Xi'an 1-Day Bus Tour of Terracotta Army

It was a good tour nothing extraordinary, but convenient to have lunch provided and transportation to and from your hotel. Tour guide was not super knowledgeable, but it was okay because there were lots of readings that you could complete on your own.

The guide met me on time, but then we waited 30 minutes for a car to pick us up. The car was so small and there was 5 of us in the car. We drove 20 minutes to meet up with the rest of the group. The bus was old and the air conditioning didn't work well. The first stop was the Terracotta factory. This was neat, but it quickly turned into a 5 room gift shop with various vendors trying to force you to buy items. Soon to find out these items were more than twice the price of what other tourist shops were selling for the same items. The next stop was the Terracotta Warriors. We went to the three different sites and the small museum. The guide was not good. She didn't understand English very well and was unable to answer our questions. We noticed all the other tour groups used a microphone or a ear piece so you could hear the guide talk into a speaker. We asked why we were not using that, and the answer was that the guide didn't want to pay for it. Most of our group couldn't hear the guide and gave up half way through. It also didn't help that the guide commonly ran off 100 feet in front of the rest of the group. we were forced to chase after her and some couldn't walk that fast, and were left behind. After we went to have lunch at a very touristy restaurant. The food was good, but drinks were not included. The tour guide didn't eat with us, and the restaurant didn't tell us what the dishes were, so we had no idea what we were eating. I asked when the tour guide came to get us, and all we were told was that one was chicken, and that was beef. No help at all. We then asked what our next stop was. We were told that was it and we would go back to our hotel. We then expressed that our tour included many more things. After a few phone calls from the guide, we were told we would see the city wall in Xi'an. On the way back to Xi'an a few on our tour were dropped off to join another tour. We then went to the city wall. We were brought up to the wall and given a 2 minute overview. We asked what was next and where to meet. The guide said that was it. We explained that the tour included transportation back to the hotel. The guide said we should just rent a bike and tour the city wall. We told her we were tired and wanted to leave after 15 minutes. The guide then made a few more phone calls and said we would be taken back to the hotel after 15 minutes. We then met, but the tour guide was no where to be found. After another 10 minutes later the guide said that we would leave in 20 minutes, but that the bus had left so we would have to take alternate transportation. After another 20 minutes we took separate taxi cabs back to our hotel. Not included in tour that was part of description: Banpo Museum, mausoleum of the first emperor of unified China, Huaqing Hot Spring You could tell the guide was frustrated and tired. She was not professional skills, was not organized, and was not hospitable. Each of the other tour members also shared the same feelings, but I was the only one who booked on Trip Advisor. They each booked at their hotel. I would not recommend this tour company to anyone! Please look elsewhere.

The tour was very relaxing as there was only 6 of us. We had such a wonderful time with our tour guide, Bella. She has been working as a tour guide for less than 3 years but she was very informative and knowledgeable. We visited a few places Banpo Village, Terracotta Museum and Factory, Hot Spring and other places. The lunch served was also quite delicious and we had the chance to take a picture with one of the founder of the terracotta. I highly recommend others to book this tour.

I really enjoyed this tour. We first stopped at the terra-cotta warrior replica factory. The other stop was a tea tasting after lunch. Our guide was good but her English could have been better to answer questions more thoroughly. The warriors are absolutely amazing. Pick up and drop off at hotel.

There was a small mix up at the start of the tour when the bus did not arrive at out hotel but a private car was soon dispatched to pick us up and take us to the first stop where we were able to learn about the way the terracotta figures were made and buy some souvenirs. We were the taken to the Terracotta Army Museum where we met out tour guide, Nana, and the rest of the party. I was concerned that we might be on a big tour coach but it turned out to be a minivan with 8 people all up, a nice friendly, easy going group. Nana spoke excellent English, was bubbly and exciting and gave us very good explanations and descriptions at each viewing point before letting us wander through the museum halls at our own pace. She was also able to answer all of our questions very well. I have always wanted to see the Terracotta Army and it was as good as I had hoped - just amazing to see the ancient life-sized figures, standing protecting the Emperor in his afterlife. Then followed a delicious Chinese lunch followed by a Tea Ceremony conducted by a very professional lady, again in excellent English. We had a quick look at the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang before heading to Banpo to visit the archeological excavations of the 7000 year old matriarchal society village - an unexpected pleasure. Thanks to Nana for making the tour an excellent, most enjoyable experience

I would have given this tour a 5 star, however, I got turned off when our first stop was 30-40 minutes at a factory where they make terracota warrior replicas and other souvenirs. Other than this, tour is worth it, highly educational, enough time to take pictures. Lunch was delicious and other tour participants were great! I highly recommended if you have a short stop in Xi'An. Nancy

Excellent experience, Nancy was so nice with us at all times. We were a small group so we could make the visit in a nice pace. Great experience!