We stayed two nights and were glad we did. I think the terra cotta warriors and ban po are a good combination for a full day. Note though that ban po (
http://english.ctrip.com/Destination...?Resource=1441) (very ancient ruins) is probably only for the most die hard history buffs or sinophiles.
Other highlights in Xian were
-the city wall
-the "forest of the steeles (really nice!) (
http://english.ctrip.com/Destination...?Resource=1439)
-both Goose Pagodas (I prefer the small one) (
http://english.ctrip.com/destination...?resource=1442 &
http://english.ctrip.com/Destination...?Resource=5418)
-the drum tower & the bell tower (
http://english.ctrip.com/Destination...?Resource=1450)
-the mosque (
http://english.ctrip.com/Destination...Resource=18279)
-Huaqing pool
http://english.ctrip.com/Destination...?Resource=1443
I probably forgot some too.
I stayed at the Hyatt which was nice, if not somewhat dated. On my next trip I have been giving a lot of thought to staying here:
http://english.ctrip.com/Destination...?resource=1403
FYI, I know the official code is XIY but when i went about a year ago SIA printed on my tickets. Go figure.