I decided to try something new this time around and did a vlog instead of writing about our experience. Below is our Xi'an trip in III parts. From the Terracotta army to City wall to the famous food street known a the Muslim Quarter and our own food tours. Now, the videos have been posted to our video Channel. However, I have added it to this post in case you missed it the first time around. Not everything made it to the videos but enjoy!
Our travel Itinerary and how to get around can be found at the end of this blog. I have also put the budget of this trip to prove that Xian is not a pricey city to visit as many make it out to be. It's all about avoiding tours and budgeting.
VLOGS
Click the pictures below to be redirected to the right video
TERRACOTTA ARMY
BEIYUANMEN ( MUSLIM QUARTER)
XI'AN CITY WALL & ANCIENT SNACK STREET
ITINERARY & GETTING AROUND (no taxis!)
Day 1
- Arrival
- Terracotta Army
- Beiyuanmen - Muslim quarter
From North Railway station take a free tourist bus directly to terracotta Army. After you are done take that same bus back to the railway station.
Take the metro from the station to the city central to go to your hostel/hotel. The Muslim Quarter is a 10-15 min walk from the Bell Tower located in the heart of the city center. Majority of hostels are about 10 mins walk from the Bell Tower.
How to get to Terracotta Army from other areas click here.
Day 2
- City Wall
- Ancient snack street
- Bike ride across the City
- Departure
To get to the City Wall, we rode bikes and used a GPS. It's took us roughly 20 minutes to get there. We hiked the wall and after awhile we got out of the wall and used the bikes once again to get to the ancient snack street. The ancient street is not far from the city central, so we used the bikes to get us to the bell tower. From there we strolled around the Muslim quarter one last time before taking the subway to the railway station.
How to get to Xian City Wall click here.
Where we Stayed
Hangtang House
This was my first time staying at a hostel and it was a pretty good experience. The Staff do speak English, so that takes the language struggles out of the equation. It's located in the city central ( Bell Tower) and it's about 10 minutes walk to the metro and about 15-20 mins walk to the Muslim quarter.
You have to go into a narrow road to find this place. It's not hard to find if you follow a GPS and be on the look out for the sign.
When it comes to the room, it was clean and comfortable with standard amenities. It honestly felt like a hotel.
COST FOR 2 DAYS
Accommodation
A private room for two $26 (We booked last minute but if you book sooner it'll be much cheaper)
Sightseeing
Terracotta Army $24 ( CYN 150)
City Wall $4.30 (CYN 27) I paid for a student ticket, but the standard price is $8 (CYN 50) If you want to rent out bikes to ride around the wall that's an additional cost, so we chose to hike instead.
Transportation
Metro $1.27 ( 0.64ct - CYN 4 one way) I used it twice
Bikes where free since one of us had a Chinese account to use the bikes provided by the city
Food
2 days worth of food $20 (CYN 130) - This includes food not shown on vlogs. ( We shared food )
TOTAL COST FOR ONE PERSON: $63 ($62.57)
For more Attractions in Xian,tours, travel guides and more click here.
Hopefully this blog helps you with your Xian trip and gives you an idea for your itinerary. If you have more time, we advice you to do your research before visiting other tourist attractions because not all of them are worth it. Also, keep in mind that there is an admission fee for most of the attractions, so plan according to your budget. We will soon add Xian travel pictures to our gallery section, so make sure to stay tuned. But for now, we hope that the vlogs have given you more insight about Xian and that you enjoyed watching them as much as we did recording them!