Xi'an is an excellent place to pick up souvenirs and antiques , which are generally cheaper and more varied than in Beijing, though prices have to be bartered down and the standard of goods, especially from tourist shops, is sometimes shoddy. Be aware that many of the antiques sold are fake. Shopping is also an enjoyable night-time activity since the markets and department stores are open until 10pm. The Century Ginwa Store is a great, if expensive, place in which to browse.

Xi'an is something of an art centre, and the paintings available here are much more varied in style than those you see elsewhere. Strong competition also means you can pick them up quite cheaply if you're prepared to bargain - a good, large painting can be had for less than ¥150. As well as the line and wash paintings of legendary figures, flowers and animals that you see everywhere, look for bright, simple folk paintings, usually of country scenes. A traditional Shaanxi art form, appealing for their decorative, flat design and lush colours, these images were popular in the 1970s in China for their idealistic, upbeat portrayal of peasant life, and many villagers, especially from the town of Huxian, 20km south of Xi'an, have made a career of producing them. A good selection of these is sold in a shop just behind the Small Goose Pagoda, in the temple compound, and outside the Banpo Museum together with bright folk art paper cuts and flour figures. There are a number of painting shops on Beiyuanmen, north of the Drum Tower; try no. 144. For rubbings from steles, much cheaper than paintings and quite striking, try the Big Goose Pagoda and the Provincial Museum.

Beiyuanmen is also the place to go for small souvenirs , engraved chopsticks, teapots, chiming balls and the like. Another strip of tourist shops lies along the pedestrianized Shuyuanmen, a cobbled street just east of the South Gate where an attempt has been made to prettify the shops by making them look like Qing-dynasty buildings. Clusters of stalls and vendors swarm around all the tourist sights, and are often a nuisance, though the stalls around the Great Mosque are worth checking out - you'll see curved Muslim shabaria knives among the Mao watches and other tourist knick-knacks. Some stalls sell small figures of terracotta soldiers in a mesh basket; you can bargain them down to just a few yuan, but the figures aren't fired properly, and will leave your hands black whenever you touch them. For better quality, buy them from the Century Ginwa department store. They are also available from stalls outside the station - be sure to check them carefully and to bargain hard. For a personalized souvenir, try the seal engraver at 22 Heping Lu.

There is a touristy antique shop at 14 Nanxin Jie, but the best place to go for antiques is the market outside the Baxian Gong, held every Wednesday and Sunday, and more of a local affair than a tourist bonanza, so prices are cheaper. Many vendors are villagers from the outlying regions who look as if they are clearing out their attics. You can find much more unusual items here than you will see in the stores, such as books and magazines dating from the Cultural Revolution containing rabid anti-Western propaganda, Qing vases, opium pipes, even rusty guns. A wide range of expensive clothes are sold on Dong Dajie, with a good selection of name-brand stores. For cheaper stuff try the street market in the first alley on the right as you go down Dong Dajie from the Bell Tower. Head right to the bottom of the alley, past the stores selling fake DKNY bomber jackets and the like, and on the west side you'll find a shop that sells practical, hard-wearing clothes such as hooded sweatshirts. The Xi'an Department Store, opposite the Wuyi Hotel on Dong Dajie, and the Guangren Department Store, just east of the Bell Tower, sell a wide variety of household goods, sports equipment and stationery.

Beilin is the official artist quarter, which stocks a variety of artists' tools - everything from calligraphy sets to intricately carved seals. To get there from the Bell Tower, head south down Nan Dajie and take the second left en route to the Xi'an Beilin Museum. The night markets in both the Muslim quarter and Beilin make for an entertaining stroll under the stars, where the nocturnal hawkers sell everything from dinner to souvenir silk paintings. There's also a night market on the eastern section of Dongxin Jie, with a lively atmosphere, but little to buy that's of interest to visitors - it's mostly plastic kitchenware.

The most recent, and glitziest, addition to Xi'an's shopping scene is the Century Ginwa Department Store . Located on Xi Dajie just in front of the Drum Tower, it offers the usual array of designer labels and has franchises of DeliFrance and Kenny Rogers Roasters - there's also a good coffee bar on the ground floor. The basement supermarket is one of the best in China, with a good selection of reasonably priced imported goods.