The literally English meaning of "Wuxia" is martial hero. Books with "Wuxia" genre are basically martial arts stories. To best describe them in Western genres, it would be a blend of historical and a bit of fantasy genre. So essentially ‘real’ (historical Chinese) world filled with people who do incredible things through martial arts and internal energy. Internal energy basically allows them to leap long distances across rooftops and skip across water. To better understand this genre you can watch the famous Chinese TV show "The legend of the Condor Heroes".
As for the English meaning of "Xianxia" is immortal hero. This genre is basically a fantasy genre (Chinese folklore/mythology) based on "Wuxia". A general description would be martial artist that cultivate internal energy to become immortal, fly through the air and perform magic. The "Xianxia" genre also leans heavily on Daoism. If this description awakens your interest in the genre, I would recommend you to visit the website Wuxiaworld. This website was created by RWX a translator (Chinese-English). RWX is the person who contributed the most on the international hype of this Chinese genre. On the website you can read books that are being translated, I would suggested read Coiling Dragon by IET. It was the first (Xianxia) book I read and it's competely translated.
For side note there is also a genre called "Xuanhuan" this means mysterious fantasy. The stories are basically "Xianxia(Chinese folklore/mythology) remixed with foreign elements and settings. To notice the difference look for the presence of Daoist elements. If they aren't present it is a Xuanhuan genre.
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