Places to visit in Xian:

Xian was once the largest city in the world and the capital for 11 Chinese dynasties for a period of 1,180 years. The gem of Xian tour is definitely the incredible 6,000 life-size Terracotta Warriors and Horses which is considered as the eighth wonder of the world. Most popular Xian tour is a 3 days and 2 nights city tour package, which include the must-sees of Xian like the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, the Ancient City Wall, the Drum and Bell Tower, the Great Mosque, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. These all make the reasons for people to travel to Xian.

Getting around and staying Xian:
While in Xian, you can go around by taxi, bus or even by bicycle. Cycle on the top of Xian Ancient City Wall is a unique and wonderful experience for visitors there. Visitors are able to rent a bike and ride the entire circumference from the top of the wall. It gives them a chance to look into the ancient town and imagine what life would have been like for its ancient inhabitants. For staying in Xian, there is a wide range of hotels available for visitors from China and abroad. Accommodation in Xian is available to suit all budget and taste.

Nightlife and Entertainment in Xian:

The evening in Xian just leaves everyone spellbound. Here, travelers will never fail to find the bars, Karaoke and night clubs to cater to their different taste. The popular bar street in Xian can be found on Defu Bar Street, East Street, and the area around the ancient Drum Tower. The other highlights for visitors and residents alike to stroll after dinner is to enjoy the night view of the Bell and Drum Towers and the musical fountain near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Also the Tang Dynasty Show at Tang Paradise, which is a marvelous evening performance of the ancient music and dance, should not be missed for every visitor to Xian.

Shopping in Xian:

The replicas of Terracotta Warriors and Horses, calligraphy rubbings, farmer paintings, paper cuts and jade craft works are the most popular buys in Xian. The famous street markets to shop local arts and crafts are Parkson shopping mall, the Bell Tower shopping street, the Drum Tower night market and the Academy Gate culture street. The luxurious shopping areas in the city are centered mainly along Dong Dajie, Nan Dajie and Jiefang Lu.

Delicious local snacks and dishes:

known as the “Snacks Kingdom” in northwestern China, Xian has a variety of the local snacks’ styles which are classified into Han, Uyghur (Xinjiang) and Hui (Chinese Muslim) etc. The most famous snack street is the Huimin Jie (a famous street closed to the Bell Tower). The Dumpling Banquet is the special culinary experience for visitors traveling to Xian. At the banquet, nearly 20 varieties of dumplings with different cooking styles like steamed, fried, and boiled are served. The most amazing things is the dumplings can look like butterflies, penguins, leaves, goldfish, ducks, golden ingots, flowers, clouds, and pearls. They are really works of art.

There are many street markets around the city to sell local arts and crafts. The famous street markets are Parkson shopping mall, the Bell Tower shopping street, the Drum Tower night market and the Academy Gate culture street. The luxurious shopping areas in the city are centered mainly along Dong Dajie, Nan Dajie and Jiefang Lu. Department stores usually open at about 9 am and close at 10 pm.

The replicas of Terracotta Warriors and Horses, calligraphy rubbings, farmer paintings, paper cuts and jade craft works are the most popular buys in Xian. If you missed those things on your Xian tour, you cannot easily found them in other cities in China.

The replicas of Terracotta Warriors and Horses:

The terracotta warriors and horses is one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of all times ever since its excavation in 1974. Many visitors come to Xian would like to take a Terracotta Warrior as souvenir. You can find different types of replicas, from a few inches tall to life-size available in the markets. The replicas of Terracotta Warriors and Horses will give visitor’s home or garden a real ancient and oriental touch.

Calligraphy rubbings:

Calligraphy rubbings are convenient and meaningful mementoes for foreign tourists to remind them of their China tours. They are especially liked by Japanese visitors who share the same written character.

Xian has more than 300 stele dating from the Han, Wei, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties collected in the Forest of Stele. You can purchase calligraphy books that rubbed from the stone inscriptions in many shops. If you love Chinese calligraphy, a rubbing book could be a good souvenir.

Farmer paintings:

Farmer paintings from Huxian County outside Xian are very popular and unique. The works feature notable regional tones, marked by pictorial landscape and the rustic life. The Gallery of Farmers’ Paintings from Huxian County has more than 1000 paintings on displaying with an exhibition area of 1200 square meters. Visitors can appreciate the demonstration of the artist and appreciate the performance of folk artists. Xian is a good place for shopping farmer paintings.

Paper cuts:

Paper cut is one of the famous souvenirs in Xian. Paper cut, though named from paper, can also be caused by other thin, stiff materials, such as aluminum foil, thin blades of grass, or film negatives. There are three kinds of paper cuts: Figures in paper cut, customs in paper cut and animals in paper cut. All these paper cuts have bright color of red, green or light blue which provide a strong foil to set off a merry atmosphere. So the paper cuts often found in wedding ceremonies or festivals in China. Any visitor to Xian agrees that it is a pleasure to have paper cuts as souvenirs.

Jade craft works:

Xian jade carvings boast five thousand year history. Nowadays all kinds of nice-looking and exquisitely-carved jade craft works , such as jade bowls, jade bracelets, jade pendants, etc, are available in Xian. There are some important tips to choose the jade craft works: the brightness of color and luster, compactness of inner structure, and the delicacy of the craft work. For example, on real jade, air bubbles cannot be seen and so on.

Too see the world famous Terracotta Army, which collects over 8,000 life-size pottery warriors and horses. This spectacular archaeological discovery has been listed the top ten sites when tours in China, also regarded as the tourist icon of Xi’an.

Watch the fabulous Tang Dynasty Show & Taste the delicious dumplings

Watch the Tang Dynasty Music & Dance Show, one of the recommended night entertainments when traveling Xi’n, is really a spectacular show that combines music, singing, dancing, and costumes of Tang dynasty. The dumpling feast served at the same time are in very interesting shapes, Some were shaped as little birds, goldfish, flowers, as well as more expected dumpling shapes but they are still delicious. That would be an evening that never forgets.聽

Cycling on the historical Xian City Wall

Xian ancient city wall is the world’s largest and best-preserved ancient fortress; on the top of wall, renting a bike and cycling on the wide stone-paved ground, see the whole city and have fun!

Stroll around Muslim Quarter and Great Mosque

The Muslim Quarters (or Huimin Street) features mix of Han & Hui cultures where Moslem snacks and restaurants available. There are also many stores and stands that sold kinds of fun local things, including replicas Terracotta Warriors! The huge, beautiful mosque, called the Xi’an Great Mosque also worth a visit.

Stun at the numerous historical relics at Shaanxi Provincial History Museum

There are thousands of bronze wares, pottery figurines, ceramic wares, gold, silver and jade wares, and ancient coins and so on; they are beautiful, showcasing the craftworks and culture of ancient time, while some of them are priceless!聽

Climb the steep Mountain Huashan

Known as the most precipitous mountain on the earth, mountain Huashan attracts more and more mountain lovers every year. It is famed for its natural vistas of steep and narrow paths, precipitous crags, and a breathtaking mountain range. There is a proverb goes that in China: “From time immemorial the Mt. Huashan has been only one way to climb atop.” Travel to the Xian Huashan Mountain and start a one or two day trekking, as it is hard to describe the great scenery along the route.

Shop some unique聽Xian souvenirs

As the top destinations of China tours, Xian offers unique and various tourists products as well, like replicas of terracotta warriors of the Qin Dynasty, tri-colored glaze potter of the Tang Dynasty replicas of old paintings, hand scrolls and albums, four treasures of the study, metal of stone seals, paper cutting and vivid shadow puppet figures. Feast your eyes or collect some.

All the above-said are the never-miss sites and things when you plan a Xi’n China tour, it is a great city attracts worldwide visitors with its royal tombs, city walls, pagodas, towers, temples, mosques, stele forest, pools, museums, mountains, prehistoric village, cave dwellings, unique folk-customs, civilian workmanship and culture of the central plains of China.