Xi'an

Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province and one of China's major cities (being the country's capital at one point). It's an old city which hasn't developed quite as quickly as many other major cities. There is plenty to do in Xi'an and you're unlikely to find a day with nothing to do. I have given a list of some of the major attractions, but there are many more to be found; just by exploring. City Wall Xi'an is one of the few cities in China to still have a complete city wall and is the most complete surviving city wall in China. The wall is 8.5 miles long and you can walk round the wall (taking roughly 2 hours) or for far more fun you ...  Read the complete review

Are you one of those people who are bit fearful around airports? Some people are afraid of flying and deal with it by getting a lot drunk and a bit fighty. Some people are oddly specifically afraid of just the take off and landing, like there's a better way if getting 36000 feet high. Some people are secretly just a little bit worried that their suitcase will inexplicably burst open in transit and that their belongings will arrive along the luggage belt in an inconvenient individual manner. Sock. T-shirt. Sock. Pants. Pants. Tears. I'm one of the latter. In Xi'an airport, after a 2 hour 40 minute flight from Beijing with the ...  Read the complete review

A short summary This is a travelogue about the trip that my wife, Nikki, and I took to China (Beijing, Xi’an and Hong Kong) in the period from March 15th to March 29th 2003. We first spent 7 days in Beijing and we got to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and so on. From Beijing we took an overnight train to Xi’an and our main goal there was to see the Terra-Cotta Warriors but we also got to see a few other things. And from Xi’an we flew to the city of Shenzhen and from there we took the boat to Hong Kong (HK), where we stayed for about 5 days. In HK we visited Ocean Park, Victoria Peak, the Space Museum and so ...  Read the complete review

As travels continued within China, high on most tour itinery's is the Famous "Royal" city of Xi'an. As the countries captial back in one of the Dynasties that blends into all others, Xi'an has jumped on this accolade and is bidding to become on of China's largest tourist attractions and draws to tourists. While being able to boast a number of major attractions namely the Terracota Warriors, the real beauty of Xi'an is in fact the way that the desire of development is meet with traditional everyday life, as lived by the vast cities population. Xi'an has much to offer, with a large Muslim population, parts of the city ...  Read the complete review

I was in Xi'an around 5 years ago as part of the Trans-Siberian trip that I did. It was the best place that we went to in China out of the three cities that we visited, certainly in terms of culture and only a marginal western influence. The city itself is the ancient capital and a fortress town originally. You can still enter the 'gates' as it were and explore through all the back streets where there are some great market stalls which are cheaper than the state department stores. If you want English language material, or would like some assistance in looking for something specific (I bought a Steamboat from the department store) then it's best ...  Read the complete review