Culture of Xi'an
2008-01-25
The culture of Xi'an is inherited from the traditions of one of the world's earliest civilizations.The Guanzhong Ren (关中人/关中人) were the cultural antecedent of Xi'anese,their cultural features are drawn from the Ten Specialties of Guanzhong Ren (关中十大怪/关中十大怪).Another major part of this culture is Eight Great Sights of Chang'an (长安八景/长安八景),storied scenic areas in the region.
The drama of the original Xi'anese culture,Qinqiang (秦腔,Voice of Qin) is the oldest and most extensive Chinese Opera of the four major types of Chinese opera.The dialect of Xi'an is Shaanxi Hua,which is strongly influenced by Standard Mandarin,but still retains much grammar and pronunciation from the Classical Chinese.Because of its long development as a culture,the cuisine of Xi'an is extensive as well.It is the representative of food of Northwestern China.The most well known local food is the Xi'anese snack,a traditional food of the Hui people.Hui-style snacks feature beef and mutton because the Hui people,being Muslims,do not eat pork.Baked beef and mutton,buns with beef,and other such regional dishes that are usually spicy in nature and incorporate a lot of beef and mutton ingredients.Two particularly famous Xi'an dishes include a pancake and mutton soup,which can be optionally spicy,and Xi'an's famous hand-rolled noodles,which come in various flavors,shapes,and sizes.There is also a famous cultural noodle dance when a chef,instead of rolling out noodles,waves a long strip of dough around in a dance before cooking the noodles.
