Xi'an is a great place to shop for cultural items. Jiefang Lu is a thriving shopping area and offers great windows-shopping. Just south of the Drum Tower is Dong Da Jie and Xi Da Jie. This street runs east to west through the city and is lined with many stores. In the Muslim quarter just outside the Great Mosque is the Dajie Xiang Market. Here you'll find a little of everything - antiques, musical instruments and Mao memorabilia, don't expect genuine antiques though.

Xian has many large commercial centers. The South Main Street is a great shopping area. The most famous shopping mall in this street is the Changan International Plaza with a total area of 266,000 square meters. This plaza contains a five-star hotel and a modern shopping mall. There are many famous brands items available for purchase at the Changan International Plaza.

Located on Jiefang Road is the Xian Parkson Shopping Mall. It is a modern shopping mall with an area of 16500 square meters. The first and the second floor sell clothes of famous brand, the third floor is a large supermarket, and the fourth floor provides delicious Xian snacks. It is a great place for visitors to shop, eat, and relax.

The Bell Tower Shopping Street consists of the middle district, the northern district, and the southern district.

Every district has cultural plaza, performance center, restaurants, supermarkets, and an amusement center. There are four Euramerican streets in the southern district underground, they are the Champs Elysees Street, the Las Vegas Street, the Ancient Roman Street, and the Hollywood Starlight Street. This area offers name brand boutiques.

Another shopping area that visitors to Xian must stop at is the shopping street and night market located behind the Drum Tower. The shopping street's buildings are built in the style of the Qing Dynasty and offer beautiful arts and crafts to visitors. Little stands line the streets and peddlers sell local snacks and foods. It is a wonderful experience to purchase little snacks at the stands while shopping. There is an area made up of tents which is the night market. Many dried fruits and snacks can be found there along with handmade arts and crafts. This area sells items that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

The Academy Gate and Culture Street is another fantastic shopping area for people interested in truly unique and high quality local arts. The street located next to the ancient city wall is lined with beautiful buildings made in the style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The items sold in its shops are not cheap souvenirs, but high quality works of art. Jade, hand crafted fans and art supplies, musical instruments, jewelry, and paintings can all be found on this street.

Xian is known for its Tang dynasty tri-colored porcelain. The subjects of this pottery are bold and life-like, and the glazed colors are diverse and expressive, though be wary of any shops that claim their wares are " old ". As a storehouse of ancient culture, books featuring the calligraphy of famous calligraphyers are popular items. Paper cutting is a popular folk art in Shaanxi, on holidays and weddings, villagers decorate their homes with bright paper cuttings that are rich and varied and always feature symbols of good luck. Cashing in on Xi'an's main attractions, replicas of Terracotta Warriors are everywhere; they range from a few inches tall to life-size, with prices of up to several thousand US dollars.