A chef rolls out a rope of soft, yellow dough, stretching it longer and longer beneath her fingers. As the dough grows, she begins waving it in the air like a hula-hoop, wrapping the strands in on themselves to make thinner and longer ribbons that reverberate like ripples in a pond. After the ribbons are plentiful enough and of a sufficient size, she dips them into a pot of boiling water to sit and stew. Finally, once cooked, she transfers the steaming noodles to a bowl of spicy, red-hot Xi'an-style broth for serving.

This is what it takes to make noodles at Taste of Xi'an, where chefs trained in this artful Chinese cuisine serve noodle and soup dishes with different types of minced meats and bean pastes—ranging in flavor from mild to very spicy—for eager diners.