Xi'an: the Small Wild Goose Pagoda and the Xi'an Museum

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda was built between 707 and 709, in the reign of Tang Zhongzong, to store the Buddhist texts brought back from India by the pilgrim Yijing - the other great translator of the Tang, and the one whose journey is less often told than Xuanzang's. It stands 43.4 metres tall in thirteen stages on the site of the Jianfu Temple, and it has been through more than seventy earthquakes, including the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people across the province.

The Xi'an Museum was built around it and opened in 2007, with a collection running from Zhou bronzes through Tang tri-colour ceramics to the Ming city. It is smaller, quieter and better lit than the Shaanxi History Museum, and on a weekday morning you can have whole galleries to yourself - which for a first-time visitor to China is worth more than three extra rooms of objects. Two and a half hours covers the main galleries, the pagoda platform and a slow lap of the garden.

• The pagoda built between 707 and 709 to hold the texts brought back by the pilgrim Yijing
• 43.4 metres in thirteen stages, on the site of the Tang Jianfu Temple
• More than seventy earthquakes survived, including the 1556 Shaanxi quake
• The Xi'an Museum, opened in 2007, from Zhou bronzes to Tang tri-colour ceramics
• A fraction of the visitors at the Shaanxi History Museum, and a calmer morning
• Tang-style gardens and a lake between the halls
• Ten minutes by taxi from the South Gate, easy to pair with the City Wall

• Meals as listed in the daily itinerary (no meals; tea in the museum courtyard)
• Private air-conditioned vehicle with professional driver throughout
• English-speaking local guide (Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian or Japanese on request)
• All entrance fees for the sites listed, including shuttle buses, eco-buses and cable cars where the site requires them
• Local handling and coordination service throughout the programme
• Bottled water (2 bottles per person per day) and audio headsets where group size requires them
• Travel accident insurance for the duration of the tour

• International air tickets and any domestic flights not listed in the itinerary
• China visa or visa-free entry documentation fees
• Meals not specified in the daily itinerary and all beverages/alcohol
• Tips for guides, drivers and hotel staff (suggested USD 8-12 per person per day)
• Personal expenses: laundry, telephone, minibar, shopping
• Optional activities and any item not listed under Price Includes
• Single-room supplement if a traveller requires a room alone
• Climbing the pagoda itself, if the interior is open (a small separate ticket at the gate)
• A calligraphy or rubbing session added afterwards (see the separate Beilin experience)

Published: October 2026 — prices and itinerary reviewed on this date; later updates are shown in the revision note below.

Please read the notes below before you book. The museum is closed on Mondays in most months; the gardens stay open. The site is flat and step-free apart from the pagoda stair.

Q: Why visit this pagoda rather than the Big Wild Goose Pagoda?
A: Because it is the original fabric and there is nobody there. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is bigger, more central and fronted by a musical fountain and a shopping district; the Small Wild Goose is a Tang tower in a garden with a good provincial museum beside it. If you want one pagoda and you care about the building more than the photo, come here.

Q: How badly was the pagoda damaged in the 1556 earthquake?
A: Badly, and famously. The top two of its original fifteen stages came down, and a vertical crack opened through the body of the tower that reportedly closed again in a later quake. The repairs are visible if you look at the join between the older brick and the later work. It is one of the best-documented cases of a Chinese pagoda surviving serious seismic damage.

Q: Is the Xi'an Museum worth the time?
A: For a first visit to China, yes - it is a well-organized regional museum with strong Zhou and Tang material and almost no queue. For a traveller who has already seen the Shaanxi History Museum and the Terracotta Army, it is optional. We usually recommend it as a calm morning after a heavy day, and it pairs well with the City Wall in the afternoon.

Q: How long should we allow?
A: Two and a half hours: forty minutes in the main galleries, half an hour for the Tang and Ming rooms, twenty minutes at the pagoda, and the rest walking the garden. Add an hour if you want the special exhibitions. The site is compact, so nothing is more than five minutes from anything else.

Q: Is it closed on Mondays?
A: In most months, yes - Chinese museums close one day a week and Monday is the usual choice. The gardens and the pagoda exterior remain accessible. We check the calendar when we book and swap in the Shaanxi Archaeology Museum or the Beilin if the date falls on a closure.

Q: Can we walk here from the City Wall?
A: Yes, about twenty minutes from the South Gate along Nanguan Zhengjie, or five minutes by taxi. The walk passes the old book market and a stretch of the Tang city wall foundations, which almost nobody notices. If you are doing the wall in the morning, this is the natural afternoon.

Q: Do I need a visa for this?
A: Most visitors do not. China's unilateral visa-free scheme covers 50 countries for stays up to 30 days, and 240-hour visa-free transit covers 57 nationalities through 65 designated ports. Confirm your nationality against the National Immigration Administration list before booking flights, because the scheme is revised from time to time.