Practical Guide to Visiting Xi’an:
2-Day Itinerary

Xi’An – the capital of China throughout 13 dynasties and 10 centuries, a city with a history of over 5 millenniums, definitely doesn’t need advertising. The city was the Easternmost point of the silk road. The caravans departed from here. This is why the Islamic influence appeared this far in the East.

As a result of its fame, the city receives millions of tourists every year. Compared to Beijing and Shanghai, it is also rather cheap and has delicious food options. Unfortunately, there is also another side to this city, it is a developed industrial city and quite polluted.

Practical Tips for Visiting Xi’an

How to Travel to Xi’an

Xi’An is currently served by two railway stations and an international airport. The High Speed Railway Station is the North Railway Station. If you are coming from major cities, like Beijing or Shanghai, you will arrive here.

Trip.com was the most convenient option for me to book all railway tickets, while in China.

How to get from the Xi’an airport to the city center: The journey from the airport is quite convenient using metro. Metro line 14 will get you to the Xi’an North Railway Station from which you can travel to the central areas using lines 2 or 4.

How to get from the Xi’an North Railway Station to the city center: Metro lines 2 and 4 will get you to major tourist areas, including the Bell Tower, South Gate and Wild Goose Pagoda.

Transport in Xi’an

The city has continuously expanding network of public transport. At the time of writing the city has 12 metro lines and more are in pipeline. This whole metro system was developed in only the last 15 years, which is amazing speed.

As in other Chinese cities, buses aren’t very convenient, unless you speak Mandarin or at least can read the alphabet. We used buses on several occasions, but it still was quite a hassle. I needed to find out in advance exactly which number bus we needed to hop on and monitor the GPS to get off at the right spot. If you can avoid them, I recommend to do so.

You can buy single tickets at the station machines or get electronic tickets using WeChat or Alipay. There is also an option to purchase 1-day pass or 3-day pass, if you plan to use public transport often.

If you are staying in the city for at least a couple of days, consider getting the Xi’an Transportation Card (which is like the London Oyster Card). It can be purchased only at the railway stations and the central metro stations, but not at the airport. It gives 10% discount, when using transport and just makes things more convenient. However, as the card costs 18 yuan and you need to charge it on top of that, it may not be efficient for short stays. You can actually return it, once you don’t need it any more, but it just adds one more thing to do to your busy itinerary.

Fun fact: Xi’an metro tickets and cards are beautiful with depictions of city monuments and silk road history. 

With great public transport and detailed itinerary, exploring Xi’an is possible independently. However, if you wish to do so with a guide, there are a number of options, including half-day and day-tours via Viator, getYourGuide,

Accommodation in Xi’an

The city is quite big and spread out, which I didn’t realize previously. That’s why, the traffic can be heavy, especially during mornings and taking buses is inconvenient. Best would be to stay inside the Xi’an City Wall area. There are great accommodations available with discounts, if you book a 2-3 months in advance. But if you are on a very strict budget, at least make sure to book your accommodation near a metro station to make your stay easier.

The hotel we stayed at doesn’t exist any more, but check out the Campanile Hotel Xi’an Bell Tower, which is in a great location. They have discounts at the time of writing for high season, if you book early. The location is very central, near the Bell Tower and the Clock Tower and metro links. This will allow you to get around the city easily.

Things to Book in Advance when Visiting Xi’an

Xi’an being a very popular destination, there are some sightseeing spots (like museums), that you need to book in advance. Others, like the Terracotta Army can also sell out, so you probably should consider prebooking them. Here is the list of the major sites that you either must reserve, or consider doing so to avoid queues and possibly missing out:

• Shaanxi History Museum: Admission to the museum is free, however must be booked in advance, as there are only 12,000 daily visitors allowed. You can reserve using WeChat five days before your visit. If you can’t book your free tickets and absolutely want to visit the museum, the official website suggests to purchase them using Trip.com, however, tickets there are expensive.
• Terracotta Warriors (Emperor Qinshihuang Mausoleum Site Museum): Purchasing tickets in advance for the Terracotta Army is not a requirement. However, tickets sometimes sell out. Plus there are queues. The most convenient way to get your tickets is using  Trip.com, which is the official seller. You can also do so on the official website.
• Xi’an Museum (Small Wild Goose Pagoda): While this museum is smaller and I did not include it in the 2-day itinerary, if you decide to visit, you must reserve in advance. Free tickets can be booked 7 days in advance using WeChat.

Xi’an Day 1 Itinerary

Highlights: Terracotta Warriors, South Gate of the Xi’an Wall and the walk along the wall.

Terracotta Warriors

Price: 120 yuan.

On our first morning in Xi’An, we woke up bright and early (well, it wasn’t so bright though, as mornings never are for me :)) and headed to Terracotta Warriors. This takes up better part of the day, therefore, you won’t have much time left on the first day.

See the detailed information on visiting Terracota Warriors and how to get there by public transport.

After making it back from Terracotta Warriors to the Xi’An Railway Station, you can take metro line 4 and change to line 6 to get to Yongningmen station. Alternatively, there are direct buses, such as 603 and 611, that can take you to the Bell Tower and to the South gate of the Xi’An Wall.

I suggest to make a stop at the Third Sister Dumplings before the South gate (it’s only a few minutes away). The restaurant is simple and no frills with nice food, especially the dumplings. Afterwards, get to the gate, while it’s light.

Note: If you only have one day in the city, visit the Bell & Drum towers before heading to the South gate to maximize your time in Xi’An.

South Gate of the Xi’an Wall

Price: 54 yuan.

You can purchase tickets at the ticket office. However, if you want to completely avoid the queues, you can do so online in advance at Trip.com.

Walk or Cycle along the Wall

The City Wall was originally constructed during the Tang dynasty reign in the 7th century. However, what you will be seeing now is the well-preserved 14th century construction. There are four main gates (18 gates in total).

You can walk entire the perimeter of the Wall, if you like, which should take you about 3-4 hours. Alternatively, you can do part of the walk, just near the South Gate. We chose to simply walk around and enjoy the amazing views of the city.

Alternatively, you can rent a bike, if you like and ride along the wall for a couple of hours. Keep in mind that it won’t be a smooth ride and after rain it can be slippery, so be careful.

The South Gate is the most beautiful and, hence, most popular. It boasts numerous famous visitors. You will find a number of photos while passing the ticket office, showing the prominent people visiting it. Even the tickets are extremely pretty.

Free Ceremonial Performances

There are a number of free ceremonial performances held at the South Gate daily. This is the information I found:

• 9:30 daily – Opening Ceremony
• 11:00, 14:00, 17:00 daily – Warrior Parade Performance
• 10:00, 15:00 daily – Warriors Changing of the Guard Ceremony

If you want to watch these performances, I suggest to come back here next morning to watch at least one of them (see the information in the Day 2 itinerary below).

Tang Dynasty Grand Welcoming Ceremony

In the evenings daily (except Monday) at 8.30pm, Tang Dynasty Grand Welcoming Ceremony performances are held at the south gate. Tickets are 278 yuan (they include the entrance to the wall). You can get the tickets upon arriving at the South Gate or book in advance via Trip.com – there’s no need to purchase very early; tickets are usually available for the next day.

Even if you don’t watch the show, you can still the beaming lights from there, with the wall lit up beautifully.

Overall, the reason I am suggesting to come here in the late afternoon is to enjoy walking on the wall during the daytime and evening as well. So do stay on the wall, until it gets dark and see the lights being lit. The views of the lit street leading to the Bell tower are beautiful. Besides, you can maybe catch the light show as well.

There are also various other shows you can watch in Xi’an in the evening. Check your options.

Xi’an Day 2 Itinerary

Highlights: South Gate Performance, Bell and Drum Towers, Muslim Quarter, Shaanxi Museum, Wild Goose Pagoda, Tang Dynasty Paradise (if you have time).

Xi’an South Gate Performances

Free of charge.

Consider going back to the South Gate to watch the performances at the South gate in the following order:

• 9.30am – Opening Ceremony
• 10am – Changing of the Guard
• 11am – Warrior Parade

After this you can head to the Bell and Drum Towers either by walking or taking metro line 2, it’s 1 stop away.

Xi’an Bell and Drum Towers

Ticket for both towers together: 50 yuan; Otherwise 30 yuan each.

Start your day by visiting Bell and Drum Towers. You can get to them by metro line 2, get off at the Zhonglou station Exit B.

Every big city in China has these two towers close together. but the ones in Xi’An are the largest and best preserved, hence, very popular for the visitors. Both of them were built by the end of the XIV century. The main idea of these towers were to announce dawn and dusk to the city population. The bells at the Bell tower were stricken at dawn, hence, the name Bell tower. The drums of the Drum tower were beat at sunset to inform about the end of the day.

Bell Tower is located at the heart of the city, at the crossroads. Access to tower is from the underground. When you go down, find a map, which will show you directions for the entrance, otherwise you may wonder in circles. When you go up the base of the tower, it provides nice views over surrounding areas. The tower provides a view of the Drum tower as well, which is located closeby.

You will find a giant Bell here, as you would expect. This is not the original bell from Tang dynasty. That one was moved to a museum for preservation. This one was cast as the duplicate of the original.

Climb to the upper floor for the usual Chinese style pavilions and the roof decorations. Those have been my favourate.

Leaving the Bell tower, come out of the underground towards the west side and head to the Drum Tower. In all honesty, I was more fascinated by this one, than by its bigger sister. This one is smaller and cuter and has a number of drums, when you climb to its base. According to the signs here, the world’s largest drum is housed in the tower. I highly doubt that information is correct. Maybe it was at the time it was built? You can even try your skills of beating the drums, people did with the help of the guards 🙂

While here, we caught an interesting performance. Obviously, it was crowded and we couldn’t sit, but it was short, so we stood to listen.

Interesting fact: Both Bell tower and Drum Towers have short performances at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 15:00, 16:00 and 17:00, so try to time your visit to catch at least one of the shows.

Xi’an Muslim Quarter

From the Towers you can easily walk to the Muslim quarter. The market is busy during the day and night, so visit any time, wander around and get lost in these streets.

If you need to buy any souvenirs, you will find relatively cheaper prices here, than for instance in Beijing or Suzhou. Obviously, as everywhere, you may be quoted a reasonable price (like triple of the real price :D) or 10 times more. Either way, it is easier to find places, where you can bargain and get things at the price, that is ok. We asked at least at a dozen of places to get an idea and the prices we were told had such a huge range, that it dumbfounded us. The sellers who spoke English asked several times more than others. After we got some idea, mom started to bargain using body language, it was quite fun to see. In the end, we got several fans as souvenirs. I am sure we paid triple the price compared to what Chinese would pay, but it was reasonable for us.

Muslim quarter has a number of food stalls as well. If you are an adventurous eater, you can eat exotic things. I am not fully sure, what they all were – I only recognized octopuses and calamaris. But you can find beef and lamb, as well as vegetables.

If you want to experience this area fully, consider joining one of the food tours.

Great Mosque of Xi’An

Great Mosque of Xi’An (Price: 25 yuan) is located in the heart of Muslim Quarter. It is a fascinating mix of Chinese and Muslim/Middle Eastern architecture. We unfortunately didn’t manage to visit it, as it was too late, when we got to the area and the next day we were unlucky with rain. So I obviously have something to come back for 🙂

Shaanxi Museum

Free of charge, but requires reservation

If you still have time left and are interested, visit the Shaanxi museum. You can get here by metro, from Dayanta station, passing the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, which you can visit after the museum. However, if you have limited time, the museum can be skipped.

You must make a free reservation to be able to visit the museum. As noted above, given that the museum is free and only 12,000 visitors are allowed daily, the online reservations book up quickly. You can reserve using WeChat five days before your visit. If you can’t book your free tickets and absolutely want to visit the museum, the official website suggests to purchase them using Trip.com, however, tickets there are expensive.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

Price for visiting the Ci’en Temple: 30 yuan. Plus price for going up the Pagoda: 30 yuan.

You don’t have to purchase tickets in advance, they are available on the spot. However, if you still wish to, you can do it using Trip.com. To climb the Pagoda, you still need to buy additional tickets on site.

From the museum walk to the Giant Wild Goose pagoda, which is a part of the Ci’en Temple. It was first constructed in the 7th century, during the Tang Dynasty. The Buddhist pagoda is surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Every day at 12:00, 16:00, 19:00 and 21:00, there are Fountain Shows at the square North of the Pagoda.

Additional Days in Xi’an

Tang Paradise

Price: 120 yuan. It can be purchased on site or using Trip.com.

Nearby Wild Goose Pagoda, you will find a theme park dedicated to the history of Tang dynasty. The park has a lake, numerous different reconstructions of the old era buildings, gardens, etc. There are also free and paid folk performances inside the park (see Trip.com for details). These are held in the evenings, therefore, it is particularly popular to visit in the evening.

Considering its history, there are several opportunities for visitors to do photoshoots in the Tang dynasty costumes. You can reserve such photoshoots locally or online.

Huaqing Palace

The ruins of the Huaqing Palace, which dated back 3000 years, were discovered near Xi’an. The reconstructed complex with pavilions, pools and gardens is a great half-day trip from Xi’an. Besides, the performances held here – Song of Everlasting Sorrow – are very popular. Check the tickets on Trip.com.

Also check out this full guided tour combining the most difficult to visit sites – Terracotta Army and Huaqing Palace with the performance.

See also:

Useful tips for planning your trip to China.

Transport in China.

4-day itinerary and guide to visiting Beijing