Xi'an aka: Xian,西安

I have three As to describe this place: Awesome..awesome..awesome!

If you go to China and can make it to Xi’an, you really should try. It is important, I think, to see the Terracotta warriors, though the experience might be something unexpected (both good and bad…), but I have to admit, the rest of Xi’an was a little disappointing for me. Being a city very geared towards tourists, it carries with that title, all of the negative parts of being a city for people who don’t live there: people wanting to take your money as fast as they can. Sometimes they’ll try to steal from you, but, more often, you’ll find that no one treats you fairly…moreso than in any other place I’ve visited in China thus far.

My tip: get OUT of the city and visit the absolutely fascinating Hua Shan (Hua Mountain). It will challenge you, amaze you, humble you, and take your breath away. Do it, do it, DO IT!

I just came back, it’s amazing! One thing I think you shouldn’t miss is the Shaanxi History Museum… it shows how long a history Shaanxi has, not just long, but with much developments…

(the picture showed me on the city wall)

It’s not just about the terracotta warriors (although I’ve been fascinated by them since they were re-discovered) – Xi’an looks like an amazing city to explore, and everything I read about it makes me more anxious to visit.

2 BIG Reasons:

1. I want to attend Justin and Erin’s typical Chinese Wedding. This is something that we, his colleagues should not miss!

2. The army of Terraccota Soldiers is very much one of the most spectacular sights in China. It was discovered in 1974, amazingly well-preserved for over 2000 years!

I went here in May 2006 with a tour (the tour group was imaginative traveller), it was a fantastic place! The warriors are amazing and the city itself is great to explore. As with most Chinese cities english is rarely spoken so a lot of hand gestures is required!
My favourite sights of the city were the warriors, the big goose pagoda (check out the bronze murals at the back) and the bar street in the city itself (I can’t remember exactly where that is – hmmm).

We totally underestimated the amount of time to allot for Xi’an. We stayed only two days halfway through a two week vacation. We figured 1 day for recovering from the first week and 1 day to go see the Terra Cotta warriors. Well, there is a lot more stuff to see then that! Xi’an was the capital of the various Chinese empires for thousands of years before Beijing became the capital. There’s a lot of ancient history to see. We saw where Yang Guifei would go during the summer for her spa baths. The museum in Xi’an is worth a trip. We didn’t have time to travel further out of the city to see the monasteries, the panda presevation park, etc. Next time…!

i came to xi’an on the national day of 2005.we drove there.time had been limitied so we didn’t have chance to know about this ancient city deeper.but i still think xi’an worth ur visiting is becausing the amazing BingMAyong.by the way,the road between the mountains is dangerous but it make u feels like u’re driving in a wonderland!

Xi’an is undoubtedly a big city, but the first thing that struck me when I walked out of my hotel there was that people seemed so relaxed! While there’s a fair amount of traffic (including many buses), people just don’t seem to hurry. It’s infectious! We quietly strolled along with the other people on our way to the very center of the city. Not to be missed there is the Great Mosque: a wonderful example of Chinese muslim architecture – strange to see for eyes accustomed to seeing mosques in the Middle East and Central Asia! And, just like in Damascus, it’s a wonderful place to relax in the middle of a busy city: all you hear is twittering and singing birds, and occasionally some old men chanting a religious song. No traffic is heard.

Another sight not to be missed, a little outside of Xi’an, is of course the Terra Cotta Army. If you’re planning on going there, don’t bother booking an expensive tour: just take the regional bus (just in front of the Jie Fang hotel across from the station); the site is at the last stop so you can’t miss it. Then just go in and buy an entrance ticket, and go to the 360-degrees film theatre and the museum for some background (everything in English) before visiting the “pits” with also excellent visuals and explanatory text.

西安令人想起的第一件事就是－兵馬俑．位於童浬儷山腳下的秦皇陵目前還市在開發階段，而兵馬俑博物館的所在地，也只是這一片墓群中的其中一部份而已．
還沒有到訪之前，感覺其實是很不真實的，可是原來親眼目睹了，一號坑哩，一列列排列整齊的兵俑之後，感覺更不真實了！原來真的看到了！６０００年前的鬼斧神工．．．再看到在另一端，等待秀不得，殘破的兵馬俑，就深深的體會到，能夠看到今天正在博物館裡陳列的完整的兵馬俑，真的不容易唷！

西安行可以說是在中國的旅遊經驗裡最悠閒自在的．