As the birthplace of Chinese civilization, the capital of 13 dynasties and the resting place for 72 emperors, Xi鈥檃n boasts an incredible amount of history.

It鈥檚 easy to be overwhelmed by the brilliant halo of sites like the Terracotta Warriors, dozens of emperors鈥� tombs, old palaces and numerous ancient temples and towers. That鈥檚, of course, where most tourists flock.

I was thinking about all this as I strolled along the red lantern-flanked streets of the Shaanxi Province capital. Some 2,500 years of history does give Xi鈥檃n a special cachet, but what happens if we focus the looking glass more recently?

I found the answer at the Xi鈥檃n City Memories Museum in a tumbledown former steel factory in the city鈥檚 eastern suburb. It displays more than 5,000 items collected from ordinary Xi鈥檃n families over the past 40 years.

Bamboo baskets, wooden barrels, iron woks, tin pots, aluminum lunchboxes, enamel cups, cookie cans, oil bottles, spatulas and farm tools are but a few of the items of daily life that illustrate how Xi鈥檃n has developed in more modern times.

鈥淚 observe the city and its people from a perspective of an ordinary citizen,鈥� says Song Qun, a Xi鈥檃n artist who is the museum鈥檚 founder.

The trigger for the idea for such a museum came when he couldn鈥檛 find a clear, readable book about Xi鈥檃n鈥檚 last 100 years.

Song interviewed and filmed 1,000 Xi鈥檃n families, collecting their stories about life in the city. Individual memories gradually coalesced into an overarching retrospective of Xi鈥檃n.

鈥淲hat we see in an official museum is always about the country or royalty, especially in an old capital city like Xi鈥檃n,鈥� Song says. 鈥淏ut the lives of ordinary people sometimes get neglected.鈥�

Indeed, what makes Xi鈥檃n the city it is today are not only the 13 dynasties or ancient emperors. The city鈥檚 population has soared from 400,000 in 1949, when the People鈥檚 Republic of China was founded, to 9 million today. Along with that surge came economic development.

鈥淢y collections might not be as refined as those in big museums,鈥� Song says. 鈥淭hough more coarse and down-to-earth, they present a valuable insight into how a city鈥檚 residents view their surroundings.鈥�

I was stuck on a city street after 11pm one night due to serious traffic gridlock in the downtown area. The bus lines and Metro were already shut down, and the taxi I was in didn鈥檛 move for 20 minutes. The lines of red-brake lights seemed to mirror the red lanterns hung along the roadside.

鈥淩ed lights dispel evil spirits because we have so many tombs underground,鈥� the taxi driver said jokingly.

The Ming Dynasty Circumvallation might be one big reason for traffic jams. About 12 meters high, it is China鈥檚 biggest and best-preserved ancient city wall. With a girth of more than 13 kilometers, the wall surrounds the 11-square-kilometer Old Town.

The city wall protected old Xi鈥檃n, but today it has become a hindrance for transport systems and construction.

Shanghai dismantled its old city wall in 1912. Guangzhou tore down its walls in 1917. Beijing in the 1950s decided that it was crucial to go ahead with city construction.

Urban development vs heritage protection. That is a tricky issue for any old city. Proposals to dismantle Xi鈥檃n walls have been beaten back six times.

鈥淚 hate the wall every time I drive across it, but as a Xi鈥檃n native, I also love it because it鈥檚 the emblem and pride of my hometown,鈥� the taxi driver told me.

The city wall is worthy of a visit, I decided. So I hopped on a bike the next day to inspect it more closely.

It marks such a dramatic delineation between old and new in Xi鈥檃n. Inside the wall are old buildings with traditional gray-roof architecture; outside it are towering steel-and-glass structures.

The Old Town is a perfect setting for the Xicang Flea Market, which has been operating for 120 years. You can get pretty much anything you want there 鈥� fish, birds, crickets, fruits, vegetables, flowers, old books, antiques, rat poison, clothes, secondhand shoes, medicine, grains, spices, dentures, to name just a few.

It鈥檚 a higgledy-piggledy bazaar of free-wheeling trading. Vendors are unlicensed. Local government鈥檚 attempts to close the market have failed, such is its enduring popularity.

Every Thursday and Saturday when the market is open, people jostle along crowded lanes to look for bargains. It was quite an eye-opening journey for me. Vendors were shouting sales pitches, shoppers were squabbling over low-priced merchandise, and the air was redolent with a heady mixture of different aromas.

The market has become a symbol of the 鈥渕elting pot鈥� that has helped the city thrive for hundreds of years.

Xi鈥檃n has been a magnet for migrants since days of yore. More than 2,200 years ago, skilled incomers from other states settled here. About 1,400 years ago, migrants from Japan, India and West Asia gathered in Xi鈥檃n for trading and cultural exchanges, helping push the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) to its heyday. Xi鈥檃n was a prominent center of finance, culture and politics.

Today, the ancient city is still seeking fresh blood. Rapid development opened a big job market. A local friend told me Xi鈥檃n police officers even started yelling out on the streets: 鈥淎nyone who wants a Xi鈥檃n hukou (residence permit) just follow me!鈥�

Since March, the city has implemented incentives in housing, work, medical care and education to attract more young talent to the city.

I stood in Dayan Tower Square, gazing up at the tall statue of Xuanzang (AD 602-664), a monk who traveled to India for Buddhist scriptures before returning to Xi鈥檃n and who is the inspiration for the world-famous literary classic 鈥淛ourney to the West.鈥�

I wondered what the Buddhist monk was thinking when he returned to find busy roads, shopping centers and throngs of people. Maybe he was puzzled at the pace of change. Or perhaps he was just content to see that the old city was treasuring its history while still moving forward resolutely.

If you go

How to get there: It鈥檚 a three-hour flight from Shanghai to Xi鈥檃n, or you can take a high-speed train, which takes about six hours.

鈥� Xi鈥檃n City Memories Museum

Address: 109 Xingfu Rd S., inside a former steel factory

Admission: Free

鈥� Xicang Flea Market

Address: Northern side of the Miaohou Street, northwest corner of Xi鈥檃n鈥檚 Old Town

Date: Every Thursday and Saturday