Xian, seat of the first empire, taps historic Silk Road as route to success

Nestled in the middle of the country where plains in the east meet mountains in the west, Shaanxi has played an unrivalled political and economic role in both ancient and modern China.

From the Qin dynasty (221-207BC), the first empire to rule what later became known as the Middle Kingdom, to the all-prosperous Han and Tang dynasties, Xian and its neighbouring city, Xianyang , were the seats of imperial power for 13 dynasties spanning 1,100 years. Even the legendary ancestor of all Chinese people, the Yellow Emperor, died in a part of Shaanxi now called Huangling .

And as China entered the turbulent 20th century, the quaint valley town of Yanan , with its loess mountain caves, provided the perfect shelter for the Red Army and revolutionary leaders including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai for 11 years at the end of the Long March.

But none of Xian's many historical titles inspire the romance of travel as much as its role as the first stop on the Silk Road, the trade corridor where spices and carpets from as far as Turkey were carried on the backs of camels to a bustling West Side Market in Changan (as Xian was known in the 2nd-century-BC Han dynasty) in exchange for tea leaves and silk.

However, travellers today might leave the city disappointed. Yes, they can visit the Terracotta Warriors, and other tombs of great kings, but inside the cities of Xian and Xianyang traces of the past are now largely buried in concrete.

Those looking for a hint of the hubbub of the Silk Road markets will only find the Muslim quarter, where rows of restaurants and stalls tout for customers, and a few statues of loaded camels and generals on horses stand facing west outside the Yuxiang Gate of the old Xian city wall.