Shaanxi Province features ancient-culture tours as well as natural and manmade landscape tours. It has 35,750 historical sites, 55 major historical and cultural relics under state protection, and 372 under provincial protection. The province has 74 museums housing 560,000 rare historical relics, among which 3,526 are first-class state historical relics and 123 are national treasures.

Dispersed in Shaanxi are 72 imperial mausoleums, witnesses to the ancient economy and culture. The province is best known for ten scenic spots including the Mausoleum of Huang Di, the Qin terra-cotta warriors and horses, the Xi'an Forest of Stone Tablets, the Shaanxi Museum of History, and the city gate and wall of Xi'an. The Qin terra-cotta warriors and horses are often called the Eighth Wonder of the World and have been included by UNESCO in the list of World Cultural Heritages.

Tourism has become one of the leading industries of the province. Shaanxi has 120 domestic and international travel agencies and 90 hotels for foreigners with 16,000 guestrooms. Five of the hotels are 5-star rated, and four are 4-star rated. There are sightseeing automobiles, shopping centers, and entertainment centers. A sample survey by the National Tourism Administration showed that the rate of satisfaction of tourists in the province was 90.6 percent, the third highest in the country.

The province has four tourist routes, in its east, south, west, and north, with Xi'an at the core, linking the main tourism areas in the province. The tourist areas include the Ancient Capital Tourist Area including the Shaanxi Museum of History, the Museum of the Forest of Stone Tablets, the Banpo Museum, the city gate and wall of Xi'an, the Drum and Bell towers, and the Greater and Lesser Wild Goose pagodas; the Lintong tourist area including the Mausoleum of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, the Museum of the Qin Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses, and Huaqing Pool; the Huashan Tourist Area; the Han and Tang Dynasty Imperial Mausoleum Tourist Area including the Qianling, Zhaoling, and Maoling mausoleums; the Famen Monastery Buddhist-Culture Tourist Area including the Famen Monastery, the Temple of the Revered Mr. Zhou, and the Zhouyuan Bronzeware Museum; a tourist area including the Mausoleum of Huang Di, the Hukou Waterfalls, the customs of the Loess Plateau, and the revolutionary base of Yan'an; the Landscape Tourist Area including the Great Wall in Yulin, Mt. Baiyun, and the Hongshi (Red Stone) Gorge; the Eastern and Western Han and the Three Kingdoms Tourist Area including the Mustering-Troops Terrace in Hanzhong, the Temple of Zhang Liang, and the Temple of Zhuge Liang; the Zhongnanshan Tourist Area including Mt. Yushan, the Wanwu Terrace, Mt. Cuihua, and Louguantai; and the Tourist Area of the Taibai National Forest Park. Four large cultural tour areas are now under construction in Shaanxi, featuring the history and culture of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties.

(NEW STAR PUBLISHER: ENTERING WEST CHINA)