Shaanxi is a north-central province of the People's Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River as well as the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of the province.

By regular Hanyu Pinyin rules, both Shaanxi and the neighbouring province of Shanxi should be spelled as "Shanxi", and the difference is in tone: Shanxi and Shanxi. To make the difference clear even without tonal marks, the spelling "Shaanxi" was contrived for the province of Shanxi, while "Shanxi" is used for the province of Shanxi.

Shaanxi (and the city of Xi'an therein) are considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. 13 feudal dynasties have established their capitals in this province during a span of more than 1100 years, from the Zhou dynasty to the Tang dynasty. It is also the starting point of the Silk Road which leads to Europe, Arabia and Africa.

Shaanxi's nominal GDP for 2003 was 239.9 RMB (28.9 billion USD) and GDP Per Capita was 6536 RMB (789 USD).

Shanxi is famous for its great number of temples, pagodas and frescoes, such as Jinci Temple, Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian County and Guandi Temple in Xiezhou, etc. It is thus reputed as a "Museum of Ancient Arts".

Located in the northwest of China, Xian, ( formerly known as Chang'an in ancient times ) is the administrative capital of Shaanxi Province and has a long history steeped in culture. It was China's capital for some two thousand years and was a major city on the famous silk route. Its best known tourist attraction is probably the Terracotta Warriors but it has many important sites of interest including huge walls circling the city and an impressive array of pagodas and temples.

Terracotta Warriors Located some 1.5Km east of Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the Terracotta Warriors are one of the most important finds of the past century. The 2000 year old warriors from the Qing dynasty were discovered by some local farmers in 1974 and the site consists of three pits covering 16000 square meters. No. 1 pit was the first to be discovered and opened to the public in 1979. It contains 6000 real size soldiers in a pit that measures 230 x 60 meters wide and 5 meters deep. The warriors are arranged in a 38 column formation behind a vanguard of three ranks with war chariots bringing up the rear. No. 2 pit contains a further 1000 warriors and No.3 has a smaller group of 70 soldiers who were possibly the formation commanders. The museum is open from 09.10 to 17.00 and admission costs between 65¥ and 90¥ depending on the time of the year.

Weicai Shredded Fish

Qinqiang or Luantan is the representative folk opera of the northwest Province of Shaanxi, China, where it was called Qin thousands of years ago. Its melodies were originated from the rural areas of ancient Shaanxi and Gansu.