What the Big Wild Goose Pagoda actually is

People often lump the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in with the Terracotta Army as a box to tick, then walk around it for twenty minutes and leave. That is a mistake. The pagoda is one of the oldest buildings in Xi'an and it is still standing for a reason.

It was built in 652 to house the scriptures that the monk Xuanzang brought back from India. He is the real-life figure behind the Journey to the West stories, and this pagoda is where the translation work happened. Seven stories tall, about 64 meters, made of brick and packed earth, and it has survived earthquakes that flattened almost everything around it.

The temple and the pagoda

The pagoda sits inside Da Ci'en Temple, which is a working Buddhist temple, not just a monument. You pay to enter the temple grounds, and then a separate small fee to climb the pagoda itself.

The climb is worth doing once. The stairs are steep and narrow and the windows are small, but from the upper levels you look out over the temple roofs and across the new city. There is no lift, so if stairs are a problem, stay at ground level and enjoy the courtyards instead.

Costs and hours

• Temple entrance runs around 40 to 50 yuan depending on the season.
• Climbing the pagoda costs roughly another 30 yuan.
• The complex opens in the morning and closes in the late afternoon or early evening. Check the board at the gate, since the hours shift with the season.

The fountain show on the north square

This is the part most visitors do not plan for, and it is the best free thing in Xi'an. The North Square in front of the temple holds a huge musical fountain, and at set times it runs a choreographed show with lights and music that lasts about twenty minutes.

The schedule is not something I would trust from an old blog post, because it changes with the season and between weekdays and weekends. The pattern when I last checked was one show around midday and one in the evening on weekdays, with several more spread across the day at weekends. Ask at your hotel or check the sign at the square on the day, and then plan your dinner around it.

Get there twenty minutes early and stand on the raised terraces at the sides for a clear view. Right in front of the jets is where you will get soaked, which some people enjoy and most do not.

How to get there

The metro is the easiest option. Dayanta station, served by lines 3 and 4, puts you a few minutes' walk from the square. A taxi from the Bell Tower area takes about twenty minutes outside rush hour.

Making an evening of it

The pagoda area works best in the late afternoon. Arrive with enough time to see the temple properly, then stay for the fountain and dinner nearby. The streets around the south side of the temple have plenty of Shaanxi restaurants, and the neighbourhood is calmer than the Muslim Quarter, which is where most people end up eating every night.

If you have a second evening in Xi'an, the Tang-themed night street is a short walk south of the pagoda. I would do the pagoda and the fountain first, though, because the history here is real, and the lights elsewhere are mostly theatre.

A few things worth knowing

• Cash is not needed. Mobile payment works everywhere, and the ticket window takes cards.
• The temple is an active religious site. Keep your voice down inside the halls and do not photograph monks without asking.
• Weekday evenings are far less crowded than weekends.
• Combine this with the Shaanxi History Museum if you can get tickets, since they are a short taxi ride apart.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.