The city changes at about seven

Xi'an gets a reputation as a daytime destination: the Terracotta Army, the city wall, the Muslim Quarter. All of that is real, and all of it is better in the morning. But the version of Xi'an I keep going back to starts around seven in the evening, when the floodlights come on and the whole place loosens up.

Start at the Bell Tower

The Bell Tower sits on a roundabout in the middle of the old city, and the traffic around it is genuinely alarming. From street level it is mostly a light show. From above it is better.

You can pay to go up inside the tower itself, but the smarter move is to book a table at one of the restaurants with a rooftop terrace on the north side of the roundabout. Two of them take walk-ins on weekdays. Order something small, stay for the twenty minutes after sunset when the sky goes deep blue, and watch the ring of headlights circle the tower.

• Tower floodlights come on shortly after sunset and stay on until about 11pm
• Rooftop terraces need a booking on Friday and Saturday
• The roundabout underpass is the only sane way to cross on foot

The wall at night is worth the ticket

The city wall is 14 kilometres around and it is open in the evening. Walking the whole thing takes three to four hours and most people should not attempt it after dinner. But the stretch between the South Gate and the East Gate takes about fifty minutes at a stroll, the lanterns are lit, and you get the city laid out below you with the Bell Tower glowing in the middle.

Bicycles are rented on top of the wall and the last rentals usually stop well before closing, so check the time when you get up there. If you only have it in you to walk twenty minutes, walk south from the South Gate and turn around.

Then eat, properly, late

Xi'an's best food hours are between nine and midnight. The Muslim Quarter is at its worst at seven, when it is shoulder to shoulder and every stall is shouting. By ten it thins out and you can actually talk to the people cooking.

What I order, in roughly this sequence:

• Roujiamo, the shredded pork in a flatbread. Ask for it with a little of the braising liquid.
• Yangrou paomo, the lamb and broken-bread soup. You tear the bread yourself and hand the bowl back. Tear it small.
• Liangpi, cold noodles in chilli oil and vinegar. Good palate cleanser between heavier things.
• Something sweet: persimmon cakes, fried to order.

Two rules. First, if a stall has a queue of locals and no photographs on the sign, join it. Second, do not eat a full meal at four in the afternoon; you will regret it by nine.

Where to stay if you plan to do this

Anywhere inside the wall, ideally within walking distance of the Bell Tower or the South Gate. The old city is compact, and the point of a Xi'an night is that you can walk home. Hotels just inside the South Gate tend to be quieter and cheaper than the ones facing the tower, and you are still fifteen minutes from everything.

A few honest warnings

• The Muslim Quarter stalls take mobile payment. Have a payment app set up before you go, or carry small notes.
• Taxi supply collapses between 10.30pm and 11.30pm near the South Gate. Metro Line 2 runs until around 11.30pm and is more reliable.
• Roujiamo quality varies wildly. The expensive stalls are not automatically better.
• In winter the wall at night is genuinely cold, with wind. Two more layers than you think.

If you are in Xi'an for two nights, do the Terracotta Army on the first morning and give the second evening entirely to the old city. That is the split I would recommend to anyone, and it is the one most itineraries get wrong.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.