Yongxingfang

At Yongxingfang in Xi'an, this guide starts with the custom of smashing empty wine bowls underfoot, thousands shattered here every year, and the legend of two feuding tribal leaders who broke a cup instead of going to war. It then digs into the ground itself, once the mansion of Wei Zheng, the Tang chancellor famous for telling Emperor Taizong exactly what he did not want to hear. You'll hear how their relationship shaped how the emperor later remembered him. Ask for a cup, lift it, and listen for the crack before you decide what it means.