Weekend viewing of the Terra Cotta Warriors
Thursday, July 3rd 2008
Author: ajbacacia
Our family traveled to
We drove directly to the Terra Cotta Warriors museum, arriving around 4.30pm. This went according to plan. As the museum stops selling tickets at 5pm, we successfully avoided sharing the sight with crowds from big coach tours. Our 2 year old found little of interest in the exhibits, and so 1.5 hours proved the perfect timeframe.
Even though a virtual tour will show you the same thing, the warriors are still well worth seeing in real life. With our 2 year old as our companion, we declined a guide. Had we been without our young companion, we would have hired one. Plenty milled about the entrance, desperate to show us around for RMB90. Well worth the price, no doubt, as it was evident there was much more to learn than we could see.
We easily pushed the buggy down a wide, lengthy, tree-lined path. We found the entire sight buggy-friendly, full of disabled entrances and lifts. After the tour, the exit route takes you through a long avenue of tourist shops and stalls. An avid avoider of tourist hawkers could probably just retrace your steps to exit via the entrance. The hawkers offered their wares at very cheap prices and it was quite good fun. We bought the ubiquitous boxed set of warriors for RMB20. They have survived so far!
At this time of night, the drive into the city of
On the Sunday, we strolled the city and walked along its wall. The city wall is in good condition, and as it is extremely wide on the top it was no problem with a buggy - apart from the entrance and exit steps which were steep and long. With a plane to catch, we didn’t hire bikes or take the little ‘train’ on the top of the wall, although the costs seemed very reasonable. We also missed the Pagodas and the Muslim Quarter.
We took a bus back to the airport, which we found convenient, punctual and quite comfortable, although pretty full. With a 3:20pm flight, we were back to Pudong by 5:00. We traveled with China Eastern in both directions and were able to take the buggy to the gate where they put it in the hold, for collection from the carousel.
We found the weekend very manageable, although we would have enjoyed more time for the sights in
Essentials:
Booking Agent:
Verena on the Concierge team at HRG Jin Jiang in
Verena booked our flights, hotel and driver. We found her very helpful, efficient and well priced.
Driver:
Peter Liu from Shaanxi Tourism Automobile Company, 139 092 57289.
Peter speaks good English, is helpful, reliable and very pleasant. His vehicle was comfortable and easily fit our carseat.
RMB550 to drive from the airport to the
Hotel:
The Bell Tower Hotel
RMB800 for a suite – not recommended
Airport Bus:
Departing hourly from outside the Melody Hotel (Meilun Jiudian) at
Purchase tickets onboard for RMB25 per adult.
Sights:
RMB90 per adult, last tickets sold at 5pm. Open 8:30am – 6:30pm, 7 days a week
City Wall, RMB40 per adult
View latest in Travel.
