mobile phone photography

Xi`an, which means “Western Peace” is one of the ancient capitals of China. This city is everything but not boring and quiet. Xi`an is a place of living and breathing history where all its surrounding influences mix into a blend of cultures, cuisines and customs.

Xi`an is one of the oldest Chinese cities from where you can see the Terracotta Warriors Army and Mount Huashan. It`s a big and easily accessible city and also transport hub.

Xi`an city

Drum and bells towers

built as early warning posts for the city. Amazing architecture and nice place to see and to get some photographs.

Xi`an walls

with their length 13.7 KM, (8.5 mls.), the walls can be explored on a rental bicycle or shared electric car.

Terracotta Warriors army

the one and only, be prepared for crowds as a part of the experience but what you will see is really breathtaking. English guides are available and common.

Mount Huashan

is roughly 120 Km, (74.5 mls.) from Xi`an. You can book a tour here or plan it by yourself. The cable car will take you to the platform and from there the mountain could be explored.

Have you seen a mountain on top of the other mountain? If you are brave try plank walk.(Don`t forget to come earlier for it ;))

Tips from Golden Monkey

Cycle the Xian walls, its fun and they can rent you tandem ones if you want to share it

Xi`an “burger” is a signature dish of this province.

If you are after food visit Xi`an Muslim quarter and its inexhaustible food options.

Try to avoid a trip to Terracotta army manufacturers factory, yes it’s educational and usually combined with lunch but it will cut your time on the actual site.

You can climb Mount Hua by yourself before dusk, the path is enlightened, this is also the dangerous option and you will need to fix your own transport.

During the Golden week holidays, mountain Hua is particularly crowded.

One of the few well preserved ancient cities in China, renown for its financial and banking history and lacquer-ware manufacturing. Pingyao one of the AAAAA Chinese rating tourist spots and UNESCO heritage site.

Pingyao is position right in the middle between Xi`an and Beijing, if you have one extra day on your trip between these two cities you can use bullet train and visit Pingyao.

What did I do?

Pingyao ancient city

Being one of the popular Chinese tourist destinations means that the city is prepared and suited up for a lot of tourist and tourism. You can get your daily pass and city map with all the hotspots to see. The ancient city is easy to navigate and you can make most of it in one day.

You can see a lot of here, preserved architecture, important temples, workshops, bodyguard agencies, transport companies, bank vaults, goldsmiths, Shaolin academy, city administration complex.