with stops that range from the bastions and moat of the wall to the mosque on Huajue Xiang alley and the pits of the clay warriors.
Can I do it all on foot?
A good part of it. The City Wall, the Bell Tower, the Muslim Quarter and the Forest of Steles link up on foot inside the walled centre and along its south wall. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda lies just south of the wall and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, somewhat farther, so it is best to get there by metro. The Terracotta Army is outside the city, in Lintong, about 40 km from the centre: set aside half a day for it and get there by transport.
Can I use a purchase in the other EarGuide apps or on another phone?
Yes. Purchases belong to your EarGuide account, not to one app or one phone. A city unlocked in the EarGuide app is also unlocked in that city's own app, and the other way round, on both iPhone and Android. Just sign in with the same account on the other device. The store's “restore purchases” button only covers the app the purchase was made in, so signing in is what carries it across.
Download the Xi'an audio guide free
The Xi'an audio guide is inside the EarGuide app, free and ready to use offline. Carry it in your pocket and explore the city at your own pace.
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