A one-day ‘autumn tour' in Xian 

The yellow ginkgo leaves look very beautiful in autumn. After seeing hundreds of photos of yellow ginkgo leaves on the internet, I came up the idea of looking for the yellow ginkgo leaves in Xian, the city where I stay.

I did search on the internet but the useful information was limited. Someday, I came to visit my brother. He told me that there were ginkgoes in the Xian Tang Da Cien Temple Ruins Park. “See the ginkgo leaves at the school yard still look green. Better go there next week if you want to see the yellow ginkgo leaves.” he added. Thanks to my brother, I fulfilled my dream of seeing the yellow ginkgo leaves in Xian.


You know, there are some other tourist attractions around the Tang Cien Temple Ruins Park, including the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Tang Paradise, the Qujiang Ocean World and the Qujiang Cool Cave Heritage Park. So I planned to visit some of the above attractions.

My wife and I discussed for a while and followed the following itinerary to have a one day ‘autumn tour’ in Xian.

We took No.34 bus at 09:40 and got off at the North Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. We planned to have breakfast first. Unfortunately, the restaurants located at the Furong Town were not open yet. At last, we found a small restaurant that sold Rou Jia Mo(Chinese Hamburger) and Liang Pi(Cold Noodle). My wife ate a bowl of wonton and I had a bowl of rice noodle. We still felt a bit hungry. So we ate a Rou Jia Mo together. In all, we spent CNY 18. It was cheap compared with other restaurants.


After breakfast, we took some photos on the North Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. There were some ginkgoes but the leaves were not yellow. Spending a few minutes on the square, we headed for the Shaanxi Opera Grandeur Garden.

In the garden, we saw many Qinqiang figures and four statues of Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou.

'Qinqiang is the representative folk Chinese opera of the northwest Province of Shaanxi. There are 13 characters in Qinqiang including four kinds of Sheng, six kinds of Dan, two kinds of Jing and one kind of Chou’, according to the Wikipedia.

The garden was not big. However, osmanthus trees and persimmon trees were planted and there was a fountain, a bridge and a small pool. In the morning, the Qinqiang lovers gathered together to roar Qinqiang tunes.


Tip: The Shaanxi Opera Grandeu Garden is opened for free.

At 10:46, we got out of the Shaanxi Opera Grandeur Garden and went to the Tang Cien Temple Ruins Park.

Formerly called Qujiang Chunxiao Garden, it is a Buddhism themed garden park. There are some cute little monk figures, a huge Buddha statue and a large peony garden.


However, all these things were not attracted to me. I came here just for the yellow ginkgo leaves. Passing through a narrow path, we were surprised by the ginkgoes. Most ginkgo leaves turned yellow and looked awesome under the sun. The roofs of the corridor and the vendor’s stall were all covered with ginkgo leaves. When the wind blew, the leaves began to swirl and fall on the ground eventually. Lovers, old couples, little kids and their parents and the tourists also came here for a visit. My wife and I were astonished by the scenery in front of us.






It’s 11:40 and we had to continue to visit the rest attractions. So we got out from the South Gate of the park and walked to the South Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. There we took No.610 (Tourism Bus No.8) to the South Gate of the Tang Paradise and then walk to Qujiang Pool Heritage Park.

The night view in the Tang Paradise is awesome. You can go there for a visit. I have been there for four times.

It was sunny today. Many parents brought their kids out to have fun. The young lovers also took this chance to shoot their wedding photos. Some students had their special training class on the green grass.



The pool was very big. We spent almost three hours to have a circle tour around the lake. If you came here, I suggested you rent a bicycle or a boat. It would save you much energy. When we walked around the lake, we noticed that a sight-seeing train viaduct was being built. In the near future, you may sit on the train to tour the Qujiang Pool Heritage Park and Tang Paradise.




At 15:50, we left the Qujiang Pool Heritage Park for the Cool Cave Heritage Park. It was a newly developed love themed park. On the north side of the entrance was inscribed a long series of ancient love stories and legends like Bai She Zhuan(Legend of the White Snake) and Niu Lang Zhi Nv(The cowboy and the Spinning Maid). The stories and legends were displayed in the form of a long picture. It looked vivid.


The core area of the park is the Cool Cave where Wang Baochuan had waited for her husband for 18 years and finally reunited. Wang Baochuan was the daughter of the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty during the reign of the Emperor Yizong. She was in love with a poor man called Xue Pinggui. His father didn’t agree to let her marry a poor man and menaced he would cut off the relationship with her if she married Xue Pinggui. As a result, Wang Baochuan was kicked out after she got married with Xue Pinggui. She lived a smiple life with her husband in the cool cave. After Xue Pinggui joined the army, Wang had waited him for 18 years in the cool cave.


Later, Xue Pinggui became a high-level official due to his distinctive performance in wars. He came back to the cool cave, reunited with Wang Baochuan and took her to his new home. Unfortunately, Wang Baochuan died after 18 days when she moved to their new home.


Passing through the pavilion at the entrance, we saw a small pool where mandarin ducks playing with each other. A man in the ancient uniform was walking by the pool and cleaning the garbage in the water.

Kept on walking about 50 meters, we arrived at the ticket office. The entrance fee was expensive. It cost CNY 60 per person. Luckily, we bought the yearly pass in advance. So we entered the cool cave after swiping our yearly pass.

Actually, the whole scenic area was located in a small valley. We visited almost all the attractions including the Cool Cave, Third Sister’s Spring, Chastity Hall, Mysterious Horse Cave and a display hall exhibiting the stories of Wang Baochuan and Xue Pinggui.





Legend has it that Wang Baochuan threw an embroidered ball to hit Xue Pinggui and finally chose him as her husband. Wang Baochuan’s father actually agreed that his daughter could pick up her future husband by throwing an embroidered ball. He ordered all his servants to guard all entrances to his home. However, the servant girl of her daughter already brought Xue Pinggui in secretly. Her father was very angry after Wang Baochuan chose Xue Pinggui as her husband. But he couldn’t break his promise.

In the cool cave heritage park, a similar activity is held every day. If you are lucky, Wang Baochuan (a performer) will throw her embroidered ball to you and a wedding ceremony will be held in the witness of all tourists in the park. Don’t take it seriously. It’s just a game for fun. 


We almost forgot that there was a luxurious hotel located next to the Cool Cave. It was called Jinyuange Pavilion. We were not allowed to enter the hotel.


If you are interested in Chinese wedding celebration and planned to give it a shot, you can hold your wedding ceremony in the hotel.

We finished touring the Cool Cave Heritage Park at 17:30. Then we walked to the South Gate of the Tang Paradise to take bus. Unfortunately, there was no direct bus from there to our home. So we took No.21 bus to the Northwest University and then changed No.16 bus to our home.

Summary: The highlight of our one day autumn tour was in the Tang Da Cien Temple Ruins Park. There we saw the amazing yellow gingko leaves. The Qujiang Pool Heritage Park was a good place to hang out with your families and kids.

Well, the Qujiang Cool Cave Heritage Park was not recommended if you have no interest in the man-made sites.

Lastly, we actually had our one day autumn tour in the early winter. The autumn in Xian was too short. It was gone even the leaves hadn’t turned yellow.