Xian

Is is necessary to hire a car in Xian to see all the sites. I have heard the Terracotta Warriors museum is quite far away from the city itself.

Xian

No, no need!

Take green public bus 306 from in front of Jiefang Hotel at Xi%26#39;an train station (southeast of train station square) to the Terracotta Warriors. The journey is about 70 mins and costs only 7 RMB/person each way. The Terracotta Warriors are the last stop, don%26#39;t be fooled into getting off anytime before. And don%26#39;t fall for the fake 306 buses either!

Xian

sure ,there is the bus 306 to terra cotta warriors .

and the price is quite low.

while there is no directly bus to other places of interest in Xi%26#39;an ,such as big wild gooes pagoda,citywall, histroy museum.

and find the car in hotle is always hinh.

as my experinece, rent a car to visit in xi;an city is 20or 30 dollars one day with good car.

and if you go to warriors and hua qing hot spring pool, 30 to 40 dollars is also ok ,of course with guide to keep comany with.

and go anywhere you like by yourself ia also good choice ,but you have to speak chinese or some kind chinese who speak english help you

if i were you i preer rent one car,which save time and also reduce trouble and also guarantee your safey .

and i%26#39;m a local citizen and also like tourism so much ,please ask me freelly if you have any questions for xi%26#39;an.

Good luck in your China tour !

Xyg

Do you think it is possible to see everything in Xian in one day?? I don%26#39;t have much time but could fly from Beijing early in the morning and have all day in Xian leaving at 7:30pm. Could we see the Warriors and the City Wall in the one day????

IN theory you can see some sites in Xian from Beijing in a day, but leave early. The flight to Xian takes about 2 hours and then add another 1.5 hours to get out to the warriors. The tour of the warriors itself is 2hours and a minimum of 1 hour on the Xian city wall itself. If you have time I would try to get to the Muslim quarter too. That way you will probably see the drum and bell towers enroute.

You can customise anything you want. I won%26#39;t recommend it but if that%26#39;s all you have time to do then go for it. On the otherhand what might you be missing out on in Beijing if you do this? It depends on your priorities.

Try online tour companies such as

http://www.tour-beijing.com/ or chinatravelkey.com/beijing/tour/beijingxiant鈥?/a> who can then customise your tour. (They probablyy include Huaquing Hot Springs in their normal tour which you don%26#39;t need.)Tansey at chinatravelkey is pretty good at customising tours and has reasonable command of English.

if possible, stay more time in xi%26#39;an

in my experience, two days or three days is good.

in xi%26#39;an , you can try

warriors: the eighth wonder in the world

huaqing spring : emperor and his wife to take bath there

tang paradise : the copy of tang palace in morden time

city wall: the only ancient city defense system leaved by opld times

and please also try to visit han yang tome,which is near to airport.

it%26#39;s really woderful !

try to visit more places in xi%26#39;an.

Enjoy yourself !

Thank you for the information. I may reconsider staying overnight depending on the flights that I am able to get and available time. Is it best to go through a tour agency (Like the ones you suggested) or just get a Taxi when we get to Xian??? How much is it to hire a taxi for say 5-6 hours. There are 4 of us travelling together. My husband and two sons.

thank you for your trust !

as far as i know that, if you hire for your family ,4 people in one taxi,it will be very crowded.

and the local taxi driver don%26#39;t know ehniglsh .

find a travel agency is also a choice while the price is high.

my business is internatioanl trade(titanium bars) ,and my customers visited our company, i just find some good guys with good car.

and the price you inquiry is different from the price by a local chinese.

maybe you can try this : you find your friends or through trave agency just inquiry, how much for the charges.

and i also can take your demand to my guys or friends to inquiry.

and i aslo can suggest some good hotels in xi%26#39;an ,since my customers like those hotels.

anyway, plese ask me freely or write to me zyq981125@163.com

Good luck to you !

Hire a van and a driver for the days you require and tell the company you deal with (could be one of the tour companies aforementioned) specifically where you wish to go to. You don%26#39;t need to have a guide unless you really need to. If you don%26#39;t have a guide you should familiarise yourself with what you are seeing by reading a good guide.

Only hiccup - The driver probably cannot speak English. Have it all written down in Mandarin by your hotel concierge as a back up.

Thank you all for your prompt response. I will do what you say and try to organise a van and driver. If I know what I want to do we probably don%26#39;t need a guide. I will purchase Xian Lonley Planet guide book (if available)and read up on what to do. Thanks for you advice - most appreciated