--- title: "Xi'an city stories | City Whisper" description: "Preview 4 sourced Xi'an stories; 52 are available in the app." canonical: "https://citywhisper.net/en/cities/xian/" language: "en" content_signal: "search=yes, ai-input=yes, ai-train=no" --- # The Terracotta Army once stood beneath a roof Earthen partitions and corridors beneath the Terracotta Army once supported a timber roof; its collapse crushed many figures. Flames rose from fountains when the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda’s north square opened. An overcrowded Chen Danqing lecture gained a second session that evening, while Xi’an Jiaotong University students trace plane-tree leaves and use software to crown a Leaf King. 52 stories are available in the app. ## Public story previews ### Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum: The Terracotta Army Stands Inside an Earthen Building Ten partitions form eleven corridors beneath the restored ranks. Pit 1 was constructed before figures were installed. Ten east-west rammed-earth partitions divided eleven corridors with brick floors and a timber-and-earth roof above. Collapse, fire, and burial broke many figures; upright ranks include years of excavation and restoration. From the public platform, structure and army can be read together. [Source: bmy.com.cn](https://www.bmy.com.cn/pitone.html) [Permanent section link](https://citywhisper.net/en/cities/xian/#sia_terracotta_pit_structure) ### Giant Wild Goose Pagoda North Square: The fountain used to shoot real fire Four jets rose from the water and burned six meters overhead. When the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda North Square first opened on December 31, 2003, reports counted more than pumps and nozzles. They also described four "fire fountains" rising from the water and burning about 6 meters overhead. Water, fire, lasers, and music ran in one programmed show, giving the square a full-scale nighttime spectacle from opening day. Whether the equipment still follows that setup depends on the current schedule; the fire belongs to the square's opening-era record. [Source: qjxq.xa.gov.cn](https://qjxq.xa.gov.cn/zjqj/gyqj/tsqj/5df21c5c65cbd81235fc1faa.html) [Permanent section link](https://citywhisper.net/en/cities/xian/#sia_great_goose_pagoda_north_axis) ### Xi'an Art Museum: The room filled up, so Chen Danqing spoke twice The crowd outgrew the hall. Chen Danqing added an evening lecture. In March 2010, the first Sino-French Forum on Art Education took place at Xi'an Art Museum. Chen Danqing spoke about art education and entrance exams at the forum, then gave a public lecture that afternoon. People had lined up early, the hall could not hold everyone, and the start was delayed. He apologized to the students left outside and offered another talk that evening. When the museum looked back on its fifth anniversary, it singled out the added lecture for mention. [Source: eurasia.edu](https://www.eurasia.edu/info/3851/173163.htm) [Permanent section link](https://citywhisper.net/en/cities/xian/#sia_xian_art_museum_halls) ### Plane Tree Avenue, XJTU Xingqing Campus: Even a Fallen Leaf Has to Earn Its Championship Students did not settle the size contest by eye: they photographed each leaf, traced its edge, and let software calculate the area. When autumn fills campus with plane tree leaves, XJTU students hold a 'Leaf King' contest. Each entry is flattened and photographed. The image is converted to grayscale, separated by a threshold, traced around its outline, and turned into an area; only then can the largest leaf claim the title. The contest returns with the Golden Plane Tree Festival, though methods and leaf sizes vary by year. It is a particularly engineering-campus joke: even picking up a leaf can become a small experiment before anyone gets to declare a winner. [Source: news.xjtu.edu.cn](https://news.xjtu.edu.cn/info/1219/227827.htm) [Permanent section link](https://citywhisper.net/en/cities/xian/#sia_xjtu_leaf_king) ## About City Whisper City Whisper collects short, sourced stories tied to real places. Read and save them at home, or turn on a reminder as you pass. Precise location stays on the device. The app is free, ad-free, and requires no account. [Download City Whisper free on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6780022165?pt=129035443&ct=official_website&mt=8) ## Citation and use Search and answer agents may cite the public homepage and city pages. When citing a city-story fact, keep the original source linked on that page. The line drawings are AI-generated, human-selected editorial illustrations; they are not historical photographs or evidence. Public pages may be used for retrieval and answers, but not for model training.