How to travel to Xi'an
2010 Xi'an Travel Notes + Guide
My husband and I spent 6 days in Xi'an on a self-guided tour. We had done some homework online before and felt it was very necessary. I chose to stay in the same hotel all the time, so I brought a computer with me. When I come back every night, I can prepare the next day's itinerary. It's more modern, haha, convenient and practical. The total cost for the two of us was between RMB5500 and RMB5700. Because we brought a lot of change when we set off, we didn’t have a clear exact number! I hope my travel notes, which can also be called guides, will be helpful to friends who are planning to go to Xi’an.
Day 1: Beijing - Xi'an
Big Wild Goose Pagoda - Small Wild Goose Pagoda - Bell Tower - Drum Tower - City Wall Lantern Festival
8:00 in the morning The plane arrived at Xianyang International Airport at 9:50 (air ticket 300RMB + 100RMB infrastructure and fuel/person). Take the airport bus (25RMB/person) to the clock tower. The Bell Tower Super 8 Hotel I booked on Ctrip is less than a 5-minute walk from the airport bus station. (King room with double bed for more than two consecutive days is 169 RMB/day, discounted until February 28, and the room rate on March 1 is 188 RMB) , after checking in, we went to the Zhuba Street on the east side of the hotel to eat the Roujiamo and Liangpi of Fanji Cured Pork. The taste was very good, but there was not a lot of meat. We still ordered the high-quality Roujiamo (in three portions). Grades, ordinary, thin, high-quality. I observed that local people generally eat ordinary, while tourists basically eat high-quality), but Liangpi is really good.
After lunch, we took a bus from the Bell Tower to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda Scenic Area. It is necessary to bring enough change when traveling in Xi'an. There are no ticket sellers on the bus. There are one yuan and two yuan tickets on the bus. Therefore, it is recommended to prepare around 100 yuan in change for easy spending. The entire scenic spot can be divided into three parts, the North Square, the Daci'en Temple (the Big Wild Goose Pagoda), and the South Square. We only visited the North Square and Da Ci'en Temple that day. You should check out the musical fountain in the North Square, which is also a famous point in Xi'an. The usual opening hours are 12 noon and 8:30 pm, and on weekends it is 12 noon. o'clock, two o'clock, four o'clock, six o'clock, eight thirty. Daci'en Temple is a must-see attraction, (ticket RMB25/person, student ticket RMB20). When traveling in Xi'an, you need to pay attention to the fact that the ticket prices for scenic spots are charged based on the off-season and peak season. Before March 1st, it is the off-season, so we happened to I visited the expensive attractions in the first few days of the peak season and saved some money. Be sure to bring your student ID card and military ID card, but not all attractions can be discounted at half price, and many are only slightly discounted. Yes, student ID cards for some attractions are useless. After entering Daci'en Temple, you need to pay an additional 20 yuan to climb the tower. We didn’t climb the tower because there was nothing special worth visiting. The selling point of the tower is that it was built by Master Xuanzang himself, so just looking at the appearance seems to be fine. Other buildings in the temple are worth taking pictures. Because the South Square is relatively close to the Tang Furong Garden, and there is the Tang Dynasty Everbright City neighborhood in the middle, we visited the South Square and the Tang Furong Garden together.
After coming out of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, we took a bus at the North Square intersection to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. We did not go into the park because we felt it was not worthwhile and did not want to visit this attraction, so we took a look outside and left. It is recommended If I didn’t have enough time and money to see this attraction, I wouldn’t have gone in to see it. After seeing the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and then the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, I felt that the ticket price was not worth it.
I took the car back to the Bell Tower. The Bell Tower is in the middle of the intersection. I didn’t know how to get in, so I took some photos at the intersection. It was considered a visit.
We walked back to the hotel to rest for a while, and in the evening we went to the snack street behind the Drum Tower to eat Rong Shengxiang’s cured beef, mutton steamed buns, fried jelly, and sour plum soup. The price was very cheap, one*** RMB44, the taste is not bad, but the mutton steamed bun will make you tired after eating too much.
It was just before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and Xi’an’s City Wall Lantern Festival was very famous, so we took the bus to the city wall (ticket RMB 40/person, which was a good time for us to go, because the price the next day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was Eighty!) The lantern show at the city wall is very spectacular, and there are many things to see. It is incomparable to the lantern shows in Beijing. If you are visiting during the Spring Festival, you should visit more of these similar lantern shows, fireworks shows, etc., which have a festive atmosphere. activities, and I feel that the Spring Festival atmosphere in other places is much richer than in the capital.
The light show ends at 11 o’clock and we take a taxi back to the hotel in the Bell Tower.
The next day: Xi'an
Huaqing Pool - Qinling Underground Palace - Terracotta Warriors - Tang Dynasty Furong Garden
Departure at 8:30 in the morning, take the bus 201 to the train station, walk a short distance and transfer to "You 5th Route". There are many private cars soliciting passengers near the train station. You can't take it. Don't be too far. Walk a few more steps to the state-owned You 5th Route station. The vehicles are big and the traffic is convenient. Safety and arrival and departure times are guaranteed.
Take a bus to Huaqing Hot Spring (ticket RMB 40 per person, student ticket RMB 20). The splendid culture of the Tang Dynasty is suddenly revealed in front of you. There are many scenic spots worth taking pictures, and there are also hot spring places. If you are short of time, just go to the wash basin and bath in the hot spring. Enjoy the foot pool. There are not many Tanghua Qing Palace exhibition halls inside. You can see and learn a lot. There are exhibitions of pictures and objects. There are also many handwritings of Mr. Guo Moruo. The dragon chairs and costumes inside are free. We provide it for everyone to take pictures, so don’t be embarrassed and don’t be polite, haha! Each hot spring pool has an introduction to the ruins. If you don't think it's expensive, you can hire a private tour guide. After all, it makes sense to say 30% of the time, 70% of the time. We didn't spend money to hire a tour guide, but there are tour guides at every attraction. The tour guide hired by the tour group explains loudly, or there are private tour guides who speak loud enough for us to hear, which saves a lot of money, but don’t always listen to one, use several more, the content is the same anyway , applicable to every attraction after that!
After leaving Huaqing Pool, continue taking bus No. 5 at the entrance station to the Qinling Underground Palace (ticket RMB 15/person, no student tickets). The Qinling Underground Palace is an attraction that simulates the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. There is no real Qinling Mausoleum. Open, here you can learn about the true appearance of the Qin Mausoleum and the things in it that are not well known to everyone. The Qin Mausoleum Underground Palace is free to explain, but if you know the history of the Qin Mausoleum and Qin Shihuang very well, this site It can be omitted.
Continue to take bus No. 5 to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses. There is a KFC at the entrance of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, which is convenient, fast and hygienic. (The ticket for the Terracotta Warriors and Horses is RMB65/person, and the student ticket is RMB35). In order to save energy and time, we chose to take the bus The battery car goes from the ticket office to the entrance of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses. It's really far. It takes about ten minutes to walk. There were no cars when we came out, so we walked out. The museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses is very good. There are many treasures on display, including bronze chariots and horses, figurines, etc. There are also many pictures of the real objects. Pit No. 1 of the three pits is the most interesting, and it is also marked as the Terracotta Warriors and Horses on various albums. This is the original site where the pictures were taken. I saw many foreigners visiting there and taking photos. The guide gave a good talk and the pictures on the edge of the figurine pit are also very detailed. After leaving the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, there were many small shops selling souvenirs on the way back to the station. We bought a photo frame display of a bronze chariot and horse for 15 yuan.
Take Route 307, which takes you directly from the Terracotta Warriors to the Tang Dynasty Furong Garden. This route is really not that good. It takes nearly two hours without taking the expressway. You must choose to take the expressway to get there and back, and change frequently. It’s a one-time ride, but it’s not just the time spent on the road, it’s still a pain. Arrive at the Tang Furong Garden at around 5pm, (ticket RMB68/person, student ticket RMB61). The Tang Furong Garden is a modern building complex imitating the Tang style. Although it is not left over from history, it is very ornamental. It is high, the architecture is very simple and elegant, with pavilions, pavilions, corridors and towers. After dark, there are lights throughout the garden. During the Spring Festival, there are performances, which are very exciting, including dragon dances, steel flowers, and fireworks performances. It is the most worthwhile Yes, I also watched the largest water screen movie in Asia, and the effect was good! Therefore, it is more cost-effective to travel during the Spring Festival.
After coming out of the Tang Dynasty Furong Garden, we walked all the way, passing by the Tang Dynasty Sleepless City and the South Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. We didn’t have dinner until after 9pm in the North Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Shaanxi specialties of gourd chicken and biang biang noodles and rice noodles at Kefu Kitchen are not expensive and taste better. There are also free shadow puppet and puppet performances on the second floor, where you can experience Shaanxi culture for free.
Take a taxi back to the hotel in Bell Tower.
The third day: Xi'an
One-day group tour: Huashan
Since the tourism development around Xi'an is not perfect yet, there may be an industry monopoly The problem is that there is only one bus from Xi'an to Huashan every day. It may not be able to catch up with the time when we go there, let alone coming back from Huashan at night. There is no guarantee of time and vehicle at all, so we chose to apply for a bus. For day tours, be sure to choose a regular travel company. We signed up at the Xi'an Travel Company next to the Drum Tower. (RMB230/person, including all items except meals).
At 7 o'clock in the morning, the tour guide called us to wake us up and told us to pick us up at 7:45 at the entrance of the Yintai Department Store, an obvious building next to our hotel. There is a tour guide in Xi'an What’s very interesting is that their travel company will pick up each group member one by one in the morning. Because everyone lives in different places, they will notify you of the pick-up location in advance. We rushed to the McDonald's across the road to buy breakfast and lunch before 7:45. Because we didn't know what we could eat at noon, and we didn't know the arrangements for lunch, we bought two more hamburgers just in case. The tour bus came to pick us up on time. After picking us up, it picked up a carload of group members one after another, and then officially drove to Huashan.
The journey from Xi'an to Huashan takes about 2 hours. Because the Midway Travel Company arranged a medicinal materials exhibition and selling point, it was delayed for some time. Every tour group has this link. After all, It is necessary to prosper the local economy, so you can just listen to it without buying it. We arrived at the foot of Huashan Mountain just before noon. The tour guide arranged for us to dine in a local restaurant. The food was very average and we could make do with it. We ordered two dishes and two bowls of rice, but we ate them all in order to regain our strength in the afternoon. , but there are still two small hamburgers in the bag as backup, haha.
Since the time of the tour group is fixed, we were arranged to go up and down the ropeway. The ropeway was sent to the North Peak, and then we returned to the tourist bus at the foot of the mountain before 5 o'clock to prepare for the return trip. This meant that we couldn’t climb the entire mountain by ourselves, and we didn’t have enough time. We calculated that we would start taking the ropeway up the mountain at 1:20, and it would take ten minutes to reach the North Peak. After that, we would have to climb back up to 3:30, and we would have to go back three days later. The concept of half-past point is that when going down the mountain, you must go all the way down and not stop for too much rest.
Huashan Mountain is indeed one of the five famous mountains. Just looking at the scenery at the foot of the mountain already makes you feel very majestic and spectacular. We climbed all the way and reached the West Peak within the prescribed time, and then went down the mountain. My physical strength was not very good, so I only reached the West Peak and then went down the mountain. My husband had good physical strength and was a good mountain climber, so he felt that he could actually go up again. A peak. The wind on the top of the mountain is very strong. It is recommended that everyone prepare thick clothes and wear a hat, which is very protective for personal health. The scenery on Huashan Mountain is very beautiful. It feels like standing on the top of the mountains, not bad!
Initially our trip was for 4 days, so we only arranged one day in Huashan. But when we were about to arrive in Huashan, my husband’s boss informed him that he didn’t have to rush to work so much and could come back after two days of fun. , but we had no time to modify the Huashan travel itinerary. We felt that visiting Huashan in one day was too stressful, both for those who like mountain climbing and those who like scenery. It is recommended that if you have plenty of time, you might as well come to Huashan for a two-day trip. It is better. Although living on the mountain is not very cheap, it is also a good feeling to live on the top of the mountain at night and listen to the whistling wind. There are also Some people like to climb at night, which is not bad either. You save on accommodation and can still see the sunrise! ~~are all worth considering.
It was almost 9 o'clock when I returned to the city in the evening. I really didn't have the energy to find something delicious anymore, so I ate Roujiamo and Liangpi at Weijia Liangpi in Zhuba City. Taste authentic.
Go back to the hotel to take a shower and sleep.
Day 4: Xi'an
One-day tour: Qianling No. 1 Village - Tomb of Prince Yide - Qianling - Famen Temple
For the same reason, we also chose to sign up for a one-day tour of this group of tourist attractions, (RMB262/person, this is the price with student ID and does not include meals)
Basically the same as the previous day For our itinerary, we will pick you up at 7:45 in the morning and then transfer to another car to leave the city. I summarize the shortcomings of group tours as follows: First, time is tight and the tasks are heavy. Second, there are some places you don’t want to go, and the tickets for these places are expensive and you can’t use your student ID card. Third, traveling is not very free. You can’t watch over time what you want to see, and you can’t watch what you don’t want to see. For example, the first village of Qianling is where the workers lived when the Qianling was first built. Personally, I don’t think it is worth visiting. The ticket price seems to be 30, which is very depressing.
The tomb of Prince Yide is actually very small. Only the coffin is original. The other items, which are national treasures, are in the Shaanxi History Museum. Those with cultural value are in the small exhibition hall next to the tomb, in the tomb and the cemetery. The humidity and turbidity in the hospital were very heavy. Friends with rhinitis must wear a mask, but I didn’t wear one. As a result, the rhinitis induced otitis media, which is very uncomfortable. The tour guide arranged for us to eat at a restaurant in the tomb of Prince Yide. We chose fast food, rice and stir-fried vegetables, which were more delicious than those at the foot of Huashan Mountain, and there was also a small chicken drumstick! ~~~
Qianling Mausoleum and Famen Temple are places we wanted to visit more, but we couldn’t fully enjoy the tour. We only visited Qianling Mausoleum for 40 minutes and didn’t even visit the tomb area. Moreover, the tour guide did not recommend us to go because the weather was foggy, which was a pity. However, the stone carvings and monuments of Qianling Mausoleum are very good and worth taking pictures of. But remember to take pictures in tombs and cemeteries. Try to only take pictures of things and not people. Take a group photo with the things in the tomb. There is an explanation in the Qianling Mausoleum, which was arranged by the group. It is very good and can explain the entire historical story of the Qianling Mausoleum in detail. After all, we chose to go to Xi'an because we want to have a good understanding of the history and culture of ancient China. So if you also like history, then you must follow the explanation closely, because some people are very unconscious and talk loudly without listening, making it difficult for you to hear clearly.
The original site of Famen Temple is actually not very big, but the newly built Namaste Relic Pagoda is super big, and the gate building at the entrance is very grand. It has a tall feeling like the Beijing History Museum, but unconsciously it feels less like a temple. The aura is a little more magnificent. The tour of Famen Temple is divided into three parts: the Heshi Relic Pagoda, the former site of Famen Temple, and the Treasure Hall of Famen Temple. Personally, I prefer the Treasure Hall. Many of the treasures inside are national cultural relics, which can be a feast for the eyes. The former site of Famen Temple is a place for pilgrims and believers to burn incense and worship. The building is old, but you can still feel the majesty of it as a royal temple in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. The Namaste Relic Pagoda is the place where the Buddha finger relics unearthed from Famen Temple are stored. It is tall and gorgeous and has high ornamental value.
I returned to the city around 7 o'clock in the evening. Since it was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the festive atmosphere before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in other places was very strong. I heard that there was a special event with a musical fountain in the North Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. , there was also a fireworks show at the Tang Furong Garden, so we went to the North Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, but because we were in the wrong car on the way, it was already very late when we arrived. It was too late to walk to the Tang Furong Garden, so we gave up. The idea, and there are said to be 500,000 people in the square with the musical fountain, and they can't squeeze into the front row to see the fountain, so I ate the special Shaanxi cuisine at Fuke Fuchu in the North Square. The food there is really good.
Day 5: Xi'an
Hotel rest - Musical Fountain in the North Square of Big Wild Goose Pagoda
The arrangement for this day is really helpless, because what is the accommodation every day when traveling independently? The cost is not small. The reason for a free day is that the Shaanxi History Museum is closed on Mondays. If you want to go, you must pay attention to the time arrangement and do not arrange a visit to the history museum on Mondays. Due to the tight schedule for many days, my physical strength was exhausted. I slept until I woke up naturally that day, and then went out to eat. My husband ate the beef and mutton steamed buns from Lao Liu's at the Hui Snack Street west of the Drum Tower. The food there is said to be very authentic, and my husband ate it with gusto, but I didn’t think it was particularly delicious, because I think the mutton in Xi’an is a little bit muttony! It's not very suitable for my taste. I'd better eat less, but I can't stand it if I eat too much.
After dinner, I went back to my room to take a nap. After I woke up, I set out to see the musical fountain in the North Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. This fountain is actually nothing special, but I think you must see it if you come.
We had dinner at Fuke Fuchu. We came here for six days and five nights and had three dinners at Fuke Fuchu, which is enough to show that the food there is quite delicious.
Day 6: Xi'an - Beijing
Shaanxi History Museum
The Shaanxi History Museum is a must-see place in Xi'an. Its tickets are free. Take a valid certificate to exchange for a ticket. You can check its official website for opening hours. The time is different in winter and summer, and the invoice time is also different. It is very necessary to ask for an explanation at the history museum. With so many ancient cultural relics, you cannot understand the culture and production technology of many of them. The explanations in the history museum use headset receivers, so you don’t want to be confused like the previous attractions. Other people's explanations are not feasible, unless there is a tour group. Their tour guides are very loud when explaining, and it can be ignored. However, for such an important cultural attraction, we still hired a private tour guide. Please explain and remember to scratch the prize for the next invoice. I won 5 yuan, haha.
Flight back to Beijing in the afternoon.
The whole arrangement was tight and loose at the same time. My husband went to work the next day after returning to Beijing and did not feel very tired. This is also the desired result of our arrangement.
Generally speaking, after having fun like this in Xi’an, I have no plans to come back in the future. After all, China is so big that it would take many, many years to visit every interesting place, so I must Have fun, I hope my travel notes will be helpful to everyone, please correct me and forgive me for any inaccuracies.