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Xi'an Tour
Package
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Xian 4 days 3 nights Tour
Make your own Terra Cotta
Warrior and Take Home!
In March 1974, a group of peasants digging a
well in drought-parched Shaanxi province in
northwest China unearthed fragments of a clay
figure�the first evidence of what would turn out
to be one of the greatest archaeological
discoveries of modern times. Near the
unexcavated tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi�who had
proclaimed himself first emperor of China in 221
B.C.�lay an extraordinary underground treasure:
an entire army of life-size terra cotta soldiers
and horses, interred for more than 2,000 years.
The site, where Qin Shi Huangdi's ancient
capital of Xianyang once stood, lies a half-hour
drive from Xian. It is a dry, scrubby land
planted in persimmon and pomegranate that is
marked by dun-colored hills pocked with caves.
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TOUR ITINERARY |
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Tour
code:
GWAC-XA-03 |
Activities |
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Hotel |
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DAY 1: ARRIVE IN
XI'AN
In the evening (after you flew to Xi'an from Beijing or
Shanghai), you will arrive in Xi’an, and your local
English-speaking guide will pick you up either from the
Xi’an airport or train station. For your accommodation,
you will be staying in a 3 or 4 star hotel, and if you
choose the deluxe tour, you will be lodging at a 5 star
hotel. If we have time then we’ll do some night
sightseeing, or if not, you can spend the night relaxing
or taking a walk for yourself through the city.
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3 or 4 star for common;
5 star for deluxe |
DAY 2:
XI'AN
After breakfast we’ll get started on your
touring. Our first stop will be Xian’s signature
attraction, the Terracotta Warriors. The Terra Cotta
Warriors and Horses Museum is the result of 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. 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 begun to work for
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. 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 is 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, contains 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. It is the command
center of the armed forces. It went on display in
1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four
horses.
MAKE YOUR OWN TERRACOTTA WARRIOR! You will
have an opportunity to visit the Terracotta Reproduction
Factory. At the factory, talented craftsmen make these life
size replicas in the same manner as their counterparts did
two thousand years ago - with just their hands, a few basic
tools, and clay. By watching how a terracotta is made, you
can try to make your own miniature reproduction of the
famous artifact and take it home!
After taking in the Terracotta Warriors, we will
then go to the Huaqing Hot Springs, where we’ll have
some fun and relaxation. The Huaqing Hot Springs has
been the site of a famous imperial bathing pool and
various palace complexes over its 3,000-year
history. It is a National Cultural Relic and one of
China’s Hundred Famous Gardens. Huaqing (Hua means
brilliant, Chinese or flowery; qing means pure or
clear) Hot Springs is located about 35 kilometers
east of the city of Xi'an, at the foot of Li
Mountain. The present day site is only a small part
of the Tang Dynasty Palace, covering an area of
85,560 square meters. Entering by the west gate to
the hot spring, you will see Nine Dragon Pool, Lotus
Flower Pool and Frost Drifting Hall. All these
structures were rebuilt in 1959 according to the
Tang architectural style.
Next we’ll take a step even further back in time at
the Banpo Neolithic Museum. Located in the eastern
outskirts of Xi’an city, the Banpo Museum is the
first prehistoric excavation site museum in China.
Banpo (half slope) Village was a typical Neolithic
Matriarchal community of the Yangshao (Respect
Splendid) culture (5000-3000 BC) around 6000 years
ago. The Yangshao culture was named after the first
discovery of this civilization in Yangshao, Henan
Province. About 400 sites of this type have been
discovered around the Yellow River Basin, and the
Banpo site is the largest one. The site was
discovered in 1953 during the construction of a
power plant. The excavation work lasted four years,
and the Banpo site was first opened to the public in
1958. Since then, two million people have visited
it.
For dinner, you’ll have a real treat in store for
you in the form of a splendid dumpling dinner. Xian,
an ancient city that has been the nation's capital
during no less than eleven dynasties spanning more
than a thousand years is regarded as the home if not
the birthplace of the great dumpling tradition. It
was here that the art of creating the most tasty and
delicate of dumplings was refined and no visit to
the city is complete unless you partake of a
Dumpling Dinner.
This is an experience for the dumpling connoisseur,
the flavors, shapes and colors will tempt the
palette, while the elegant names and stories
attached to each variety are truly amazing. It is no
less amazing that a simple way of preparing food has
become so very popular and sophisticated that it is
now considered to be as much a work of art as a
tasty morsel.
Following dinner, you’ll be treated to an evening of
culture and entertainment in the form of the Tang
Dynasty Music and Dance Show. The Tang Dynasty Music
and Dance Show, a wonderful performance of the
ancient music and dance, is a must when you visit
Xian. The city, which was formerly known as Chang'an
has a very long history, and was the imperial
capital during 13 dynastic periods. Of these, the
Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) was the most prosperous and
glorious of all.
The Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show is an
outstanding exponent of this ancient stable and
prosperous society, keeping alive its splendid
culture and providing an insight into the peaceful
life style of the period. As an art form, the show
has its roots in folk fetes, when dances were first
performed by people as part of rituals of prayer for
a good harvest or a better life. Combining poetry
with the skilled playing of musical instruments,
singing, dancing and also stunning costumes, the
modern presentation is certain to give you an
impressive view of ancient China including its
splendid history, brilliant arts, distinct
traditions and customs.
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3 or 4 star for
common;
5 star for deluxe |
DAY 3:
XI'AN
Since Xi’an is revered as China’s “valley
of the kings” we’ll take a look at that special past
with a trip to the Qianling Mausoleum, the tomb of
Emperor Gaozong and his empress Wuzetian. It’s about
80km outside the city so it will take between 1-2
hours to get there by car.
The great mausoleum was first built in 684 and is
one of the best-preserved tombs among the Tang
Dynasty's 18 mausoleums. The Qian Mausoleum was
originally enclosed by two walls. The inner wall
stretches 1,45 kilometers from west to north, 1,58
kilometers from south to north, 24 meters thick.
There are four gates, one in each side.
Stone sculptures scatter around everywhere in the
mausoleum sites. Exquisite and elegant, these stone
carvings upright on top of the mountain for over
1,200 years. The first stone sculpture encounters
visitor is a pair of ornamental pillars (called
Huabiao in Chinese, which can commonly be seen in
front of palace complex and tombs). The tall and
upright pillars are charismatic and their shafts,
plinths and crown were all decorated with line
carvings.
Along the sacred path, visitor will then find pairs
of winged horses and rose finches. Ancient Chinese
supreme rulers wanted their underground life would
be prosperous so they often had propitious
creatures, birds, beasts placed in front of their
mausoleum to guard them. The winged horses, wings
decorated with slender, delicate lines, are in a
flying gallop. The rose finches, in high relief,
were beautifully shaped and sturdily carved. It is
said that because rose finches were a gift from
Afghanistan for the funeral and could serve as
guards, a pair of them were erected in front of the
tomb.
There are also stone steles. The east one, was
originally erected blank following Empress
Wuzetian's will which read, my achievements or
mistaking should be evaluated by the later
generations, so left my stele blank. This blank
tablet was 6.3 meters high, 2.1 meters wide and 1.5
meters thick. During the Song and Jin dynasties,
however, quite a few travelers did inscribe it,
changing the uncharactered stele into a charactered
one. In the west of the "blank" stele stands the
Telling the Emperor's Deeds Stele, 6.3 meters high
and 1.9 meters wide. The carvings on the stele give
high honor of Emperor Gaozong for his military and
administrative achievements.
We’ll also pay a visit to the Tomb of Princess
Yongtai, which is located within the vicinity if the
Qianling Mausoleum. The Tomb of Princess Yongtai is
the first tomb to be excavated and remains the most
impressive of all the satellite tombs in Qianling.
Princess Yongtai was the granddaughter of Tang
Emperor Gaozong and his wife Empress Wu Zetian. In
700, she married Wu Yanji, son of Wu Chengsi, who
was Wu Zetian's nephew. In 701, Princess Yongtai
died in Luoyang, Henan Province, at the age of
17.The epitaph suggests that she died childbirth,
but supposedly both she and her husband were
poisoned by her grandmother after Yongtai revealed
secrets about the older woman's affairs with two
lovers. After rising to the throne, Zhongzong
posthumously conferred the title of Princess Yongtai
upon his daughter, and gave orders that his daughter
and her husband should be buried together in the
Qianling Tomb in 705 A.D.
The Tomb of Princess Yongtai is pyramid-shaped, 87.5
meters long and 3.9 meters wide with a chamber 16.7
meters deep. In front of the tomb the road is lined
with a pair of stone lions, two pairs of stone
figures, and a pair of obelisks (ornamental stone
columns). The tomb consists of a main passage, five
doorways, six sky-lights, a paved path leading to
the tomb, eight small niches, an antechamber and a
burial chamber. The walls on both sides of the tomb
passage are covered with murals. They represent
court attendants, almost all of them women, wearing
the elegant central Asian fashions of the day. The
burial chamber represents the house where Princess
lived.
Following the drive back to Xi’an the evening is up
to you. You might want to start your evening at the
historic city center, the Bell Tower, before going
on to the Muslim Snack Street, which is among the
prime areas of interest in this part of the city.
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3 or 4 star for
common;
5 star for deluxe |
DAY 4:
XI'AN AND DEPARTURE
Following breakfast in the hotel, we’ll get started
we’ll get started with the day’s sightseeing by
taking a stroll on Xi’an’s ancient city wall. It's
the most complete city wall that has survived in
China, as well being one of the largest ancient
military defensive systems in the world. Xi'an City
Wall was erected in the 14th century Ming Dynasty,
under the regime of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. When Zhu
Yuanzhang captured Huizhou, long before the
establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he was admonished
by a hermit named Zhu Sheng, who told him to "build
high walls, store abundant provisions and take your
time in proclaiming yourself emperor." If you like,
you have the option of renting a bike or a rickshaw
on the wall in order to cover more ground in a
shorter time.
Then we’ll make the short drive to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a pagoda surrounded by a still
functioning Buddhist temple (named Da Ci’en Temple).
The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is one of the most famous
Buddhist pagodas in China. The Pagoda was built in
the Tang Dynasty (618-907) for the study of Buddhist
scriptures. Although it has been attacked by
centuries of weather, war and seismic activity,
which destroyed most of the original material of the
structure, a pagoda by this name and style still
exists on the site. The Tang regime gave orders to
build a chamber for the translation of Buddhist
scriptures in an effort to have the then widely
renowned Master Xuanzang agree to be the head of the
temple. Xuanzang was a Buddhist monk who traveled to
India, translated Sanskrit scriptures and developed
theories of consciousness, karma and rebirth that
were adopted by some later popular schools of
Buddhism.
The hallowed pagoda is an architectural marvel. It
was built with layers of bricks without any cement.
The bracket style used in traditional Chinese
architecture was also used in the construction of
the pagoda. The seams between each layer of bricks
and the " prisms' on each side of the pagoda are
clearly visible. The grand body of the pagoda with
its solemn appearance, simple style and high
structure, is indeed a good example of Chinese
traditional architecture.
At night, we'll transfer you to the airport for the flight to your next destination (B+L)
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Included:
1. Hotels with daily western breakfasts;
2. Meals in accordance with that listed on the
itinerary.
3. professional local guide & driver;
4. Private air-conditioned car or van for
transportation;
5. Admission of the first gate.
6.Two bottles of mineral water per day.
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