Day 1
Arrive in Xian
Just relax and take a leisured stroll around the city. You can excurse and reveal this charming city by person and buy some souvenir for your family or friends to share your experience. Happy travel!
Day 2
Xian
Today you will have a excited exploration on Forest of Stone Steles Museum, City Wall, Shaanxi Historical Museum.
Forest of Stone Steles Museum: Once the site of the Temple of Confucius during the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), the Forest of Stone Steles Museum is situated on Sanxue Street, near the south gate of Xian City Wall. It was initially established in AD 1087 when some precious stone steles were moved here for safe keeping, including the ’Classic on Filial Piety’ written by Emperor Xuanzong in AD 745 and ’the Kaicheng Stone Steles’ carved in AD 837. With an area of 31,000 square meters, the Forest of Stone Steles used to be the principal museum for Shaanxi Province since 1944. Then because of the large number of stone steles, it was officially named as the Forest of Stone Steles Museum in 1992. With 900 years of history, this treasure house holds a large collection of the earliest stone steles of different periods, from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. All together, there are 3,000 steles and the museum is divided into seven exhibitions halls, which mainly display the works of calligraphy, painting and historical records. All of these record some achievements in the development of the Chinese culture and reflect the historical facts of the cultural exchanges between China and other countries. The first landmark visitors will encounter in Xian is the ancient City Wall, which stretches round the old city. The northern side runs parallel to the railway. Xian was originally a walled city, and even today the wall is considered a landmark dividing the city into the inner part and the outer part. The city wall is massive - tall, long and thick. The South Gate and North Gate are the two main entrances to the inner city. The city itself is neatly arranged along the city wall.
Xian 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." This advice Zhu Yuanzhang heeded. Once the whole country was unified, he sent orders to the local governments to build city walls on a large scale. Zhu assured that "out of all the mountains and rivers in the world, the area of Central Qin is the most strongly fortified and strategically impregnable." The current city wall is an enhancement of the old Tang Dynasty structure, as a result of the emperor’s wall building campaign.
Shaanxi Historical Museum: One of the best museums in China, the Shaanxi Historical Museum. Among the 400,000 items on display are treasures from many Dynasties, including some magnificent bronzes and porcelain, many of which have never been on permanent display before.
Day 3
Xian
Today you will go sightseeing on Terracotta Warriors, Banpo Museum.Evening Show at Tang Yuegong is recommended for you, which is exclusive in our quotation.Feel free to contact our travel advisor about the details and cost.
Terracotta Warriors: 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 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. 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.
The Banpo Museum is located in the eastern outskirt of Xian City, Shaanxi Province. As the first museum at the prehistoric site, it was built at the base of the excavations of the Banpo site. Since it opened to the public formally in 1958, two million people have visited it. The Banpo Site is a typical Neolithic matriarchal community of the Yangshao Culture dating back about 6,000 years. At that time, the Banpo people used tools made primarily of wood and stone. Women, the crucial labor force, were responsible for making pottery, spinning, and raising the family, while men fished. The approximately 4,500 square meters (about 1 acre) exhibit area of Banpo Museum is divided into two Exhibition Halls and a Site Hall.
Evening Show at Tang Yuegong: The show is taken in all the best of music from the past dynasties and absorbed that of west regions and other countries, vividly reflects the thriving economy, the friendly relationship between Tang and its neighboring countries, and the folk daily life of the Tang people. Its grand scale, imposing manner, beautiful music, smooth action, and gorgeous costume, all produce the No.1 show for a tourist in China. The Theatre Restaurant of the Tang Dynasty Complex is furnished in the Tang style with an area of about 2000 sqm, which could house more than 500 guests once. The diners could enjoy not only the delicious dishes with sweet wines, but the colorful dance and music of the Tang Dynasty as well. Thirteen dynasties that maintained their capital in Xi’an (also known as Chang An), but the Tang Dynasty (618-709 AD) period are distinguished as the most progressive and prosperous era in the history of China. Tang Dynasty music and dance symbolize the splendor and the glory of the Chinese civilization and is world famous.
Day 4
Xian
Today you will go sightseeing on Mt. Huashan
Mt. Huashan is known as ’The Number One Precipitous Mountain under Heaven’ and one of the five sacred mountains in China.Mt. Huangshan, which is situated in the south of Anhui Province, covers an area of about 250 square kilometers. Mt. Huangshan is 40 kilometers (25 miles) long from north to south, and 30 kilometers (19 miles) wide from east to west, with an area of 1,200 square kilometers (463 square miles). It is also known as ‘the loveliest mountain of China’, was acclaimed through art and literature during good part of Chinese history.
Day 5
Xian
Today you will have a excited exploration on the Huangdi Mausoleum.
The Huangdi Mausoleum: As an AAAA-class scenic place, the Mausoleum of Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) is not only a beautiful resort, but also an important national relic. The Yellow Emperor, with the name of Xuan Yuan and the surname of Gong Sun, was born in the matriarchal clan society. Mr. Simaqian (a famous historian of China) spoke highly of Yellow Emperor as "He was born of intelligence and could talk soon after he was born." Being a child, he was very clever. He was honest and hardworking when he grew up. He was also knowledgeable and distinguished. He was voted as the chieftain of the Xuan Yuan tribe at fifteen and then became the emperor when he was thirty seven years old. The greatest contribution of Yellow Emperor is that he experienced fifty three wars during which he defeated Wangyu Tribe, conquered the Yan Emperor and killed Chiyou Tribe, thus he uniformed the three tribes. Yellow Emperor led China from the savage time to a civilized and demonstrated country which promoted him as the first and the greatest emperor of the Chinese nation. He was so respectable that when he died at 110, people tried their best to keep him and then collected his utilities and buried them in his tomb in memory of him. That was the early Mausoleum. Later, people added something to the mausoleum and today there are the Xuan Yuan Temple, Hanwu Immortal Base, the ancient monuments, the cypress grown by Yellow Emperor, the General Cypress and some thousands of other ancient cypresses all of which was honored by mountains of Chinese people every year.
Day 6
Xian
Today you will have a excited sightseeing on Famen Temple and The Tomb of Yang Yuhuan, concubine of Emperor Tang Minghuang.
Famen Temple is located in Famen Town 120 kilometers northwest of Xian. Although this Temple is a fair distance from Xi’an, it is a fascinating place with an intriguing history and it is worth making the effort to get here. The original temple was built in the East Han Dynasty, some 1,100 years ago. In 1987, a treasure was discovered in the temple when it was undertaken renovation. The treasure contains 4 Buddhist relics, 121 gold and silver wares for worshipping Buddhist in the temple, 400 pieces of peals and jade and a lot of refined silk fabrics. Famen Temple was renowned as the premier temple in China. The temple was first called Eyuwang Temple and renamed as Famen Temple in the Tang Dynasty. The period from North Wei Dynasty to Tang Dynasty was the heyday for the temple, when series of Buddhism ceremony were held here. In 874 AD, the Tang Emperor, buried Sakyamuni’s finger bone, this had been enshrined in the imperial palace for a long time, in the Famen Temple. Sakyamuni’s finger bone in Famen Temple is the only one available in the world now.
The Tomb of Yang Yuhuan(Yangguifei) : The tomb is the burial place for Yang Yuhuan. Yang (known as Yang Guifei), concubine of the Tang emperor Xuanzong, was a renowned beauty of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). She was of unmatched beauty and was good at singing and dancing. The story goes that when the Emperor took Yang to the garden, beautiful flowers would shy away as they felt inferior in comparison to her beauty. Originally, she was the younger wife of Prince Shou, the eighteenth son of Xuanzong. But Xuanzong decreed their divorce and entered her into a nunnery for a couple of years so that he could take her as his palace consort without shame. From then on, Xuanzong devoted his heart and sole to her as described in a poem "Of the three thousand beauties in the rear court, she wins his favor all alone." Xuanzong was so infatuated with Yang that the administration of the government soon fell into decay, which was not made any better by the fact that Yang took advantage of her power to stuff high administrative positions with her corrupt cronies. She also took under her wing a general named An Lushan, who quickly accumulated power. A power struggle over control of the central government between An Lushan and Yang’s brother (Yang Guozong) led to An’s rebellion in 755. Xuanzong ran away and brought the concubine with him; however, towards the Maweipo, the army under the command of the Chen Xuanli, the general commander of the right army killed Yang Guozong and said to the emperor that the rebellion was directly incited by the Yang Family, and they forced Xuanzong to order Yang Guifei to hang herself. The concubine died a forced death at the age of 38 only.
Day 7
Depart from xian
In the past few days you have had a wonderful time in Xian. You must be fascinated about Xian. We are sure that you have enjoyed its splendid culture and unique scenery and you can be our best ambassadors to share that experience with your friends and neighbors. We sincerely hope to see you revisit Xian again with your friends.
