Xian One-Day Tour of Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses Pits,
Huaqing Hot Spings and Farmer's Dwelling Cave

 Tour Plans

Enjoy your tour with your private car,
driver and English-speaking guide.

Xi’an one day tour (Plan A)

At 08:00 in the morning, the local guide and driver will meet you at the reception desk of your hotel, then take car to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum .
(Lunch)

Price: $95 per person. ($20 deposit for seats guarantee)  

The price includes

1. lunch
2.  Automobile: air-conditioned car
3.  Guide: professional local guide in English
4.  Tickets: first gate admission for the attractions on the list

The price does not include:

1.      Hotel
2.      flight and train ticket:
3.      tip of guide
4.      Private  costs

Discounts available on group of more than 4 people.

  Xi’an luxury one day tour (Plan B)

At 08:00 in the morning, the local guide and driver will meet you at the reception desk of your hotel. They'll take you to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. A professional expert of Terracotta Warriors and Horses will introduces s them carefully. Yyou also have a good chance to take a photo with discoverer of Terracotta. After lunch, you'll visit the famous Huaqing Hot Spring. Then you'll make a visit to local farmer family ---dwelling cave which is home with local old style character.  The local specialty Dumpling Dinner is served in the evening. (L+D)

Price: $145 per person. ($30 deposit for seats guarantee)  

The price includes

1. A lunch and dinner
2.  Automobile: air-conditioned car
3.  Guide: professional local guide in English
4.  Tickets: first gate admission for the attractions on the list

5.Speciality：a special introduction by expert of terracotta in museum; A visit and photo chance with discoverer of Terracotta; Dumpling Dinner; Make a visit to farmer in cave.  

The price does not include:

1.      Hotel
2.      flight and train ticket
3.      tip of guide and farmer family
4.      Private  costs

Discounts available on group of more than 4 people.

Xi'an, the ancient capital of China (West Capital), is situated in the central part of the country, between the Weihe River in the north and the Qinling Mountains in the south. The city lies on a major rail route which runs from Lianyungang on the Yellow Sea via Urumqi in the autonomous region of Xinjiang and on to Kazakhstan. There are direct rail links with Beijing and Shanghai as well as flights to most large Chinese cities, including Hong Kong.

Sights & Attractions: Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses Pits, The Big Wild Goose Pagoda, The Little Wild Goose Pagoda The Ming Walls, Banpo Neolithic Village Museum

Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses Pits

The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Work is ongoing at this site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum, Lintong County, Shaanxi province. It is a sight not to be missed by any visitor to China.

Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had work begun on his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life. A group of peasants uncovered some pottery while digging for a well nearby the royal tomb in 1974. It caught the attention of archeologists immediately. They came to Xian in droves to study and to extend the digs. They had established beyond doubt that these artifacts were associated with the Qin Dynasty (211 --206 BC).

The State Council authorized to build a museum on site in 1975. When completed, people from far and near came to visit. Xian and the Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses have become landmarks on all travelers' itinerary.

Life size terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations are the star features at the museum. They are replicas of what the imperial guard should look like in those days of pomp and vigor.

The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. They were tagged in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public on China's National Day, 1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back.

No. 2 Pit, found in 1976, is 20 meters northeast of No. 1 Pit. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 chariots of wood. It was unveiled to the public in 1994.Archeologists came upon No. 3 Pit also in 1976, 25 meters northwest of No. 1 Pit. It looked like to be the command center of the armed forces. It went on display in 1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses.

Altogether over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed from these pits. Most of them have been restored to their former grandeur.

The Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a sensational archeological find of all times. It has put Xian on the map for tourists. It was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world cultural heritages.

Huaqing Hot Springs

Located at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan in Lindong County of Shaanxi Province, 30 kilometers from Xian, Huaqing Hot Springs is a state place of interest as well as scenic spot.
According to the record, as early as the Dynasties of Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang, temporary imperial abode was constructed here. In the 6th year of Emperor Xuanzong’s Reign in the Tang Dynasty(747) it was expanded on a massive scale by turning the hot springs into bathing pools, ringing the Mount with palace buildings, which were to be protected by an outer circular defensive wall and renamed it Huaqing Palace. As the palace was built upon the hot springs, it was also called Hot Spring Pools. In 756, it was reduced to ruins by the flames of war. Most of the existing buildings were constructed in the Qing Dynasty and after the liberation of China.

Huaqing Pools is fascinating for its exquisite and picturesque scenery characterized by pink peach blossoms, green willows, dense foliage, beautiful pavilions and terraces, magnificent halls, rolling towers, winding corridors and long verandas, Jiulong(Nine Dragons) Lake is crystal clear and mirrors the pavilions and towers.

Huaqing Hot Springs was very famous and used to be bathing site for imperial families during the Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties. Lady Yang, the highest-ranking imperial concubine was also rivileged To Bathe In Huaquing Pool In Time Of Freezing Spring, And In Slick Hot Spring Water, Rinsed Her Soft Creamy Skin? as the poem goes. At the present, there are four springs flowing out with a total capacity of over 110 tons of water per hour at the constant temperature of 43 degrees centigrade, which is good for bathing.
 

Dwelling Cave - Famer's Home

Visit Loal Famer's Home,
See How They Live
and Dine Dumpling with Them
 

Stretched across six provinces in north central China are the yaodong cave dwellings. In Chinese, the term (pronounced YOW-DOAN) means an arched tunnel. The earliest yaodongs were caves dug into mountainsides. More recent versions are only partially dug in; they can even be free-standing. But all retain the signature arched front.

A yaodong cave dwelling (Click image to enlarge).  This particular one is significantly "dug-in" to the side of a mountain, making it an older yaodong; newer units tend to be more disengaged from the mountainside.  Usually, one family unit consists of three arched openings, and the units are interconnected inside.  The center cave can be termed the "living room," which includes a stovetop cooking area.  The two side caves are sleeping quarters.  The gadget on the roof to the right is a solar water heater (yaodong units invariably face south, as does much of Chinese architecture).

It is not clear how many people live in yaodongs. However, there are some 40,000,000 people living in this vast region of China. Outside of the cities of this region, some 90% of the rural population live in yaodongs. Thus, the total number of yaodong dwellers is easily in the millions, making this housing type an example of a vernacular architecture of some scope. (Vernacular architecture refers to indigenous built forms without the aid of "professional" intervention).

Dumpling Dinner