Besides the Terracotta...
by eaglrn
Besides the Terracotta Warriors you must see the Wild Goose Pagoda that was built 2000 yrs ago of all brick with no nails,and an internal staircase.Built in one of the theoretical ways that the egyptian tombs were. They say a moun of dirt was made and the brick work begun and slowly the mound of dirt was peeled away to eventually reveal a pagoda. This area has 1000 yr old trees and in the morning taichi is done . Quiet in the middle of the city. Lunch at the Terracotta Museum-this area is known for noodles. They had two stations in the dining area with chefs who made needles from scratch. They were great.
Guide, Transportation and Accommodation in Xi'an
by Ann_in_Alaska
By a great stroke of luck, we had Clarence Guo as our driver, host and guide. We are from Alaska, and we were traveling with our 86-year old father to China for a month. It was our first visit. We were safe and well taken care of. His e-mail address is clarenceguo@yahoo.com. He has written a book on the Terricotta Warriors. Additionally he took us to meet Chinese people who still live in caves.
He is a safe driver, charges reasonable prices, has lots of information and answers to our ga-zillion questions, and is a wonderful man. When we think of Xi'an; we think of Clarence Guo.
Expect quick and terse answers to your e-mail. That's just Mr. Guo's style. He and his wife run what would be considered a home stay in the US. Again, it was safe and clean and an easy walk in the evenings to restaurants and entertainment. The apartment came with a kitchen, full bath, two bedroom decorated in Xi'an style. The refrigerator was stocked with everything we needed to be comfortable.
A halfday visit to the Terracotta Warrior site
by maywongkm
Upon reaching the parking lot of the site, it is recommended to take the electric car (5yuan return ticket) to the main entrance of the site. Otherwise, it'll be a 15minutes hike. Before that, there are many unofficial woman tourguides who would want to become ur tourguides (30yuan in Chinese). Don't worry, as entering the site upon buying your ticket (90yuan full ticket/45yuan with student id), there will be the official blue uniformed tourguides who's willing to take u around the site (30yuan in Chinese/50yuan in English).
Though we walked on our own, i feel that it wld be beneficial to hire one, as the signs inside the museum isn't exactly tourist-friendly. Total 6 pits, but only Pit No.1 -3 are open to the public, and Pit No.1 is where it has been excavated most for public viewing. Works on others are being stopped to preserve these country's precious.
It took us more than 2 hrs to walk casually around this site.
City Walls
by Blatherwick
When Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), captured Huizhou, a hermit named Zhu Sheng admonished him that he should "built high walls, store abundant food supplies and take time to be an Emperor," so that he could fortify the city and unify the other states. After the establishment of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang followed his advice and began to enlarge the wall built initially during the old Tang dynasty (618 -907), creating the modern Xian City Wall. It's the most complete city wall that has survived in China, as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world.
A really fun way to see Xian and take in the wall is to grab a bike and actually cycle around the ancient city.
Shaanxi History Museum
by Blatherwick
Inside a striking Tang-Dynasty style pavilion lies a large collection of 113,000 historic and cultural artefacts unearthed in Shaanxi. It is an absolute must for every visitor to the city.
The main complex is a mixture of ancient palaces and courtyard buildings. The exhibits on the ground and first floors are arranged in roughly three parts: Basic Exhibition Hall, the Theme Exhibition Hall and East Exhibition Hall. The collection is chronologically arranged and includes dynastic exhibits from the Han, Wei, Jin, North and South, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. There are also terracotta figures and murals from tombs of the Tang Dynasty.
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Praying hall, Great Mosque, Xian
Horse and attendant
TEMPLE PLAZA
Xi'an - China
