China - Day trip from Beijing to Xian?

I'm going to be in Beijing for 6 days in March and am considering taking a day trip to Xian.

An internet search reveals plenty of packages, costing around US$550 for one person, which include roundtrip airfare, transfers, a guide and driver in Xian, admission to the Terracotta Warriors Museum and either a visit to the city wall or to a pagoda. My problem is that I don't know which agency is reliable or has the best guides, etc.

Has anyone had experience - good or bad - doing this? Any particular travel agencies to recommend or avoid? I'm also considered doing this on my own, booking the air transportation and renting a car in Xian, but will probably go with a package tour simply to make my life easier. Thanks.

I'm going to be in Beijing for 6 days in March and am considering taking a day trip I'm also considered doing this on my own, booking the air transportation and renting a car in Xian,

Car with driver?

I'm going to be in Beijing for 6 days in March and am considering taking a day trip to Xian.


I've done many day trips from PEK to XIY (for business, but generally covering much more ground than the typical tourist). This is very doable and should cost $200 pp for the flights (or as high as $300 if you get hit with full fare, which isn't that uncommon) plus another $100 for a driver (I'm being generous here) and maybe $50 pp for food and attraction tickets. That having been said, I highly recommend spending a night there because it's kind of fun walking around town at night while munching on 串。 Furthermore, day trips can be a bit hectic.

Car with driver?

Yes, with driver, but the not-knowing-how-to-do-that part is what I meant when I referenced making things easier on myself.

Last time I was there was 10 years ago, got picked up and driven around by the Mayor's staff. That was nice.

Only thing I can recommend is trying the Yangrou Paomo - Bread in Mutton soup.
It 's very good, haven't seen it available anywhere else.

Yes, with driver, but the not-knowing-how-to-do-that part is what I meant when I referenced making things easier on myself.

If it were me, I'd simply "interview" several airport touts and give them my M.O, but it is worth mentioning that I've spent years learning how to deal with drivers, including both sketch factor RADAR and the ability to keep them in line when things go astray. I would not recommend using a typical Xi'an cab to tour around for the day because they aren't very comfortable and their drivers aren't likely to be significantly more honest than your average tout once you take them off the meter. A safer option would be to arrange a hotel car, which might not be insanely expensive as long as you steer clear of the foreign managed hotels. The best option would be to book a trustworthy non-affiliated driver in advance, but I don't have any in my files because I've always been driven around by clients there.

"A safer option would be to arrange a hotel car, which might not be insanely expensive as long as you steer clear of the foreign managed hotels"

Just as a matter of scale, I was in Xian about 18 months ago and stayed at the Hyatt. I did book a car/driver with the hotel and it was about 800Y for the day, including admission fees. It included 3-4 other stops on the way back, all of which were very interesting and worthwhile. It just depends on your budget, but I also recommend an overnight and doing some walking.

Cut Beijing by a day and a half. Get into Xi'an late afternoon/evening via flight. Check into hotel. Go to Mosque/old town area, walk around the small alleys, eating chuan and yang rou pao mo (and others).

Next day, terra cotta, and maybe like the bell/drum towers (also near the mosque area, but probably would have bee closed the night before). Spend night, morning flight back to Beijing and out of China.

"A safer option would be to arrange a hotel car, which might not be insanely expensive as long as you steer clear of the foreign managed hotels"

Just as a matter of scale, I was in Xian about 18 months ago and stayed at the Hyatt. I did book a car/driver with the hotel and it was about 800Y for the day, including admission fees. It included 3-4 other stops on the way back, all of which were very interesting and worthwhile. It just depends on your budget, but I also recommend an overnight and doing some walking.

Although I'm a Hyatt GP member I decided to go with Shangri-La Hotel, Xian (not to be confused with Shangri-La Golden Flower) because they were offering a very affordable package for 2 nights, I paid 1490RMB a night which was higher than Hyatt but comes with breakfast, free airport transfer and complimentary tour of the terracotta museum and SPA treatment for 2. They also arranged a private city tour for me after the terracotta museaum, 900RMB for the Buick and 400RMB for the guide.

We had a wonderful English speaking guide (with a car) in Xi'ian. His name is Michael Yang (0) 13991917258 (mobile) Email michaelylw@yahoo.com.cn

We arranged for him to meet us at our hotel, take us out to the Terra Cotta Warriors and then to a bunch of other sights around the city .. He was also a wonderful resource for talking about contemporary life.

Timely posts. I'm heading to Xian with my family in a few weeks as well and have been looking into tour options. How long was your tour (sounds like a day / 8 hours?) and how much did Michael charge?

Although I'm a Hyatt GP member I decided to go with Shangri-La Hotel, Xian (not to be confused with Shangri-La Golden Flower) because they were offering a very affordable package for 2 nights, I paid 1490RMB a night which was higher than Hyatt but comes with breakfast, free airport transfer and complimentary tour of the terracotta museum and SPA treatment for 2. They also arranged a private city tour for me after the terracotta museaum, 900RMB for the Buick and 400RMB for the guide.

Conundrums, that sounds like an interesting deal. I am planning a trip to China & Xian and looked at the Shangri La deal with the tour etc - would you recommend it/ do it again if had to do it over?

thanks!

Conundrums, that sounds like an interesting deal. I am planning a trip to China & Xian and looked at the Shangri La deal with the tour etc - would you recommend it/ do it again if had to do it over?

thanks!That's a lot of money for the car and for the guide. A guide in Xi'an really isn't necessary, and we got a great driver for the day for around 400 RMB as I recall. I'd also recommend considering the Sheraton, which, I think, was in the $75-85 US range, and provided a great room, terrific service and a wonderful restaurant.

Other than the terra cotta army at the entrance to the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, one can visit the tomb of the Han emperor Jing Dim which has thousands of funerary figurines dating from the second century b.c. depicting people from all walks of life.

The old town, Great Masjid / Mosque... plus you can walk or bike the massive Ming Dynasty city wall.

We'll stay at the Hyatt Regency during our two day visit.