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The local culture of Xian has demonstrated continuity of the extensive and profound ancient heritage and the bearings of the modern era. The loess land is permeated with its unique vigor and special characteristics. The visitor will be fascinated by the diversity and rich pageantry of the local customs.
Typical of the cultural traditions in China, folk culture in the Xi'an area is distinctly varied, like the spectrum of the rainbow.
The Spring Festival, one of the old operas in China, Festival of lanterns, Tomb-sweeping Day, mid-autumn festival and other festivals derived from early in Yin dynasty and Zhou dynasty and are still popular today. Shaanxi Opera is Xian with long history comes into being abundant in folk cultures. Many folk cultures such as Shaanxi Drum and Cong Performance, Meihu opera, Wuanwuan Qiang opera, Puppet Play, Xintian You ballad and Yangge in northern Shaanxi are all famous, which reflect the simple, kind, forthright and colorful folk customs. You may become aware of the "the ten strange things of Shaanxi" 1,Wearing handkerchief on the head 2,Noodles as wide and thick as belt ,3,The pancake as big as pan cover 4,Singing opera in high voice 5, Building house use with one-Side cover 6,Having a meal with huge bowl 7,Cooking chili for a dish 8,Having a meal squatting down instead of sitting
 Chang'an Calligraphy and Painting
Chang'an calligraphy and painting is marveled as an exotic flower blossoming in the loess soil. The works of the Chang'an Painting School, focusing on nature and cultures of Northwestern China, attract collectors and critics by its vigor, simplicity, boldness and unconstrained bearing, clearly showing the spirits of the Han and Tang dynasties. The tablets and name panels all over the streets and lanes constitute a unique calligraphy exhibition.
Peasant Painting From Huxian County
Peasant paintings from Huxian County are a gem of folk arts in China. The painters, more than two thousand altogether, are peasants by profession. They engage in farming and paint in their leisure time. The local peasants enjoy their works first of all; therefore, these paintings are profoundly local in nature. However, the surprising boldness and abstraction of expression have attracted universal acclaim: from simplicity and elegance to gaudy colors, clumsiness and childish naivete. These most unusual paintings have attracted thousands of visitors from home and abroad.
Qinqiang Opera
Qinqiang opera is said to have started with songs of the Qin Dynasty. The opera is widely appreciated in China's northwest. Of the 300 to 400 forms of local operas in China, many can be traced to the Qinqiang Opera. The opera is most outstanding for its sonorous, vehement, vigorous, and uninhibited voice. For this reason, it is also known as the “Roaring Opera”. The style of expression of Qinqiang Opera is rich and varied, fromhigh spirits and unconstrained passion to desolate misery and tender sentiments. The facial masks of the opera are a most articulate expression of the vigor and tenderness of the local people: bold, open and optimistic.
The Village Games
The “Village Games”, a kind of variety show, is a spontaneous amusement and celebration. For the farmers, celebration is incomplete and unsatisfactory without the variety show, when flapping banners and deafening gongs and drums fill the streets, and circus performers, stilt-walkers, dancers, lanterns, effigy boats, people wearing opera costumes showing off through the neighborhood. Circus and stilt-walking attract most of the audience where daredevils stand at dangerous places, holding the breath of on-lookers; and the stilt-walkers, dressed in opera costumes, always make amusing movements and bring out laughter.
Drum Music
Drum Music is an ancient folk art with a history of more than a thousand years. The most striking attraction is its rich variety of tunes and flexibility of rhythms. Two types of instruments are used: those producing melodies and those for pacing rhythms. If it is played during a procession or when the musicians standing still, the tune is often based on the improvisation of a single tune, achieving a shocking impact and o rectangular table, the performance is usually complex by integrating several tunes together, the effect being more subtle and intricate.
Lanterns in Xi'an
Lanterns in Xi'an became well known as early as in the Han Dynasty when they were hung in the streets of Chang'an. Red lanterns were hung aloft on the eaves of the palaces. The tradition is still amazed by the spectacular scene in the nights of the first month on Chinese lunar calendar. The airplane lanterns are held in hand and phoenix lanterns are trailing on the ground. The lanterns are made with paper, silk, cloth or gauze of different colors attached on frames of bamboo, wood and rattan.
Colorful Steamed Buns
Colorful Steamed Buns are prepared as gifts by farmers on the Guanzhong Plain at festivals, wedding and birthday celebrations. The designs are numerous, resembling peaches, lions, coiled dragons or flower bouquets, which express the superb craftsmanship of the farmers and their simple and honest feeling toward the guests, are greatly appreciated.
Leather Silhouette Show
Xi'an Leather silhouette Show began in the Qin Dynasty, grew in the Han Dynasty and prospered in the Song Dynasty. The leather silhouette piece is made of ox or donkey hide, which is pressed and polished to transparency, carved and decorated with colors. The intricate process requires precision and care with colors. The intricate process requires precision and care with special emphases on the proper ratio of human figures and three-dimensional effect. Usually a few simple strokes are all that it takes to depict the spectrum of dramatic roles like the male, the female , the painted and clowns. The performance is done by manipulating the leather piece against light and vivid images will be clearly visible. Besides being a prop for performance, the leather piece is also appreciated as an object of decoration.
Paper-cuts
Paper-cuts are a kind of folk handicrafts. Paper-cutting is done by stacking colorful papers knives or scissors. The art focuses on things most familiar to people such as pigs, chickens, sheep, dogs, peaches, plums, melons and fruits, flowers, birds, fish, insects, folk legends and opera characters. The style is simple and bold with exquisite craftsmanship. The tradition is extensively rooted in the villages of Xi'an. On occasions of festivities such as the new year and wedding, “window flowers”, as it is called, are stuck on windows, doors, even ceilings as symbols of happiness and good fortune.
The petit-point work
The petit-point work, also called silk-gauze-stitched embroidery, is highly praised for both its practicality and excellence as artistic works.
The main idea of this handicraft is to embroider with colored threads, stitch by stitch, strictly according to the wrap and weft patterns on the fabric. The stitches of the embroidery are multifarious and complicated. It makes beautiful decorations. The colors used are either in sharp contrast with, or in minute differences from each other. Sometimes various patterns, even a pattern within a pattern, are created with patches of the same color by combining different stitches. In addition, the changing of the directions of threads in the pattern may also present a change of luster, which will surely add beauty and elegance to the work.
Appliqué Articles
Appliqué articles have been handed down among the people in Shaanxi for ages. The art and craft of appliqué and hand embroidery include children's toys and daily necessities including children's caps, shoes, over sleeves, car--pillows. There are also cloth tigers, cloth-unicorns and other ornamental toys. Using animals as popular subject matter, the appliqué articles are very exaggerated in shape with sharp contrasts in color. They are of exquisite workmanship and rich imagination, and display a kind of appeal with simple and unaffected flavor. They are characterized by a distinctive folk style, and show the deep feelings of the country women.
Fengxiang Painted Clay Figurines
Fengxiang was one of the ancient towns in Shaanxi Province. The figurines are made of local clay which is mixed with a pulp and painted after it is shaped. The figurines appear in a variety of shapes which show a lot of simplicity, generality and exaggeration. They are brightly colored with strong local style, and well liked by the local people, who use them as toys and symbols of good fortune and happiness. Each time when the Lunar New Year draws near, local handicraftsmen carry the beautifully painted clay-figurines to the local market and set up stalls in meandering lines, which makes the country fair more flourishing and exciting during the festival. Combined with simple and sincere feelings of the people, the painted clay-figurines reflect the superb creativity in art of the peasants.
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