Xi'an - Beautiful madness

Advantages: Authentic and loads to do
Disadvantages: Easy to get lost

...Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province and one of China's major cities (being the country's capital at one point). It's an old city which hasn't developed quite as quickly as many other major cities. There is plenty to do in Xi'an and you're unlikely to find a day with nothing to do. I have given a list of some of the major attractions, but there are many more to be found; just by exploring. City Wall Xi'an is one of the few cities in China to still have a complete city wall and is the most complete surviving city wall in China. The wall is 8.5 miles long and you can walk round the wall (taking roughly 2 hours) or for far more fun you can hire a bike (or Tandem) and cycle round. The wall is full of pot holes so be careful if you cycle. Muslim Quarter The Muslim Quarter is a great little tourist trap. Located by the Drum...

puddingmancan 07.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of General: Xi´an

A Chicken, A Pensioner, and a Horses Ass.

Advantages: Seen It
Disadvantages: Done It.

...Are you one of those people who are bit fearful around airports? Some people are afraid of flying and deal with it by getting a lot drunk and a bit fighty. Some people are oddly specifically afraid of just the take off and landing, like there?s a better way if getting 36000 feet high. Some people are secretly just a little bit worried that their suitcase will inexplicably burst open in transit and that their belongings will arrive along the luggage belt in an inconvenient individual manner. Sock. T-shirt. Sock. Pants. Pants. Tears. I?m one of the latter. In Xi?an airport, after a 2 hour 40 minute flight from Beijing with the surprisingly comfortable but ambiguously named Dragon Air, I came desperately close to catatonic shock as one of our two suitcases jerked along the fairly antiquated luggage belt, Wide. Open. Holy...

Muffin_the_Mule 03.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of General: Xi´an

The Terracotta Warriors

Advantages: The terra-cotta warriors, the city wall around Xi'an itself
Disadvantages: Cabs like to use fixed price, people don't speak English

...A short summary This is a travelogue about the trip that my wife, Nikki, and I took to China (Beijing, Xi?an and Hong Kong) in the period from March 15th to March 29th 2003. We first spent 7 days in Beijing and we got to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and so on. From Beijing we took an overnight train to Xi?an and our main goal there was to see the Terra-Cotta Warriors but we also got to see a few other things. And from Xi?an we flew to the city of Shenzhen and from there we took the boat to Hong Kong (HK), where we stayed for about 5 days. In HK we visited Ocean Park, Victoria Peak, the Space Museum and so on. We first stayed in Beijing for a few days (see seperate review). But time went fast in Beijing and all of a sudden we had reached Saturday March 22nd. We had decided to take...

gard 27.06.2003 · Read review
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Review of General: Xi´an

Should be top or near the top of your list when in China

Advantages: history, food, atmosphere
Disadvantages: can be unfriendly and unhelpful

...I was in Xi'an around 4 years ago as part of the Trans-Siberian trip that I did. It was the best place that we went to in China out of the three cities that we visited, certainly in terms of culture and only a marginal western influence. The city itself is the ancient capital and a fortress town originally. You can still enter the 'gates' as it were and explore through all the back streets where there are some great market stalls which are cheaper than the state department stores. If you want English language material, or would like some assistance in looking for something specific (I bought a Steamboat from the department store) then it's best to go to the State Department store. Otherwise you can pick up some great niknaks in the markets such as stone carvings, silk paintings (which are gorgeous), mini terracota warriors etc...

corman 26.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of General: Xi´an

In Search of Chinese Heritage

Advantages: Rich Chinese Heritage & Great Food!
Disadvantages: Dusty & Many People Smoke

......

heeheehaahaa 26.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of General: Xi´an

Warriors

Advantages: interesting, worth a look
Disadvantages: quite expensive compared to similar museums

......

iamamy 04.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Terra-Cotta Warriors and Soldiers Museum, Xi'an, Shaanxi

A Greater Legacy

Advantages: Close-up view of a few of the figures
Disadvantages: Missing the 'wow'

...) or outside one of the major oriental studies departments up and down the country. Most of us do not know the names. Ask about Xi'an and a few more people might recognise it. Ask about the Terracotta Army and almost everyone will know. Rightly so. The remains discovered by a peasant farmer in a field in Xi'an in 1974 have led to the largest archaeological site in the world; one which over thirty years later is still throwing up new discoveries and surprises; one whose full excavation is estimated to take another 20 or 30 years on the basis of current assumptions about its extent?which to my mind is quite possibly grossly under-estimated. The image of the terracotta army - those serried ranks of infantry, archers and cavalry, each apparently individually sculpted, life size - has been ingrained on the brains of everyone born six...

hiker 20.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of The First Emperor (China's Terracotta Army), British Museum

Crammed full of amazing spectacles

Advantages: great photography and descriptions, varied content
Disadvantages: Some sections are in need of updating

...city fortress of Persepolis. Also covered are the Islamic cities of Isfahan in Iran and Samarkand on the edge of the Central Asian Desert in what was at the time of the book's publishing date the Soviet Union with their painstakingly detailed domed mosques, as well as the great Buddhist Temple mountain of Borobudur in Central Java, the Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an, China and the elaborate and decorative caves and temples carved into the rocks in Ellura and Ajanta in Masharasta state, Western India. The next chapter is of Australiasia and Oceana, and includes Easter Island with its vast and mysterious isolated stone statues (a case that is an intriguing illustration of mans relationship with his gods and natural resources and that could easily fill a book on its own), the paradisiacal Pacific island of Tahiti, Ayers Rock, said to be...

Burning_Darkness 04.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Wonders Of The World - Lionel Grigson

The life and death of Qin Shihuangdi

Advantages: An amazing opportunity to view artefacts from the tomb of China's First Emperor.
Disadvantages: Limited amount of artefacts. The crowds!!!!

...(not surprisingly given the amount of enemies he had accrues whilst building his empire). While he lived, he tried vaious potions in the hope they would produce immortality. Belt and braces, he commissioned the making of the terracotta army which would be buried with him in a massive tomb to protect and follow him into immortality. He even ordered those working on the project to be buried alive with him so that no secrets of the tomb could be revealed. Remains of workers have also been discovered alongside the terracotta figures. ~~Probably the most stunning archaeology discovery of the 20th Century~~ The terracotta army was discovered purely by chance. In 1974, local farmers in Xi'an were busy building a well about a mile from the tomb of Emperor Qin when instead of water they unearthed the head of a terracotta warrior. So...

MAFARRIMOND 06.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of The First Emperor (China's Terracotta Army), British Museum

Trip of a lifetime

Advantages: scenery, culture, trip of a lifetime
Disadvantages: food, tiring, can get boring on long legs of your train journey

...of interest in a day pretty much. There's scope for day trips though, especially if you've got a good guide to take you, and a lot of very unspoilt countryside. Beijing was not my favourite place. On the whole I found the people quite arrogant and rude. There's a lot to see and do. Tianemen Square and the Forbidden City are a must. If you go by train from Mongolia you go UNDER the great wall of china and get a fanatastic view alongside it for hours. The food of course is gorgeous and plenty of street stalls and restaurants to eat in. Have a wander round some side streets and avoid the main tourist restaurants. You'll still pay more than the locals, but not be ripped off completely. There is pizza hut, mcdonalds, etc. for those that are homesick.... Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors was brilliant. Xi'an is the ancient capital...

corman 27.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of Trans-Siberian Railway (Russia)