How to pronounce Xi’an

Xi’an (the old capital, home of the Terracotta Army) is 西安 in Chinese, written Xī’ān in pinyin and said shee-ahn.

西安 Xī’ān

shee-ahn

Sound by sound

X is said like the sh in “she”, with the tongue behind the bottom teeth. Never “z” or “ks”.

Xi’an (the old capital, home of the Terracotta Army) is 西安 in Chinese, written Xī’ān in pinyin and said shee-ahn.

xī: first tone, high and level; ān: first tone, high and level.

X is said like the sh in “she”, with the tongue behind the bottom teeth. Never “z” or “ks”.

Voices recorded for our word cards. A spelling such as “shyow-mee” is the nearest English sound, not the sound itself: hear the voices.