Xian Shi Trip Overview
From the amazing Terra-cotta Warriors and the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang to the large Han Yang Ling Mausoleum of Emperor Jindi of Han Dynasty and his Empress, from the local life of Xi’an citizens to Chinese traditional culture and arts, from street snacks to selected Xi’an local’s favorite dishes, in these two days exploration you’ll have a panoramic view of this imperial city of Xi’an on its glorious history, traditional culture, authentic food and the real life of the people that would never be discovered by a typical tourist.
Additional Info
Duration: 2 days
Starts: Xian Shi, China
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Historical & Heritage Tours
Explore Xian Shi Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Xian Shi, Shaanxi Sheng, China
From the amazing Terra-cotta Warriors and the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang to the large Han Yang Ling Mausoleum of Emperor Jindi of Han Dynasty and his Empress, from the local life of Xi’an citizens to Chinese traditional culture and arts, from street snacks to selected Xi’an local’s favorite dishes, in these two days exploration you’ll have a panoramic view of this imperial city of Xi’an on its glorious history, traditional culture, authentic food and the real life of the people that would never be discovered by a typical tourist.
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: The Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, Qinling North Road, Lintong District, Xi’an 710600 China
Day 1, Time: 7:30 – 12:00
Pickup from your hotel and ride about 1 hour (arrives at around 9am) to the Terracotta Museum. Your exploration of the Terracotta Army site begins. Please follow your guide to discover the amazing terracotta warriors that were buried for more than 2,000 years and to hear interesting stories about China’s first emperor — Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BC).
There are three pits in the museum. Our recommended visiting sequence is Pit 1 – Pit 2 – Pit 3 – Bronze Chariot Pit – the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang as you will follow historical clues that lead from general to detailed information.
Pit 1 is the largest of the pits and it is estimated to house around 6,000 figures as well as a great quantity of bronze weaponry. You will be shocked by the large scale of the figures lining up, and will feel as if you have been taken back to the Qin Dynasty when the army of soldiers was waiting to go out to battle.
Pit 2 is not as large as Pit 1. It is estimated that the terracotta warriors and horses in this pit amount to 1,300 figures. However, the great variety makes it top-rated among all three pits.
Pit 3 is the smallest one with only 72 terracotta warriors and horses. It is believed that it served as the headquarters for the army, directing the warriors in Pit 1 and Pit 2.
The Bronze Chariot Pit exhibits two painted bronze chariots in a large scale. As burial objects, the bronze chariots represent Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s vehicles. Crowned as “the King of Bronze Ware”, the bronze chariots are the earliest, largest, and best-preserved bronze artifacts in the world.
Duration: 3 hours
Stop At: Xi’an City Wall (Chengqiang), Zhongxin District, Xi’an 710001 China
Day 1, Time: 14:30 – 17:00
Xi’an Ancient City Wall was first built in the Ming Dynasty (1370–1378 AD) and is the largest and the best-maintained ancient city wall in China. It is shaped like a rectangle with a total length of 13.74 kilometers. The downtown part of Xi’an City is centered within this ancient city wall. There are four major gates (the north gate, the east gate, the south gate, and the west gate) of this city wall. Your visit will start from East Gate (Chang Le Gate).
You have three options when visiting the city wall. You can choose to walk part of the city wall (we suggest you walk from East Gate to South Gate, which is about 3.5 kilometers, and finally meet your guide and the other tour members at South Gate at 4:30pm).
Or you can cycle along the city wall (your guide will help you to rent a bike and we suggest you cycle from East Gate – North Gate – West Gate – South Gate, which is about 10 kilometers, and finally meet your guide and the other tour members at South Gate at about 4:30pm).
We highly recommend you to take the eco-car running on the city wall (your guide will buy the tickets for you). This runs from East Gate – North Gate – West Gate – South Gate and you will meet your guide and the other tour members at South Gate at about 4:30pm (the Bicycle Service Station). But in summer, it is very hot on the wall, so we suggest you to ride the essential part of the City Wall from East Gate to South Gate only, which is about 3.5 kilometers.
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes
Stop At: Muslim Quarter, West of Bell Drum Towers Square , Beilin District, Xi’an 710000 China
Day 1, Time: 17:00 – 18:00
After visiting the city wall, you will head to Xi’an’s most famous food street, Muslim Street, where you’ll see lots of featured foods and snacks. You can try some if you’d like to.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Tomb of Emperor Jingdi (Hanyangling), Zhanjiawan Village, Xi’an China
Day 2, Time: 7:30 – 11:00
The same as your previous day, your guide will be waiting for you at your hotel lobby at the appointed time (around 7:30AM-8AM) and pick you up to our first destination: Hanyangling Mausoleum. It takes about 40 minutes to drive there. This museum has an underground exhibition hall so that people can see the results of the archeological digs in the big mausoleum complex of Emperor Jingdi (also named Liu Qi, 188 to 141 BC) of the Han Dynasty, his wife, officials, dynastic clan members, and commoners. There is also a graveyard for slaves who built the complex. The underground hall was opened in 2006. The archeological dig site only covers a small area, but the whole burial complex is immense. It covers a total area of about 10 square kilometers or 4 square miles.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Tang Bo Art Museum, No.26 S. Gong Yuan Road, Xi’an 710043 China
Day 2, Time: 13:30 – 15:00
You will visit a very small but featured private art museum called Tangbo Art Museum which possesses a collection of Shaanxi folk arts and representative ancient paintings exhibited in historical sequence. Here you’ll have chance to learn Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Tea Ceremony or Chinese Paper-cutting hand by hand which I believe it would defiantly be a highlight of the day.
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes
Stop At: Shaanxi History Museum, 91 Xiaozai E Rd, Xi’an 710061 China
Day 2, Time: 15:30 – 17:30
Shaanxi is a very important area in both ancient and modern China and it had been the capital place of more than 13 dynasties. Therefore the local culture and arts of Shaanxi would be a window or a typical representative of traditional Chinese culture and art. And in this museum it has exhibited more than 370,000 historical relics which has vividly displayed the traditional culture and arts of ancient China from Neolithic Period to modern society and is the first large-scale modern museum in China.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Dayanta), Enci Temple The southern part of Yata Road, Yanta District, Xi’an 710061 China
Day 2, Time: 17:40 – 18:00 Exterior visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
you will be transferred to the south square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The 9-floor Buddhism Tower along with a temple called Temple of Great Maternal Grace was built by the Emperor Li Zhi of Tang Dynasty to memorize his mother Empress Wende. After the temple was built, Li Zhi invited the famous Monk Xuan Zang (known as Tang Monk in the famous book of The Journey to the West) as the honored master here in the temple.
Master Xuan Zang lived here and had brought lots of Buddhism sutras from India. He translated the Buddhism text here and had brought the religion of Buddhism from India to China. Here you can take a picture with the statue of Master Xuan Zang.
Duration: 20 minutes