CHINA 5A TRAVEL
A 1,300-year-old Tang imperial hot-spring palace 30 km east of Xi'an, where Yang Guifei once bathed, the 1936 Xi'an Incident unfolded, and China's landmark open-air night show 'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow' lights up Nine-Dragon Lake.
Huaqing Palace (Huaqing Gong) spreads across the foot of forested Mount Li in Xi'an's Lintong District, about 30 km east of the city center and a short hop from the Terracotta Army. Hot springs have drawn royalty here for some 3,000 years - Zhou kings kept lodges on these slopes, and the emperors of Qin, Han and Sui followed - but it was Tang Emperor Xuanzong who raised a full palace in the 8th century and returned nearly every October with his court, and with Yang Guifei, the consort whose beauty and tragic end were immortalized in Bai Juyi's poem 'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow'.
What you see today is a 5A-rated blend of archaeology, rebuilt Tang architecture and living history. The Tang Imperial Bath Museum preserves the excavated stone pools where emperors and consorts soaked, including the crabapple-shaped Haitang Pool built for Yang Guifei; Feishuang Hall and Nine-Dragon Lake form the palace's ceremonial heart; and Wujian Hall, its walls still scarred by bullet holes, is where Chiang Kai-shek was staying when the Xi'an Incident of December 1936 changed the course of Chinese history. Behind it all rises 1,302-metre Mount Li, crowned by an ancient signal-beacon tower.
One ticket now covers both the palace gardens and Mount Li, and the scenic area is as famous for its nights as its days: the open-air dance drama 'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow' performs on Nine-Dragon Lake from spring through autumn, a winter 'Ice & Fire' edition runs December-February, and the live-action '12.12 Xi'an Incident' drama plays daily. Spring and autumn bring mild weather plus Lintong's pomegranates and persimmons, and travelers who want to actually soak in the thermal springs can check into the royal hot-spring hotel inside the grounds.
Highlights
Tang Imperial Bath Museum
Walkways ring the 1,300-year-old excavated hot-spring pools of the Tang court, including the crabapple-shaped Haitang Pool built for Yang Guifei and the imperial pool that still holds water.
Wujian Hall & the 1936 Xi'an Incident
The five-room lodge where Chiang Kai-shek stayed in December 1936; bullet holes from the night he fled up Mount Li are still visible in the walls.
Nine-Dragon Lake
A mirror lake fronting Feishuang Hall and framed by Tang-style pavilions - serene by day, and transformed into a vast stage set at night.
'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow' night show
China's landmark open-air historical dance drama, staged on and above Nine-Dragon Lake with Mount Li as a giant projected backdrop; about 70 minutes, nightly from late March to October.
Mount Li & the Beacon Tower
A 1,302 m forested summit behind the palace, reached by steep footpath or cable car, crowned by the beacon tower of King You's 'losing a kingdom for a smile' legend.
Furong Garden & Changshengdian
A Tang-style landscaped zone of lakes, a Lishan waterfall and Peach Blossom Valley, plus the Hall of Eternal Life with its high-tech immersive show.
Photo Gallery
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