"Romantic Hotsprings About 45 minutes outside Xi'an, at the foot of Mount Lishan, is the Huaqing Hotspring (or Huaqing Chi). These grounds were the setting to the love story between Emperor Xuangzong and his concubine Yang Guifei, one of the four beauties of ancient China. The hotsprings is located on the same grounds as the Huaqing Palace, and the Emperor dedicated plenty of resources into completing the grounds with gorgeous greenery, plunge pools, beautiful architecture, and the artificial Nine Dragon Lake, which, during the warmer season, is dotted with pretty floating lotus flowers that accompany the marble statue of Yang Guifei that stands nearby."

"Dance to Chinese Folk Music in Guanzhong Folk Art Museum's Courtyard In a courtyard of the Guanzhong Folk Art Museum, three men saw away on fiddles, another rocks out on a banjo-like instrument called a sanxian . Turns out lao giang , the folk music of China’s Shaanxi Province, sounds like a riff on American bluegrass. I don’t understand a word, but within minutes I’m up and dancing. This appeared in the August/September 2014 issue."

"Natural Beauty Take advantage of your time in Xi'an to really see what it was like to live like an emperor. About 27 miles outside of Xi'an is the Taiping National Forest Park. The Taiping Palace was built by an emperor in the Sui Dynasty, and the park also served as an imperial summer resort during the Tang Dynasty. Over 5,000 acres in size, the park is home to vast greenery and 12 stunning ponds and waterfalls, including the Rainbow Waterfall, which is the largest in the park. You'll also come by some animal residents, such as golden monkeys, hanging out among the trees. Take the cable car to catch even better sight of the beautiful scenery."

"China's Game Of Thrones The story of the Emperor Qin reads something like Game of Thrones , with hostages, feuding brothers, wars, and the ultimate unification and creation of what we know as China today. Wanting to protect himself in the afterlife, Emperor Qin created an army of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses made of terra-cotta. The first lineup of soldiers were said to be the "Dare to Die" soldiers as they were quick and sharp like a knife. They wore less armor than the rest of the warriors. This is one of the most massive archaeological finds on the planet and is found an hour outside of Xi’an China. Restoring the warriors was like putting together a complex puzzle— it's really amazing to see how meticulously everything was recreated."

"The Prehistoric Banpo Village The Xi'an Banpo Museum preserves artifacts excavated from the neolithic site of Banpo, settled 5,600 to 6,700 years ago. The museum provides access to the excavated buildings and has several houses reconstructed in the style of the prehistoric settlement. It's well worth a stop when you're traveling to or from the Terracotta Warriors."