Huaqing Palace

Hot springs rise at the foot of Mount Li, and emperors built at them from early times, with the Tang complex the grandest: Xuanzong made it a winter court, and the pools used by him and by Yang Guifei were excavated in the 1980s, stone-lined basins of different shapes, one cut as a lotus and one as a crab apple, with the plumbing that fed them visible. The story of Xuanzong and Yang Guifei, told in Bai Juyi's Song of Everlasting Sorrow, is the reason the site is famous in China, and an outdoor evening show stages it against the mountain.

History

The hot springs at the foot of Mount Li have a recorded history of almost three thousand years, and palaces were built here by King You of Zhou, Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, who enlarged the complex. The Tang emperor Xuanzong rebuilt it as the Wenquan Palace in 723 and renamed it the Huaqing Palace in 747, and it became the setting of his romance with his consort Yang Guifei, told in Bai Juyi's Song of Everlasting Sorrow; the palace was badly damaged in the An Lushan Rebellion (Wikipedia, Huaqing Pool).

What's there

• The excavated pools - Tang stone bathing basins in lotus and other shapes.
• The spring source - the hot water still rising at the foot of the mountain.
• The rebuilt halls - modern reconstruction of the palace buildings.
• The evening show - the Xuanzong and Yang Guifei story staged outdoors.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the evening show runs from spring to autumn and needs tickets booked ahead. The site is usually combined with the Terracotta Army, a few kilometres east.

Before you go

Buildings above the pools are modern reconstruction. The evening show is expensive and separate. The site is very busy as a standard stop on Terracotta Army tours.

Nearby

The Terracotta Army lies east; Xi'an is west.