- simplexml_load_string: documentation ( source)
<?php
$xml = "<root>
<parent>
<child name='Child1' />
<child name='Child2' />
<subparent>
<child name='Child3' />
</subparent>
</parent>
<child name='Child4' />
</root>";
$xml = simplexml_load_string( $xml);
$node= $xml->xpath( '/child[@name="Child2"]');
echo $node[0];