Xi'an was once the capital of thirteen dynasties of China. The historical and cultural treasures left behind are like the stars, the imposing ancient city walls, the bustling Hui Min Street, and the famous Terracotta Warriors, which are all favored by tourists from all over the world.

Here are some most popular attractions of Xi 'an for first-time visitors. The attractions are concentrated in the city center and eastern suburbs, including historical monuments, food districts, city landmarks, and could be fully explored in 3 days.

Top1: Terracotta Warriors

Highlight: One of the eight wonders of the world and a massive relic

Located in Lintong District, east of Xi 'an, about an hour's drive from downtown Xi 'an, the Terracotta Warriors attract millions of tourists from home and abroad every year to see the "eighth wonder of the world".

The huge underground battle, even across thousands of years, the facial expressio-ns of the terracotta figures are still lifelike, the details of the clothing are also clearly visible, and even the lines of the soles of shoes are clearly seen.

The museum is divided into pits 1, 2 and 3, as well as the bronze chariot and horse exhibition hall. Pit No. 1 displays thousands of terracotta warriors and horses, a large and spectacular scene; No. 2 pit has not been large-scale excavation, but th-e unearthed military more exquisite, is now on display in the Shanxi History Muse-um of the green face terracotta, which is found here. Walking in, maybe the place under your foot will be will be famous world treasure in the future; The third pit of the army belongs to the "headquarters", unearthed the warriors, chariots, etc., which differs from the first and the second pit. It’s the smallest area but the most special.

Tickets and opening hours

Regular ticket: 120 RMB per person (please follow the official wechat account of "Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum" and book a ticket through wechat)

Peak season: 8:30 ~ 17:00 (from March 1 to End of November)

Off-season: 8:30 ~ 16:30 (from December 1 to End of February next year)

Suggested tour duration

Two and a half hours could fully visit the first, second and third pits, as well as the copper chariot and horse exhibition hall.

Traffic information

Take Metro Line 9 to Huaqingchi Station to Lintong You 613 Road; Or take Metro Line 1 to Textile City Hub station and transfer to You No. 5 or 306 bus.

Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum (Terracotta Warriors and Horses)

It is a large burial pit in the mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin. Based on the Terracotta warriors, it is the largest ancient military museum in China established on the original site. There are 3 terracotta pits. Pit One is the main military array of chariots and infantry, with about 6,000 life-size clay figurines. Pit Two is composed of chariots, cavalry, and crossbowmen. Pit three is the chain of command. The unearthed terracotta warriors are divided into general terracotta, warrior terracotta, charioteer terracotta, etc. The facial features of each clay figure are different. Originally painted, but due to fire and soaking, most of the color has faded off. The bronze chariots and horses on display in the exhibition hall use a large amount of gold and silver, and are exquisitely made, known as the "bronze crown", which is of great value to the academic research of the Qin Dynasty.

Around: Huaqing Palace

Huaqing Palace is a historic royal bathing resort, because Yang Guiconcubine bathing here. It becomes more famous. The largest attraction here is the soup pool, in addition to the garden landscape, ancient buildings and ancient trees and other cultural relics resources. In addition, because of the ancient Tang style architecture, it is easy to take marverlous photos here wearing Hanfu.

Huaqing Palace and Terra-cotta warriors belong to the foot of Mount Li, Lintong district, from the city of Xi 'an by bus to the Terracotta Warriors on the way that  will pass Huaqing Palace.If you want one-day return, you could arrange to visit Huaqing Palace in the morning, and then go to the Terracotta Warriors in the afternoon.

If you want to experience more fun of Huaqing Palace detailedly, you could choose to stay in the scenic area of Huaqing Yutang Hot Spring Hotel, where to enjoy the "private soup" in the room; In addition, the evening "Song of Everlasting Regret", "Xi 'an Incident" stage performance will also offer you a unexpectedly good experience, worthy of appreciation.

Tips:

Scenic spot ticket

Ordinary ticket: 120 RMB per person (need to make an appointment at the official wechat public account [Huaqing Palace Scenic Spot])

Half ticket: Students under the age of 18, undergraduate and full-time students with student ID

Tickets could also be booked on the official wechat account

Opening hours

09:00-17:00

Hua Qing Palace

Huaqing Palace has been a bathing resort for the royal family since ancient times, and it is said that it was once the place where Yang Guifei bathed. According to legend, King You of the Western Zhou Dynasty built an official office here. · There are relatively complete cultural sites, garden landscapes, ancient buildings and famous trees of Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties left here. · Especially famous for the love story between Tang Ming Emperor and Yang Guifei and the "Xi 'an Incident" that shocked the world. The Qin, Han and Sui dynasties successively built it, and the Tang Dynasty rebuilt it several times.

Top2 Huimin Street

Highlights: Northwest snacks tasting place, old brand gathered

Huimin Street, also known as "Hui Fang", it is composed of North courtyard gate, North Guangji Street, Xiyang City, Dapi Countryard and other streets, of which the most prosperous is the North courtyard gate. People sometimes only wander to the end of the North courtyard gate on the original road back. In fact, the rest of the streets still hide a lot of delicious.

You could taste a lot of northwestern style Rou Jia mo, a variety of pasta dishes, red willow skewers sizzling on the grill, as well as decades-old signature restaurants such as Ding Jia Xiao Crispy Pork and Jia SAN Soup Dumpling here. The lively atmosphere of the street is also worth staying for a time, Hui minority with a skilled craft, shaking noodles on the street, roasting skewers, cutting osmanthus cake. Watching the birth of food process is not only interesting, but also a good time to feel Xi 'an food culture.

Suggested tour duration

Suggest to go during mealtimes. If you don't want to eat, the whole block is not big, and it takes less than half an hour to walk through.

Top3 Xi 'an ancient City Wall

The ancient city wall of Xi 'an, built during the Ming Dynasty, is the largest and best preserved in China today. The enemy tower locates on the city wall including the main tower, the archery tower, the gate tower and the corner tower and other buildings. The existing gate 18, of which 4 are ancient, the rest are later rebuilt. The magnificent city wall stands in the center of the city, surrounding the old town such as the Bell and Drum Tower and the Hui Min Street.

The wall is about 14 meters wide and very flat, and travelers can rent bicycles on the wall to travel around. The original style inside the wall and the tall buildings outside the wall can be seen at a glance from the wall. Today, the ancient city wall is not only a historical spot, but also a place for Xi 'an people to relax. Under the roots of the city wall, you could occasionally see old people playing erhu and singing a few words of Qin opera. If you are interested, you could also take a cruise in the moat around the city wall and experience the water to see the city wall.

Tips

Suggested tour duration

The total length of the ancient city wall is nearly 14 kilometers, and there are three ways to travel around the city wall: about 3 hours on foot, or more than 1 hour by bike,or about 1 hour by electric bike. If you have enough time and energy, it is recommended to experience the fun of cycling around the city wall. After all, it is not common in China. But if time is tight, you may go up from the more lively south gate, walk around and pat, and then find a nearby gate down. If you only want to experience half a circle, most people choose the north door to start, the south door going down.

Tickets/Car Rental

City Wall Ticket: 54 yuan/person (need to book a ticket in the wechat official account "Meet the City Wall Treasure Box")

Bicycle rental: single RMB 45 / double RMB 90; Joint ticket :100 yuan/person

Half ticket: Students below the university with valid identification

by photographer Li Hongyu

Opening hours

【 South Gate 】

8:00 -- - 24:00

【 Changle Gate (East Gate), AndingGate (West Gate), Anyuan Gate (North Gate), Hanguang Gate, Wenchang Gate, Peace Gate, Shangde Gate 】

8:00-19:00 (May 1 - October 31)

8:00-18:00 (November 1 - April 30)

【 Zhongshan Gate 】

At about 8:00 -

【 Northwest Corner 】

Every month on the first and 15th day of the lunar calendar (two days), 8:00-18:00

Nearby: Forest of Steles Museum

Located in the Wenchang Gate on the south side of the city wall, the Forest of Steles Museum displays inscriptions from the Han Dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The contents are authentic calligraphic works of famous literati, calligraphers and calligraphers of different periods, such as Qianlong, Yan Zhenqing, Wang Xizhi, and Su Shi. The treasure of the town hall is the "Kaicheng Stone Sutra" located in the first exhibition room, which has existed in the world for more than 1,000 years and is a real national treasure. In addition to a large number of calligraphy works, there are stone coffers, epitaphs, statues, and horse posts in the past dynasties, all of which show the ancient style.

Stele Forest Museum is a calligraphy lovers must-see place, and many of them are attracted by the strong charm of the exudes here. The museum is divided into two kinds of explanation, the real person explanation and the interpreter. 30 yuan for an explainer is not as good as 100 yuan to ask a real person to explain.

Tips

Tickets: Off-season (December 1 - the end of February) Full ticket: 50 yuan/person, half ticket: 25 yuan/person (need to make an appointment on wechat [Xi 'an Beilin Museum])

Opening hours: 9:00-17:30

Xi 'an Stele Forest Museum

It is the earliest museum established in Shanxi Province, and it is an art museum focusing on collection, research and display of stone tablets, epitaphs and stone carved statues of the past dynasties. The museum area consists of Confucian Temple, forest of Steles and stone carving art room, covering an area of more than 31,900 square meters, with a collection of more than 11,000 pieces of cultural relics and 11 exhibition rooms. The most famous are the inscriptions of Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Huai Su and other famous calligraphers, as well as the two Tang Dynasty inscriptions of "Shitai Classic of Filial Piety" and "Kaicheng Classic of Stone." There are not only stone tablets, but also stone carvings and some other cultural relics on display.

Top4 Bell and Drum Towers

Highlights: Xi 'an landmark, night view viewing place

The Bell and Drum Towers are located in the center of Xi 'an city wall, facing each other across the street and only 5 minutes' walk away from each other. The two buildings are majestically magnificent in appearance, and are the best preserved among the bell and drum towers of the same period. In ancient times, the bell and drum tower played the role of transmitting signals and telling the time. Now, the history of the bell and drum tower, some paintings and calligraphy, and furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are displayed in the two buildings. You could choose one of them to climb the tower and overlook the streets of Xi 'an.

In addition, the bell, drum tower is very suitable for accommodation, and convenient to most city's attractions. Stay here at night and go out at night to enjoy the night view of the bell and drum tower, to take a walk and take photos, and also try some snacks. Bell performance at the bell tower at 9 am, offer people a tour of Xi’an in company with the sound of the bell

Top5 Shanxi History Museum

Highlights: A glimpse of ten thousand years, the treasure house of China, the palace of art and history

A visit to the Shanxi History Museum, the thick history of Xi 'an, like peeling cocoons and drawing silk layers in front of you. From the Lantian apes of primitive society to the cultural treasures of Sui, Tang and five dynasties, it spans more than one million years and exhibits nearly 400,000 pieces of exhibits, including paintings, bronzes, gold, silver and jade.

The museum is divided into three pavilions, namely, "Shanxi Ancient Civilization", "Tang Relics" and "Tang Dynasty mural Treasures Museum", Shaanxi ancient civilization as a basic permanent exhibition, free admission; The latter two need to purchase additional tickets (hold either of the latter two tickets, you could enter the permanent exhibition with tickets; Tang Dynasty mural treasures Museum tickets, free entry to the Tang heritage treasures, permanent exhibition hall).

If only a passing glance is not meaningful, the story behind the cultural relics can make them "alive", it is recommended to ask a docent or rent an interpreter. Key cultural relics also support wechat scan to see the explanation,  which is quite convenient.

Top6: Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (Dachengqun Night City) Highlights: Xuanzang's treasure trove, musical fountain, leisure square The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is another famous landmark in Xi'an, located in the Dachengqun Temple. Originally built to house Buddhist scriptures and relics brought back by Xuanzang, it represents the introduction of Buddhist architecture into China. The pagoda was also the place where newly admitted scholars in the Tang Dynasty would inscribe their names, but unfortunately, these inscriptions are no longer visible today. At the base of the pagoda, there are two stone tablets on the south side, "The Preface to the Collection of the Great Tang Tripitaka" and "The Record of the Collection of the Great Tang Tripitaka," while inside the pagoda, various Buddhist artifacts are exhibited layer by layer.

Today, the area around the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda has been transformed into a night city with Tang culture and elements, becoming a one-stop consumption area for eating, staying, traveling, shopping, and entertainment. Visiting at night offers a unique charm. The famous "Unstoppable Lady" performance is located on the west side of the north square's Wuling Jiayun, while the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda musical fountain and the large-scale performance of "Return to Chang'an" at the Kaiyuan Square are worth watching. The "Journey to the West" themed light and shadow theme park at the south square of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda allows visitors to experience the story of Journey to the West firsthand with their children.

Throughout the Dachengqun Night City, there are scattered statues of historical figures such as Li Bai, Meng Haoran, and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Interested friends can look for them and take photos together.

Wish you a pleasant journey.