Is Xi'an Worth the Time and Expense?

[MalibuCA]

We are cruising the Crystal Symphony in March '09. The ship departs from Hong Kong. We are planning to visit Tokyo and Hong Kong pre-cruise. Our vacation is already 3 weeks long . . . so far (and my husband is not yet retired!). I would love to see Xi'an. The only way we could do this is to fly from Beijing at the end of our cruise, which would add on at least another 3 days to our vacation. My problem? 1) It means additional time away from work, and 2) There is certainly added expense with the extra round-trip flights to Xi'an and the extra hotel accomodations that we will need. Without Xi'an, we would disembark the ship in Beijing and fly directly home to Los Angeles.

 

I have heard that Xi'an is fascinating. My question: Is it really worth the extra time missed from work and the extra expense, not to mention that it turns our flight home to Los Angeles from a 12-hour flight from Beijing into a 17-hour flight from Xi'an to Beijing to Los Angeles. We may never get to China again, and I hate to miss something that is truly a "must see." What would you do?

[alanmal]

We are cruising the Crystal Symphony in March '09. The ship departs from Hong Kong. We are planning to visit Tokyo and Hong Kong pre-cruise. Our vacation is already 3 weeks long . . . so far (and my husband is not yet retired!). I would love to see Xi'an. The only way we could do this is to fly from Beijing at the end of our cruise, which would add on at least another 3 days to our vacation. My problem? 1) It means additional time away from work, and 2) There is certainly added expense with the extra round-trip flights to Xi'an and the extra hotel accomodations that we will need. Without Xi'an, we would disembark the ship in Beijing and fly directly home to Los Angeles.

 

I have heard that Xi'an is fascinating. My question: Is it really worth the extra time missed from work and the extra expense, not to mention that it turns our flight home to Los Angeles from a 12-hour flight from Beijing into a 17-hour flight from Xi'an to Beijing to Los Angeles. We may never get to China again, and I hate to miss something that is truly a "must see." What would you do?

 

Was in China 3 years ago with Viking River. The terra cotta worriors are unbelievable. You will kick yourself if you do not go to Xian. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Al :D

[Spikesgirl]

ABSOLUTELY!!!! We did Xi'an as part of our land cruise with Princess and it was the most incredible thing we've seen to date and we've seen some pretty incredible things in our travels. My husband still gets chicken flesh whenever he talks about them and he wants to go back just to spend time with 'the warriors' as he refers to them now.

 

Xi'an, alone, was worth the entire trip there!

 

Charlie

 

P.S. If you want a more detailed description, drop me an e mail at charliekirby@comcast.net and I'll be happy to e mail you our travel diary.

[mrlevin]

During our last cruise, my folks flew from Shanghai to Xian for just the day. They left the ship around 6am and were back on board by 9pm. They were taken to airport, met at airport in Xian and had a private guide for entire day who then took them back to airport for flight back to Shanghai where they were again met. Don't remember price but it was reasonable. If you are interested, I can get you tour company they used. I am using http://www.explorient.com because others have had good experiences with them.

 

Marc

[MalibuCA]

Thank you, everyone! Here's another problem for you. Xi'an does sound amazing! We were hoping to fly to Tokyo for a couple of days before arriving in Hong Kong. Then, we were going to visit Hong Kong for a few days pre-cruise. Now, I want to go to Xi'an, too, and my husband is telling me that we must "make choices." We are limited in our time traveling because he is not retired, and we do not have the luxury of traveling however long we want. So, yes, I must make choices. Crystal offers two excursions to Xi'an: 1) 5-day pre-cruise, including Xi'an and Guillan, or 2) 3-day post-cruise, to Xi'an only. So, here are my questions:

 

1) Should we save Tokyo for a future Asian vacation and go to Xi'an instead?

2) Should we go just to Xi'an on the 3-day post-cruise excursion?

3) Should we go to Xi'an and Guillan on the 5-day pre-cruise excursion?

 

So many choices and not enough time! Please help!

 

Thanks,

Shelley

[MalibuCA]

Oops! Wrong spelling -- I mean, "Guilin," not "Guillan."

 

Shelley

[yogimax]

X'ian is an absolutely fascinating city. The terra cotta warriors are an unbelievable sight. In addition, look for the great prices on "farmer's art."

 

Beware of two things in X'ian... the traffic (absolutely crazy) and the spicy food.

 

If you have to make choices, I would probably go with X'ian over Tokyo. Tokyo is a great city, in many ways like New York. It is also quite expensive. Nevertheless, there is something very special and unique about X'ian.

[wripro]

mrlevin,

 

I would love to know which company your parents used to go to Xian just for the day. I want to do the same thing from Shanghai next year. Thanks a lot.

[mrlevin]

mrlevin,

 

I would love to know which company your parents used to go to Xian just for the day. I want to do the same thing from Shanghai next year. Thanks a lot.

 

Here is the info from my folks:

 

David Allardice

Eastern Journeys, LTD.-Travels through China

5th Floor, Anton Building, No.1 Anton Street,Wanchai

Hong Kong SAR, China

Tel:+852-2544-5488

Fax:+852-2544-5489

E-mail: david@easternjourneys.com

Web: http://www.easternjourneys.com

[wripro]

mrlevin,

 

Thanks so much for the info. I will put it to good use.

[shoshona2]

Hi Wripro,

 

If you are planning to fly to Xian for a day from Shanghai next year and only have two days in Shanghai, do it from Beijing (if that's where your cruise starts or finishes). Shanghai is amazing and one needs at least two days there to see the sights. We had the Concierge at our Beijing hotel arrange a day in Xian from Beijing. We flew early in the morning and came back late at night. They arranged a driver to pick us up at the hotel, drive us to the airport and then a guide to pick us up in Xian and take us Beijing airport for return to the hotel.

 

It was a wonderful day!!!!!

 

Sheila

[wripro]

shoshona2,

 

Thanks for the info. I have already been to Shanghai so two days will be enough. Also, will not be in Beijing as I start in Singapore. I guess I will try the concierge at my hotel as well.

 

mrlevin,

I contacted David and he informed me that he only deals with Virtuoso agents and not others or with clients directly. Thanks for the info though.

 

If anyone else knows of an agency that can arrange one day tours to Xian I'd appreciate knowing about them.

 

Thanks all.

[mrlevin]

Sorry about that.

 

Please try Kervin Yu at Explorient.

 

Kervin Yu

Explorient Travel Services, Inc.

Tel: 800.785.1233 / 212.785.8100

Fax: 212.918/0732

Web: http://www.explorient.com

kervin.yu@explorient.com

 

He provides totally personalized services. We have an 18 day trip booked through him this year based on multiple inputs from others that have used him in the past.

[wripro]

mrlevin,

 

Again, thanks. I'll try Kevin and let you know. I appreciate the response very much.

[SakeDad]

We were in China for 2 weeks. Beijing, Xi'an, Wuhan, Chungching, Yantze River, Shanghai. By far Xi'an was my favorite city. The rest of China (except Shanghai) was extremely polluted and gray:mad: . Xi'an reminded me more of small town's in Japan than China:) . The people were friendly, the terra cotta warriors were amazing and the country side was beautiful. If I ever go back to Chian Xi'an is at the TOP of my list.

I would forgo Tokyo for another trip, maybe Japan for a couple of weeks as the country is very easily toured by train.

You can see all my China pictures at the link below, but my Xi'an pictures start here http://sakedad.smugmug.com/gallery/904429_ahefA#P-53-9 We were with a small tour of 16 people so it was wonderful. Let us know what you decide to do.

[retiring soon]

SakeDad -Looked at your photos & wow they're great! I can hardly wait 'til we go to China in April next year! Thanks.

~Jo~ :)

[MalibuCA]

Our post-cruise plan now is to fly to Xian from Beijing mid-morning, be met at the airport by a guide and driver, visit the Warriors, see the Tang Dynasty dinner show, stay at the Sofitel overnight, and return to Beijing the next day. We have the choice of returning to Beijing first thing in the morning, or to return on an afternoon flight and do some more sightseeing in Xian in the morning. One important fact: When we return to Beijing, we will connect to our flight home to Los Angeles (a long day!)

 

1) Do the extra sites (i.e., Huaqing Hot Springs, Wild Goose Pagoda, Shaanxi Provinicial Museum, etc.) merit an extended stay in Xian until the afternoon? What are the "must sees?"

 

2) Has anyone seen the Tang Dynasty show? Can you tell me how the dinner was? The Tang Dynasty website suggests that there is a 6:30 show with dinner and an 8:30 show without dinner. How is the food? Which show should we see? Did you like the show?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Shelley

[SakeDad]

Shelly,

I have pictures of the Tang Dynasty show on my gallery at http://sakedad.smugmug.com/gallery/904429_ahefA#42700315...it was very good. It really is a toss up if you stay in Xi'an the extra time or Beijing. It depends on how much of Beijing you want to see. There are always great things in both cities. But I think you would also enjoy walking the neighborhood near the Sofitel, there is an area called the Muslim area that was a wonderful neighborhood (need to take a taxi or car). The pictures immediately after the Tang Dynasty show is this neighborhood. We stayed at the Grand Mecure Hotel which was right next to the Sofitel. Personally I would stay in Xi'an as long as possible just because I loved the feeling of the city so much more than Beijing.

[MalibuCA]

Thank you, SakeDad! Your pictures are fabulous! We do not need extra time in Beijing. We will be on a 15-day Crystal cruise that finishes with a 3-night land tour in Beijing. Our only purpose for returning to Beijing is to catch our flight home to Los Angeles. Staying in Xian for the morning to sightsee will lengthen our journey (I don't even want to think how many hours on the plane!) from Xian to Beijing to L.A. If there are really worthwhile things to see, we want to stay in Xian until the afternoon and see them. If its just "okay," then we would start our journey back to L.A. in the morning. Sounds like you really loved Xian! With all of this in mind, I have a few more questions:

 

1) If we arrive noon-ish on Day 1 at the Xian airport, are met by a guide and driver, and go directly to see the Warriors, what time do you think we might be finished with the warriors? Is there time to do some more sightseeing before the Tang Dynasty show (keeping in mind that we need time to check in to the hotel and get settled?) If there is time, what would be a good thing to see then?

 

2) Since our time in the morning on Day 2 is limited, what would you suggest is the best way to spend our time? What specifically should we see? The wall? The Muslim district? Anything else?

 

3) I'm glad you liked the Tang Dynasty show. I have heard good things about it, and our Crystal cruise offers a 3-day post-cruise excursion (that we are not taking) which includes the dinner show. Did you have dinner or just see the show? If you ate the dinner, how was the food? Is it all Chinese or is it Western influence, too?

 

Thanks again for your help. I look forward to your reply.

 

Shelley

[SakeDad]

I would recommend the Muslim District over the Wall. This is a typical street scene there. There are several temples and mosques along with some great shopping and places to eat.

The Wall is OK but it's basically a very long wall, great for bicycling, that encircles much of the city.

As you can see the Terra Cotta Warriors is a BIG exhibit and this is only one building of several. The grounds are quite large and you should give yourself plenty of time to enjoy it.

You may consider checking into the hotel 1st then doing the Warriors and relaxing in the car as you go straight to the dinner. The dinner was mostly Chinese, but we chose our entrees through our tour group before we ever got there. There were not any "strange" dishes. Although I would say try as much food there in China as you can as some things are wonderful surprises.:D

[MalibuCA]

Great pictures! Looks like an amazing place! thanks!

 

Shelley

[MalibuCA]

Thanks for the pictures! Looks like an amazing place!

 

Shelley

[Benita]

Xian is phenomenal - very little in this world compares to seeing the Terra Cotta warriors. You can skip the Tang Dynasty Show- very commercial and awful food.

Guilan is great for the day cruise on the Li River - quite beautiful.

We have been to all the places you mentioned. I would skip Hong Kong and Tokyo and do the 5 day Xian and Guilan trip. Hong Kong and Tokyo are great to visit, but Xian and Guilan are truly unique.

[MalibuCA]

If we skip the Tang Dynasty show, can you suggest a great restaurant in Xian with great food instead? We will be staying at the Sofitel.

 

Did you visit Xian and Guilin on a Crystal cruise excursion, by any chance, or on your own?

 

Shelley

[Benita]

We were on a land trip with Pacific Delight - 22 days in China, including 3 nights on the Yangtze River. We spent two nights in Xian - they had just started unearthing the Terra Cotta animals - this was a couple of years ago, so I'm sure the excavations are much more extensive now. We went to Tang show the first night, but as the food was horrible, had a snack at the hotel afterwards. I don't remember where we went the second night - I think the concierge recommended a place nearby, which was fine, but not memorable.

In Guilin, we went for foot massages - it was a hoot. They put about 10 people in one large room in Lazy Boy reclinable chairs and the masseuses come out wearing lab coats and all work in unison. Somebody blows a whistle every so often and they all switch to massaging the other leg. I wish we had our videocameras with us. We took a walk along the river early in the morning and watched the crowds ballroom dance outside. It was so cute - there were a few elderly men who were looking around for partners - one grabbed me and the others danced with eachother.