Best Xi'an Tour

Upon arrival, you will meet your guide at the arrival hall. After giving you a warm welcome, your guide will drive you to your first destination in Xi’an, Hanyangling Museum. As the largest museum in China, Hanyangling Museum was built based on the Yang Mausoleum of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-9 AD), in which Emperor Jing (the sixth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty) and his Empress were buried. Hanyangling Museum boasts a huge collection of over 100,000 cultural relics, the bulk of which are Han pottery figurines. Different from those solemn, powerful Terracotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-201 BC), these 60-centimeter Han pottery figurines emanate elegance and enthusiasm. In particular, the smiles on the faces of many pottery figurines add a veil of mystery. Experts believe that their smiles may be explained by the backdrop of a thrift, benevolent emperor and the rich, content public.

Your next stop in Xi’an will be  Small Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Small Wild Goose Pagoda now is 43 meters high, with 13 levels of tiers. The pagoda made of brick and wood used to have 15 levels until an earthquake in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Since its completion, Small Wild Goose Pagoda has survived more than 70 earthquakes. Notably, the great earthquake occurring in 1487 brought a 0.33-meter crack to the pagoda. The crack, however, miraculously disappeared after another earthquake had occurred 34 years after. What is mind-boggling is that such a miracle recurred twice in the following 4 earthquakes.

Small Wild Goose Pagoda

Small Wild Goose Pagoda

After breakfast, you will head to the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum, where you can take a careful look at the 2,000-year-old Terra Cotta Warriors. The museum boasts an army of more than 8,000 “soldiers”, which belonged to Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-201 BC) and also the first emperor of a unified China. As the substitutes of human sacrifices, Terra Cotta Warriors were made according to the sizes of Qin Shihuang’s best soldiers. As a result, an interesting story happened in this museum. A die-hard fan from Germany was extremely obsessed with Terra Cotta Warriors. To show his respect, he disguised himself as a Terra Cotta Warrior and stood with them for hours until being discovered by other visitors.        

After lunch, you will visit Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist pagoda located in the Daci'en Temple in southern Xi’an. With a height of 64 meters, the 7-level pagoda was built in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) to collect the Buddhist scriptures that were brought from India by Xuan Zang, a Chinese Buddhist master who had taken a 17-year journey to India for orthodox Buddhist scriptures. Xuan Zang once lost his bearings in the endless desert during his journey and ran out of water. At that moment, a couple of wild gooses with gold feathers landed in front of him. On the assumption that the unusual couple could understand human language, Xuan Zang told them about his holy mission and promised to build two pagodas in their honor if they could lead him out of the desert. To his surprise, the wild goose couple, just like human beings, replied with a nod and helped him find the way out. Upon his return, Xuan Zang kept his word by building two towing pagodas, with one called Small Wild Goose Pagoda and the other Big Wild Goose Pagoda.  

Then you will make your way to the old City Wall, once a part of the imperial city in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). About 700 years after the Tang Dynasty, when it was the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), an impregnable defensive wall was erected based on the old one. The old City Wall you will visit is composed of as many as 27,000,000 bricks, which, if placed end to end, will measure 12,000 kilometers, about the length of our planet’s diameter. If you are lucky enough, you will see guards in Tang soldier costumes, whose job is to protect the old City Wall from vandalism.           

Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

After breakfast, you will take a walk around the Great Mosque in Xi’an, one of the four great mosques in China. Covering more than 12,000 square meters, the Great Mosque you will see is in the styles of Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) Dynasties. Similar to temples of other religions, there are also some things you need to pay heed to when you visit a mosque. Before going to the Great Mosque, you should make sure that you are dressed in a modest manner and that both your arms and legs are covered. You are also supposed to take off your shoes before entering the prayer area, so you are suggested to wears clean socks. To show respect for Islam and avoid offensive behaviors, you are suggested to ask your guide for advice before doing something.

Then you will explore Muslim Quarter, a must-visit snack and commercial street in Xi’an. With a history of more than 1,000 years, the block is well-known for its abundant mouth-watering food. There are some 300 types of authentic local snacks available, which attract numerous foodies from both home and abroad each year. A typical one of them is the Rou Jia Mo, also dubbed the Chinese Hamburger, which is made up of a crispy hot bun cut open from one side (but not cut through), juicy meat, and various vegetables. You can also put anything you like into the pocket-like bun and make it a do-it-yourself burger.  

After enjoying the delicious snacks, you will visit Xi’an Beilin Museum. As the first museum in Xi’an, Xi’an Beilin Museum boasts a huge collection of stone sculptures, stone steles, and epigraphs from past dynasties. You are able to feel the sheer amount of its collections (more than 10,000 pieces) from the word “Beilin” in its name, which means “a stele forest” in the Chinese language. To both Chinese language experts and learners, the Chinese characters in various styles are invaluable assets, which can not only serve as examples of handwriting but reflect how Chinese characters develop throughout history.

The completion of your visit to the Xi’an Beilin Museum will mark the end of your 3-day Xi’an Visa-Free Tour. Your guide will escort you to the airport after helping you check out at the hotel. You will fly back to your home with an unforgettable and pleasant experience etched on your memory.  

Muslim Quarter

Great Mosque

Author: Zhou Yuxin