Xian Hotel Reviews

Never take up the local day tour with many places to go. You will be exhausted! Select trip with just Terracotta, Ching-Hwa Lake and Da-Yan Temple!

You can not visit Xi''an with out going to the Terracotta Warriors. I took a local taxi there with an English speaking guide. For little over half a day it cost 400 RMB (ca £30). This included a trip to the Tomb of Qin Shihuang & the hot springs Huaquing Pool. The next day I used the same taxi to do the Western tour to Zhao & Qian Tombs both very impressive & the Famen Si temple. Its a long day 9.30 till about 5.00.

There is no taxi stand at the airport, instead, there are drivers at the arrival hall approaching the arriving passangers. They asked for RMB220 and that''s a high price, almost doubled. A taxi going from Shangri-La to the Airport would be about 100. Most of the taxis offer day tour service. You may check against the price of different drivers. I hired a taxi to Hwa Shan, only RMB550 a day. The hotel can also arrange transportation but the price is...1200! There are also public transportation at the train station. That''s a good time to experience the reality, no queue! People are squeezing in. That''s the fun part of this trip.

Xi''an is another large Chinese city (around 6 million, I think) but it''s a polluted, rather beat place. The air was translucent and very irritating. We saw more beggars there than anywhere else we visited. So why bother? Two words: Terra-Cotta Warriors. Yes, this is the place. The Terra-Cotta Warriors stand about an hour away, and make a visit to Xi''an absolutely necessary when visiting China. When you visit the T-C Warriors, you get a "tour," which includes Emperor Qinlong''s Mausoleum, the Huaping Hot Springs and site of the 1936 Incident (involving Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Tse-Tung) and a very skippable gondola ride up a mountain with yet another temple on top. There are some interesting pagodas much closer as well. I hear the Shaanxi Museum is excellent, but my 11-year-old wouldn''t hear of it.

We used Golden Circle Tours - they have an office on 2nd floor of hotel - to go to see the Terracotta Warriors. It was a great day - 7 of us in a mini-bus and a charming guide called Cassie. We also used them to take us to the airport, with a stop at the Han Yang Museum on the way. Worked out very well and this museum is definitely worth a visit. Also, don''t miss the Lamasery in Xi''an - it''s lovely.

We travelled to tourist destinations by taxi with prearranged price. Cost for group of 5 was 400Y and taxi took us to Terricotta Warriors, Jade factory (unplanned), The Springs, Qin museum and tomb. Walled city and attractions easily walked around. Local map for places like Wild Goose Pagoda were very confusing. Lack of street signs and language barrier with locals didn''t help the situation.

I highly recommend using Clarence Quo for an all-day or half day tour of the terracotta warriors and Xi''an. He can be found at taxitours.com. He is very reasonable, accommodating, and speaks excellent English. He offers tours to areas not usually available through the standard organizations.

Xian, located at the bottom of the valley can be very cold weather with grey skies during the winter. Fortunately little wind to roam about. The Terracotta warrior visit is only a couple hours''s drive and the National Museum has more exhibits than Beijing. Though an English guide can be pricey -- relatively speaking to other expenses -- a very strong recommendation. If on holiday, a 3 day visit would suffice to go through most attractions on a leisurely pace. Recommend trying the Xian-style Hot Pot.

I found Xian to be very nice to visit. I particularly liked the Bell Tower and the music program. It''s easy to get around if you have the right map (in english - I never found one....) and the buses are great value at one Yuan a trip. Of course the Terra Cotta Warriors is a must, but for myself, I enjoyed the Big Wild Goose Pagoda equally as well, if no other reason than for the incredible carvings. The taxi rank at the train station was the worst I have encountered for chaos. I finally walked from there to the hotel just to get away from the hawkers. I did not have time, but I would have liked to have spent some time on the city walls, and at the History Museum. Be careful in restaurants. Most have great food, but few english menus, and even when I found one that did, and ordered chicken, I got what I think was eel, but could not convince the waitress it was not chicken. Bring a phrase book!!

We arranged a one day tour for the day after our arrival through Star Tours in Beijing. We were met at the airport by our tour guide and she recommended seeing some of the sights that day so that we wouldn''t have so much to see the next day. We visited the Wild Goose Pagoda, the city walls, a wonderful old pedestrian street full of artist supply shops and buildings from the late 1800''s. The Terracotta warriors are amazing and we took in a dinner show in Tangyue Gong Palace which was very interesting (colorful costumes, sets and traditional Chinese music). It''s touristy but fun. The smog was really awful the two days we were there (the worst we experienced in 2 1/2 weeks in China) but a rain cleared the air the day we left. It''s still a place one should not miss.

Recommend the Xian Restaurant - the spiced roasted lamb alone is worth the visit.

No guide needed to see the main city attractions as they are all very close. When visiting the Terracotta Warriors obtain a guide at the Museum- don''t get one through the Hotel. The taxi drivers are deadly- the fare from the airport should be 120 rmb- not 210 as the one we had tried to charge- we beat him down to 170 with the help of the front doorman. We met up with a really honest owner/driver - Mobile No. 13991165161- he has very little English.

We were only in Xi''an for two full days and it was packed with the touristy type destinations. Places visited were: Terracotta Warriors (A Must), Big Goose Pagoda, History Museum, Hot Springs, Walled City and Jade Factory. We did not have much time at the walled city and would have like to see more of everything inside, looked like alot of good shopping. If I go again I would leave out the Hot Springs and visit the Walled City longer. Overall a very interesting city with a lot of Chinese History.

Xi''an was an amazing stop on my way home from a 2 week medical voluneer mission in China. In my opinion, you can not go to Xi''an and not see the Terracotta Warriors. I took the CAAC tour (45 RMB ($5.50) - not including entrance fees or lunch). I would not recommend it. The tour went to 5 places. The Underground Palace (a replica of the inside of Emperor Qin Shi Huang''s mauseloum), The Mauseloum of Qin Shi Huang, The Museum of the Terracotta Army, The Hot Springs and a Museum (I forget the name). They also stopped at a jade factory. There were 8 of us on the tour. The guide picked us up at our respective hotels. I was the third to be picked up. Most of the people that were picked up after me were there waiting, but one couple had gone to the bank and we spent over 30 minutes waiting for them to return. On the way to the first stop, we made an unscheduled stop at a jade factory to look at very overpriced jade jewlery and sculptures. No one wanted to buy anything and we spent 30 minutes wandering around waiting to leave. That was supposedly the "last" souvenir stop, but at each museum, we went to the gift shop for at least 10-15 minutes and were told to "stick together", so I felt a bit like I was being held hostage. We had to pay our own entrance fees for each of the museums and so were told that we could skip any of the places we didn''t want to see. If we wanted to skip them, we needed to wait on the bus. All except for 2 people said that the wanted to skip the last 2 places, so we were told that after lunch, we would spend the last 2 hours of the tour waiting on the bus while the 2 people who wanted to go to those sites went in (not good).<br> <br> The first two stops (The Underground Palace and The Mauseleum of Qin Shi Huang) were really very interesting. The third stop was the Terracotta Army. It was one of the most amazing sites I had ever seen. When I signed up for the tour, I was told that we would have 2-3 hours there. After our obligatory 20 minutes in the gift shop, "you need to stick together, you will have free time later", we went in. It was breath taking. Then, we were told that we would have 1 hour to walk around. When I asked for more time, I was told that we were running late because of the 30 minutes we spent waiting for the couple who was late for the bus. I was really annoyed. I decided to stay longer and take a bus home. It was well worth it!!! That was when I discovered how cheap and easy the public bus was. The green #306 bus goes right from the railway station in central Xi''an (a long, but reasonable walk - or very short cab ride from the Belltower Hotel) to the Terracotta Army. It costs 5 RMB (50 cents) round trip. The ride is about 1 hour each way. If I had it to do over again, I would have just gone on my own on the bus.<br> <br> By the way, everyone else on the tour (except for the 2 people who wanted to go to the last 2 sites on the tour) ended up taking the public bus home after lunch). Another great public bus find was the CAAC airport shuttle. It can be found right outside the domestic airport exit - by baggage claim (I''m not sure about international). It costs 25 RMB ($3.00) to go to the CAAC office in the Melody Hotel in central Xi''an - it is a 2 minute walk (one block) from the Belltower Hotel. A cab from the airport runs 150 RMB ($18.00). If you are planning a trip to Xi''an, I hope that this helps.

The taxi from the station tried to overcharge me, but this was not my first visit so I refused to give in and paid him what I knew was a reasonable fare; although higher than the metered rate, he was still unhappy. At least I now know what "suan" means! For excursions to the Terracotta warriors, Qin tombs, Famen temple, etc., I was extremely lucky to rediscover a good taxi driver I''d met on an earlier visit. I hate organised tours which pack in the sites, but give you no flexibility.<br> <br> If you are feeling adventurous enough to try this, be prepared to negotiate hard, but most importantly, politely and with humour. There''s no advantage in antagonising the person you''re hoping to spend the day with! Make it clear while bargaining if you don''t want to make unscheduled stops for "shopping" (the driver will get a percentage). As a group of 3, we paid a fraction of the price of organised tours, got taken exactly where we wanted to go, picked up just when we''d had enough, and were even helped to buy apples and pomegranates along the way.<br> <br> In the town, try to time your visits for the Bell and Drum demonstrations - the latter was performed by what I guess was a group of music students who easily made up for a slightly shaky performance with their enthusiasm; great entertainment! The only major problem was on departure. We took the sleeper back towards Shanghai, and I allowed "only" 1hr 10 mins to get to the station. Well, it was raining, rush hour, and no driver wanted to go there. In the end, the hotel found someone who was prepared to go for 50 yuan (metered fare around 8 or 9). I have to admit he worked hard for his money, and we made it with 2 minutes to spare. Moral, allow 2 hrs to get to the station and book something in advance. The risk of spending 90 minutes in the waiting room is far preferable to the hassle of missing the train - you can''t just jump on the next one.<br> <br> Shopping - Prices on the main streets radiating from the Bell Tower can be comparable with European rates - the further away from the centre you can go, generally the lower the price. Also, don''t miss the market stall gauntlet on the way to the mosque. Assume everything is fake (because it is), and just buy what you like because you like it. "Fake" is not the same as "poor quality". Far from it, many of the objects on sale exhibit superb workmanship. The usual bargaining rules apply. Vendors often start at 4 times the going price, and sometimes 10 times. Also, beware when being offered an apparently low price for a set of four warriors & a horse. (This was outside the museum site itself). I accepted, paid my money, and then was asked which one of the five I wanted. This was the only time I broke the rules and lost my temper, but the ensuing scene did resolve satisfactorily. Make sure you know what you''re buying!<br> <br> Food - the Defachang dumpling restaurant is just across from the Bell Tower itself. One of our party is vegetarian, and after some confusion (and amusement) explaining in very limited Mandarin (a phrase book is handy here), the waitress disappeared into the kitchen for a minute, returned with a "haode" (OK) and sure enough, they whipped up some veggie dumplings for us. A good cheap "fast food" meal can also be had on the main street not far from the hotel. Head East from the Bell Tower on the North side of Dong Da Jie (East Main St) for a few hundred metres (sorry don''t know the name of the place) and you will come to a restaurant with street stalls outside backing onto a restaurant inside. You point and buy from each section separately, and could probably eat for a week without having the same dish twice. Don''t miss the various baozi (steamed buns) especially the ones with sweet bean paste inside. Excellent value.

We had an excellent guide, Clarence Guo, clarenceguo@yahoo.com. We visited the terracotta warriors, caves where people live, daoist temple, a mosque, the city wall and the fountain next to the Wild Goose pagoda. Also enjoyed the Tang chinese culture show.

Take the airport van in to Xi’an (25Y) and then a taxi to the Grand Hotel (5Y). Be careful when returning to the airport van pick up spot. Be sure the taxi drive takes you to where the van service tells you to go (have the hotel write it out in Chinese for you – as for anywhere else you may want to go and how to return as well). It is full of alleged taxi cab drives who will ask 80Y and settle (if you can bargain good) for 30Y to take you to the airport. What they don’t tell you is that they need 3 people at 30Y or more in a small taxi (car), each, before the will go to the airport, then they take the back roads (a real experience) to the airport. If you want to avoid this, contact the van service and find out exactly where to go to be picked up, and the pick up time. Allow plenty of time the trip (by van) takes about 25 minutes if no traffic.<br> <br> Hotel is less than a half mile inside the city''s ancient wall. It is les s than a mile (5Y or Kawi or RMB – about 75 cents USD, taxi cab ride) from the hotel to the Muslim district and Mosque, and a 5 minute walk through the Muslim food district and shop brings you to the Drum Tower, and one block to the left of the Drum Tower, is the Bell Tower and a modern shopping district. The Terracotta soldiers is a fair distance from the hotel, hire a van (should not cost more than 700Y and share with people you meet there, it really beats the per person rate of 400Y. (Exchange rate in June 2004 was 8.2Y for 1 US Dollar).<br> <br> Take extra water to the Terracotta Soldiers site. You have to walk about a quarter mile to the access entry point, then walk at least another half mile to get to the entrance (90Y to get in). You (in summer) are hot tired and thirsty and they charge 5Y for a 1 to 2Y bottle of water. The site is quite large and you will need lots of film to photograph most of it . If you buy a video, make sure it will run on your VCR (especially if you are American).<br> <br> The city ancient wall is to the left as you exit the hotel, and about a quarter mile, and there is an entry fee of 5Y? to access the steps taking you to the top. You can climb to the top and walk it, it is very nice. There is a very good tour guide provider, named Mr. Sunny Lu, he provides cars (400Y for 2 or less people or vans (700Y for up to 7 people, drive and an English speaking guide (ask for Connie, she great), I highly recommended you use him. Call him, 13609126011 for any needs in Xi’an. Tell him J T Adair told you to call him (I was there in mid June 2004.) Avoid going to the tomb of the emperor. It is a long climb to the top and not worth (in my opinion) the entry fee. The hot springs is like a park and there is not much there either (for the admission price) but it is nice.<br> <br> Enjoy Xi’an, I did and it (Xi’an) and the Terracotta Soldiers should not be missed on any trip to China, and you should allow at least 2 days if not 3 to see the main sites.

There is a great restaurant across from the hotel between the Bell and Drum Towers that offers a great "Dumpling Banquet".

Rented car through hotel - 8 hours for 35 USD. Went to warriors & Small Goose Pagoda. Very nice without having to contend with bus/tour schedules. Ate lunch at warriors site behind Pit 3. Outstanding meal & only about 5 USD per person. Made reservations for Tang Dynasty theatre over internet. Had no problems picking up tickets in Xian.

Don''t take the Eastern (Terracotta Warriors) tour offered by the travel agency in the Bell Tower Hotel, it was quite disappointing to us all. Also, when needing a taxi, take one from the main street rather than having the hotel calling one for you. There is a 30rmb surcharge on those.