2-day Panda Tour

For centuries, the Huaqing Hot Spring (huaqingchi) has been enjoying the reputation as the most wonderful spring for it has appealed to the emperors of the ancient China with its amazing pureness and miraculous healing promotion effect on the rheumatism and arthritis. The Huaqing Hot Spring is known as the Orient Sacred Spring, which means it is as famous as the Thermae of Caracalla in Ancient Rome and the Bath Spring in Britian.

During the Western Zhou, Li Palace was originally established a resort here. Later the First Emperor Qin built a stone pool and gave the name "Lishan Hot Springs," and it was extended by the Han Wudi, Martial Emperor. However, the strongest associations are with the Tang Dynasty, and most of the present buildings have a Tang style.

Later in the ancient China, Emperor Taizong built the Hot Springs Palace and Emperor Xuanzong added a walled palace in 747 A.D. Unfortunately it was damaged during the An Lushan Rebellion in the middle Tang period. The present site was rebuilt on the site of the Qing Dynasty structure

There are picturesque sceneries around the spring. Behind the west gate, Nine-Dragon Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool and the Frost Drifting Hall of the Tang architectural style are waiting for you. Emperor Xuanzong used to spend winter in the company of Yang Guifei (Lady Yang) - his favorite concubine in the Hall of Fluttering Frost. The hall gains its name due to the slightly milky mist and vapor over the pool year around. In winter, the snowflakes soon thaw immediately in front of the Hall because of the lukewarm vapor rising out of the hot spring.

Here is a combination of a miraculous hot spring, the beautiful landscapes and the marvelous historic relics, where will feast your eyes in your leisure time.

Opening Hours: 8:00 -- 16:00
Ticket Price:
40 CNY from March 1 to November 31
70 CNY from December 1 to February 28
Half fare for the student, the soldier, the disabled and the aged over 70
Location: No. 38 Huaqing Road, Lintong Zone, Xian City, Shanxi Province
Transportation: Bus No. 306, 914 and 915 and tour bus No. 5 will bring you here. 

Here is the largest museum with the most exhibitions of the stone tablets passed down from the ancient China. Since the completion of the construction in North Song Dynasty the year of 1087, this greatest treasure store has appealed to a great number of visitors for having a close look at the marvelous forest of stone tablets.

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.

It is a good place to admire all the authentic work of calligraphy of the celebrities who were well known in the Chinese history, to read the Chinese grand classics inscribed on the stone, and to learning about the world’s history from the most convinced proofs of the history.

Opening Hours: 8:00 -- 18:00
Ticket Price: 45 CNY
22 CNY for the student, the soldier, the disabled and the aged over 70
Location: No. 15, Sanxue Street, Xian City
Transportation: Bus No. 14, 402, 512, 223, 208 and 704 and tour bus No. 5 will bring you here.

Standing o­n the Jianfu Temple near the east part of the South Friendship Road and is 3km away from the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Because the pagoda is lower than the Big Wild Goose, it is called Small Wild Goose. The pagoda had 15 stories before 1556, but the extant is merely 13 stories because its top was destroyed in an earthquake in that year. The foursquare pagoda is 43.3metres high now and each sideline of its base is about11.38meteres. The eaves are jutting out o­n each story. There are arched doors o­n both the south and the north sides in each story. o­n the lintels and the doorcases of the first floor, the vines, grass, flowers and the immortal pictures can be seen carving. There are wood stairs reach to the top of the pagoda, as you stand at there, a beautiful panorama will spread out before you.  

Unlike the grand Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it is dainty and exquisite in its appearance. It is an important cultural relic and o­ne of the remaining symbols of ancient Chang'an (the name of Xian in the Tang Dynasty).

The ancient Small Wild Goose Pagoda and the newly-built museum echo each other; and the sonorous bell chimes response to the melodious Chang'an ancient music played here. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda Scenic Area, with its brand-new appearance, welcomes tourists from both home and abroad.

Opening Hours: 9:00 -- 17:00
Ticket Price: Asmission: 50rmb, 25rmb for the students and the children.Include: Xi’an museum, the scene in Small Wild Goose Pagoda, and enter into it. With yearly tickets for 2008 Shaanxi travelling, you can visit here at any time,except the short vocation of “1st,May”and“1st,Oct”
Transportation: Bus 18、21、29、32、40、46、203、204、218、224、407、410、508、521、700、707、713、720、or travel bus NO.7、8（610）to "Small Wild Goose Pagoda" stop 

Situated in the suburbs south of Xi’an is the Daxingshan Temple; one of the oldest Buddhist temples in China. It was built during the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316). During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhism prevailed widely in Chang’an, Xi’an City’s earlier name. Many Indian monks remained there to translate the sutras and promulgate the Buddhist doctrines. Over time, the Daxingshan Temple became one of three temples especially used for translating sutras. The other two are Ci’en Temple and Jianfu Temple.  

The present-day Daxingshan Temple is the result of large-scale restorations in 1955 and 1983. Inside the temple, Qing-style architectural features are predominant, including Mountain Gate, Devajara Hall (Hall of the Heavenly Kings), Mahavira Hall (Daxiongbaodian), Bell and Drum Towers, Kwan-yin Palace and many other halls in which Buddhist followers can pray.

As one enters the Mountain Gate, the Bell and Drum towers can be seen on either side. A wood-carved Maitreva statue from the Song Dynasty stands in the middle of the Devajara Hall, with four Heavenly Kings flanking it. On walking into the Kwan-yin Palace, a sandalwood-made, thousand-hand Kwan-yin statue is sure to surprise you! During some of the Buddhist festivals, the temple is crowded with believers.

Today, the Daxingshan Temple and its surroundings has been developed into a park temple and is open to tourists. 

Blue Dragon Temple is a famous Buddhist Temple from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). When it was built in 582, it was called Linggan Temple (Temple of Inspiration) and then renamed to its present one in 711. When Buddhism was prevalent during the Tang Dynasty, some Japanese monks were sent to China to study Buddhism. Six of them studied at BlueDragon Temple, and this led to a flourishing period of the temple in the ninth century.

Kukai, the most learned of the six monks, made great progress in learning Buddhist sutras, Sanskrit, poems and Chinese calligraphy. After his return to Japan in 806, he advocated the building of a Vagra Temple (Vagra means Buddhist Warrior Attendant) and founded the Zhenyan Sect (the True Word Sect). He is highly honored by both Japanese and Chinese, and in 1982 Kukai Monument was constructed inside the BlueDragon Temple. For uncertain reasons the BlueDragon Temple which had no fortune, like other ancient temples was destroyed. This was perhaps during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). 

The present temple was reconstructed in 1963. Memorial halls for the earlier monks and exhibition halls with some excavations displayed are all built in the Tang architectural style.

Blue Dragon Temple is a place where the cherry blossoms can be enjoyed. Every year during May and June, an endless stream, of tourists comes to appreciate its beauty.

Weiyang Palace  was a palace complex, located near the city of Xi'an. Built in 200 BC at the request of Han Gaozu, under the supervision of his prime minister Xiao He, it served as the administrative centre and imperial residence of the Western Han Dynasty, as well as the Western Jin dynasty and several other regimes during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The palace survived until the Tang dynasty when it was burnt down by marauding invaders en route to Tang Chang'an. This was the largest palace ever built on Earth, covering 4.8 km² (1,200 acres), which is 6.7 times the size of the current Forbidden City, or 11 times the size of the Vatican City.

Today it is located in an open field and few remains of the former palace.The palace consisted of over forty palaces, terraces and pavilions of Chenming, Qingliang, Xuanshi, etc.This spectacular and magnificent palace was not only the political centre of the Western Han dynasty to decree orders, but also the place to make state policy in the Xinmang, Xijing, Former Zhao, Former Qin, Later Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou dynasties.

Location: Weiyang County, Weiyang District, Xi'an
Entrance Fee: Free
Transportation: Take Bus NO.1,211 or 901.

The luxurious Daming Palace was one of the three large groups of architecture for the emperor inside Chang'an of the Tang dynasty. The site is on the Longshou Plateau to the north of Xi'an. The palace began to be constructed in 634 (the eighth year of Zhenguan under the reign of Tang Emperor Taizong), covering 3.5 square kilometres.

There were hanyuan, Xuanzheng, Zihuan and other great halls while Hanyuan Hall in front of the palace was the main one. From the site of Hanyuan Hall one could see its large scale with Xiangluan Pavilion to its east and Xifeng Pavilion to its west both of which were linked to the hall with corridors. In front of the Hanyuan Hall was a wave-shaped "Dragon-tail Road".

The magnificent and elegant hall was an important place to hold national grand ceremonies and receive foreign envoies during the Tang dynasty. The picture shows the model of the reconstructed Hanyuan Hall. 

Location: East Ziqiang Road, Xi'an
Entrance Fee: RMB 60
Transportation: Take Bus No.2,528,723,708,717,262 or 216 and get off at Tongjiagang.

Fenghao is a combination name for Fengyi and Haojing, set by Kings Wen and Wu of the Zhou Dynasty (11thcentury - 256BC), respectively. With Fengyi located on the west bank of the Fengshui River and Haojing on the east bank, the site covers a total area of 10 square kilometers, spreading a large area including Kesheng Village, Mawang Village, Zhangjiapo, Xinwang Village, Fengcun Village, Luoshui Village, Pudu Village, Doumen Town and Kunmingchi. After an archaeological investigation in 1933, the Archaeology Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Science has carried out a lasting excavation on the site since 1951. Fenghao was then the political, economic and cultural center of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

According to the record in Kaogong Notes, the city covered an area of nine kilometers, with three gates open on each side. Inside the city, nine streets lied vertically while another nine streets horizontally. With the palace built in the center, the ancestral temple on the left, the sacrificial site on the right, imperial court in the front, and downtown streets in the back, the city had presented a general reference rule for overall arrangement. It is obvious that rulers at that time had already got a planning mind to build up an orderly-arranged city.

An imperial palace site was unearthed near Mawang Village and Luoshui Village, together with a number of drainage parts, such as pipeline and tile. Besides, 20 residential sites, built in cave or half-pit houses, cellars and wells were also excavated in the site. About 100 vessels were excavated in these cellars, including 53 vessels in Zhangjiapo, among which 32 had inscriptions, and 25 vessels in Mawang Village, 10 of which had inscriptions. Those inscriptions, which have high historical, artistic and academic values, recorded some important history events of the Western Zhou Dynasty and neighboring states.

Location: Zhangjiapo Village, Mawang Town, Chang'an District
Entrance Fee: RMB 10
Transportation: Take Bus No.302 or 911 and get off at Mawang Town.