Hancheng lies in the north-eastern corner of Shaanxi, on the route down to the Yellow River and across towards Shanxi. It is one of the best-preserved old towns in the province: a walled city core of Ming and Qing streets, with the Confucian temple, guild halls built by merchant families, family ancestral halls and rows of courtyard houses still standing in something like their original arrangement. Because it is well off the Xi'an circuit, it has kept its fabric and lost most of its day-trippers.
The old city
The centre is small enough to walk in a couple of hours. Look for the Confucian temple with its decorated wooden gateway, the rows of shops along the main street that retain their timber fronts, and the alleyways of courtyard houses behind, several of which belong to the families that produced the city's merchant fortunes. Local food is northern Shaanxi cooking - buckwheat noodles, lamb, and the peppery, vinegar-sharp flavours that run all the way down to Xi'an.
Sima Qian's temple
A few kilometres outside the city, on a bluff above the river at Zhichuan, stands the temple and tomb complex honouring Sima Qian, the Han dynasty official who wrote the Records of the Grand Historian - the work that established the form of the Chinese dynastic history and made him the ancestral figure of Chinese historiography. The site climbs a ridge in a series of terraces, gateways and halls, with his tomb crowned at the top and a view out over the Yellow River valley. For Chinese visitors it is close to a place of pilgrimage, and the inscriptions and steles along the way are part of the experience.
Practical notes
Hancheng is about three hours from Xi'an by road and is also served by high-speed rail via a station outside the city, which makes a one-night stay feasible for independent travellers. Dangjia Village, another well-known historic settlement, is only a short drive out. Signage in English is limited, so a guide or translation app helps. Spring and autumn are comfortable; summer on the plateau is hot and the site at Sima Qian's temple is fully exposed.
