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Xiahe

Xiahe or Songqu (བསང་ཆུ་ Sangqu; 夏河 Xiàhé) is an ethnically Tibetan county and town (Labrang Town, the county-seat) in Gansu Province, China.

Understand
The town lies along one main street parallel to the Daxia River. The Chinese section (commercial) lies to the eastern end of the road and the Tibetan section lies at the western end. In between lies the monastery.

Xiahe has developed along with the influx of visitors. Some old timers may bemoan that it has lost its off-the-beaten-path charm, but Xiahe is still far from being overrun with hawkers, karaoke or foot massage joints as have many other attractions in China.

By bus
Xiahe Bus Station is about 1.5 km away from the entrance to the monastery and the main concentration of guesthouses. Turn right when you walk out bus stations front door.

 * From Lanzhou – Three morning buses and two afternoon buses (07:30, 08:30, 10:30, 14:00, 15:00) leave from Lanzhou Nanzhan (Lanzhou South Bus Terminal). Trip takes 3½ hours (¥75). Half-hourly buses go to Linxia in 2 hours. From there you can catch one of the frequent buses onward to Xiahe (¥20).
 * From Linxia – One every 30 min leaves during daylight hours, arriving in Xiahe about 2 hours later. (¥18)
 * From Langmusi – Two buses a day leaving at 06:00 and 14:00, takes 4½ hours (¥44).
 * Tongren – One bus per day leaving at 08:00 (¥25). Takes 3 very scenic hours.

By plane
Gannan Xiahe Airport (甘南夏河机场) is about 70 km from Xiahe and receives flights from Chengdu, Lhasa, Xi'an and Yinchuan. There is no airport bus from the airport into Xiahe town.

Get around
The town is compact and most guesthouses cluster near the monastery, about 10mins walk from the bus station.

Taxi
A wide spectrum of wheeled vehicles purporting to be Taxis run up and down the main street. The price should be ¥2-4 per person, depending on the luxuriance of your conveyance, no matter the distance. If you take up more than one seat with your bags then pay for however many seats you use.

See
For most travellers, Labrang Monastery will keep them occupied for couple of days or more. There is graceful landscape and colourful people. The surrounding region harbors a few worthwhile day-trip destinations.

Labrang Monastery
Literally the center of town, the monastery is the main focus for visitors and residents alike with all social and commercial activity deriving from it. The Monastery was established in 1709 and expanded greatly in following centuries to become one of the six great monasteries of the Gelukpa sect (Yellow Hat) of Tibetan Buddhism. The resident monks wear saffron robes, black UGG-style boots and shaggy yellow Mohawk shaped hats, sometimes pitched to impressive heights.

Despite its venerable history, many of the buildings and religious artefacts were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. What you see now was built since the 1980s. The buildings construction differs from others in the region, being built with stone blocks rather than rammed earth, but the whitewashed multiple-level square designs follow the typical style of Tibetan monastic buildings.

It'd be easy to spend days meandering about the alleys between monks quarters and prayer halls, or follow pilgrims spinning prayer wheels on a loop around the Kora. Despite the tickets and tours, it's still an active Monastery and you may chance upon the monks engaged in their religious activities.

There are few English signs (except for the ubiquitous No Photo, Ticket needed), making it somewhat beguiling to understand what you are looking at. An English tour leaves from the ticket office at 10:15 and 15:15. Though the guide provides decent explanations as they take you though the halls, some may feel the experience is a bit rushed. As you would expect, no photos are allowed inside buildings and the monks outside are camera shy when conducting a ceremony.

You need to buy a ticket to enter the monastery (¥40) and some of the smaller chapels require additional charge (¥10) whether you join the tour or not. Even with a ticket in hand the halls may be closed or off limits while a ceremony is being conducted. If you prefer to try before you buy, it's not difficult to blunder in for a look without anyone asking for a ticket.

Some places worth seeking out include;

Day trips outside town
A few other worthwhile sights lay within a 20-km radius. Your only transport options are to hire a taxi from Xiahe for about ¥400 per vehicle, per day (5–8 hours round trip) or bicycle. Adventurous travellers can take the early morning bus to Tongren/Repcon (同仁) and get off at Ganjia Town (Ganjia Xiang – 甘加乡). From there it would be at least a 10- to 12-km round-trip hike to Bajiao Cheng. You would need to get back to Ganjia town by lunch time to get the bus coming from Xining or Tongren, or catch a motorcycle, taxi, or tractor back to Xiahe.

 * Sangke grasslands; wonderful grasslands with many nomad tents and herds of yaks and sheep. 12 km outside Xiahe is Sangke town, where most people who rent a bike go to. There is nothing to see in the town, you really need to go into the grasslands to enjoy the wonderful views.
 * Nomad Travel. Book a tour in Xiahe with this excellent tour company. They offer a wide variety of tours in and around Xiahe. Their guides are well informed. Company's service is excellent. Highly recommended. Their office is in the Nirvana Hotel, Restaurant & Bar, parallel to Xiahe's main street. They have an informative website, google "Nomad Travel Xiahe".
 * Nomad Travel. Book a tour in Xiahe with this excellent tour company. They offer a wide variety of tours in and around Xiahe. Their guides are well informed. Company's service is excellent. Highly recommended. Their office is in the Nirvana Hotel, Restaurant & Bar, parallel to Xiahe's main street. They have an informative website, google "Nomad Travel Xiahe".
 * Nomad Travel. Book a tour in Xiahe with this excellent tour company. They offer a wide variety of tours in and around Xiahe. Their guides are well informed. Company's service is excellent. Highly recommended. Their office is in the Nirvana Hotel, Restaurant & Bar, parallel to Xiahe's main street. They have an informative website, google "Nomad Travel Xiahe".
 * Nomad Travel. Book a tour in Xiahe with this excellent tour company. They offer a wide variety of tours in and around Xiahe. Their guides are well informed. Company's service is excellent. Highly recommended. Their office is in the Nirvana Hotel, Restaurant & Bar, parallel to Xiahe's main street. They have an informative website, google "Nomad Travel Xiahe".
 * Nomad Travel. Book a tour in Xiahe with this excellent tour company. They offer a wide variety of tours in and around Xiahe. Their guides are well informed. Company's service is excellent. Highly recommended. Their office is in the Nirvana Hotel, Restaurant & Bar, parallel to Xiahe's main street. They have an informative website, google "Nomad Travel Xiahe".

Buy
There are dozens of shops along Renmin XiLu selling locally made crafts including colourful textiles, silver jewellery, Tibetan hats and fake antiques. Bargaining is a must.

One product you should not buy are the many furs for sale. Some clothing with fur trim might may be fake but the hides of entire animals are the real thing. Many of the skins are poached and may be of endangered species. Asia's wildlife is quickly disappearing as China's appetite for illegal animal products increases. Please don't contribute to this crisis.

Eat

Most of the eating options are clustered within a 100-m radius of where Renmin XiJie enters the Monastery. Most of their menus are indistinguishable from the one next door, serving tolerable Chinese dishes and the ubiquitous Tibetan Momo. A wider search will win adventurous taste buds more authentic local dishes such as Tsampa (barley flour and Yak butter ball) or JueNia Fan (rice with a deliciously sweet local root). More circumspect travellers can stick to Western food the well-trodden backpacker places.

Drink
Many of the backpacker oriented restaurants have fresh coffee and hot chocolate.

Good drinks at the Nirvana bar. Coffee, tea, shakes, freshly squeezed juices, cold beer and many different kinds of alcohols and cocktails. It is located at Ya Ge Tang 247. Next to the river inside the Nirvana hotel. Nice music to complement the drink.

Budget

 * Calling Marmot Youth Hostel. This hostel is featured on Booking.com site but be ware this hostel does not have a permit to host foreigners. Can cause problems if the authorities come to check who stays.
 * Calling Marmot Youth Hostel. This hostel is featured on Booking.com site but be ware this hostel does not have a permit to host foreigners. Can cause problems if the authorities come to check who stays.
 * Calling Marmot Youth Hostel. This hostel is featured on Booking.com site but be ware this hostel does not have a permit to host foreigners. Can cause problems if the authorities come to check who stays.
 * Calling Marmot Youth Hostel. This hostel is featured on Booking.com site but be ware this hostel does not have a permit to host foreigners. Can cause problems if the authorities come to check who stays.
 * Calling Marmot Youth Hostel. This hostel is featured on Booking.com site but be ware this hostel does not have a permit to host foreigners. Can cause problems if the authorities come to check who stays.

Cope
Usually electricity, running water, and transportation are available without problems or limitations, however, sometimes there are electricity or water cuts

Go next

 * Lanzhou – The capital of Gansu. Afternoon bus departures from Xiahe at 12:10 and 14:55 (as of summer 2024).
 * Tongren – A larger town with a smaller Monastery famous for its Thangka artists.
 * Langmusi – A small Tibetan town on the Gansu/Sichuan border with a pair of Monasteries amid grasslands and mountains.
 * Linxia – A Muslim "Mecca" in China with an enchanting mix of Tibetan and Hui Muslim influences.

title: Xiahe


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Xiamen

 Xiamen (厦门; Ē-mn̂g in Minnan, Xiàmén in Mandarin, former English name: Amoy) is a coastal city in Fujian Province in China. It has been an important port for centuries and became one of China's earliest Special Economic Zones in 1980. The name Xiamen means "door to the house", referring to the city's centuries-old role as a gateway to China.

Xiamen is a very vibrant, affluent and modern place, though by Chinese standards it is a small city — only 5.1 million counting suburbs (2020). It has many non-Chinese residents and a range of restaurants, bars and stores that cater to them. It also has several universities and some areas popular for tourism.

The most important tourist area is Gulangyu, a small island close to downtown which contains some beautiful colonial buildings and is car free. It is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Understand
Like many other Asian cities, Xiamen is a fascinating mixture of old and new. Buildings range from ancient temples to modern skyscrapers, roads from narrow alleys to multi-lane boulevards and highways, and industries from handicrafts to hi-tech.

Orientation
The core of the city is on Xiamen island. The term "Xiamen" is somewhat ambiguous since it can refer to the island, to the city on it, or to the whole urban area (a "prefecture-level city" in the Chinese administrative system) including suburbs not on the island. This article covers Xiamen Island; the others areas have their own articles, linked below. On the map, Xiamen Island is the pink (Huli District) and green (Siming District) approximately circular area near the bottom. It is about 13 km (8 miles) in diameter. Gulangyu, a which is important for tourism and has its own article, is the green dot next to the larger island. Much of both islands is heavily built up, but both also have quite a lot of parkland and plenty of trees and flowers; this is a bustling modern city with distinct overtones of tropical paradise. Also, the terrain is hilly and quite a few hills are still covered with forest.

The areas on the mainland that are administratively part of Xiamen are Haicang in yellow, Jimei in blue, Tong'an in dark green and Xiang'an in orange. A few decades back these were largely rural areas, but all now have populations of several hundred thousand and are growing quickly; the city is expanding beyond the island. Xiamen Island is connected to Jimei by several bridges (road, rail and rapid transit), to Haicang by one bridge, and to Xiang'an by a tunnel.

The main train station, long-distance bus stations, and ferry terminals are all on Xiamen Island, though there are less important stations in other areas. The airport is also on the island, up on the north side. The bus rapid transit system (BRT) has one line running east-west across the island and another that runs north, crosses a bridge and then forks to run through parts of Jimei and Tong'an. Other districts do not yet have BRT service. See Get around below for more on BRT.

Most of the historic buildings and much of the new commercial and business core of town are in the area of Xiamen Island opposite Gulangyu, though newer development has spread out a long way east and north from there. Major streets in the old central area include Lujiang Road along the coast, Siming Road parallel to it and a bit inland, and Zhongshan Road which is a pedestrians-only shopping street perpendicular to the other two. Xiamen University is on the coast at the southern end of that downtown area.

A long and rather pretty ring road, Huándǎo Lù (X401 on the map), runs from the university along the east coast all the way to the airport on the north edge of the island; there are popular beaches along it. A large new International Conference Center with its own hotel is just off this road, about halfway up the coast.

Somewhat north of downtown on the west side of the island, there is a long, narrow lake running east-west near the map's pink-green border. Its name can be romanised as either Yundang Lake or Yuandang Lake; we use Yundang here because it is closer to the sound in Chinese, but both forms are in widespread use.

Major roads run parallel to the lake shore and a bit inland on all four sides, all with names that say which side of the lake they are on. The area around Hubin Beilu (Lakeside North Street) has several high-end hotels (the Marco Polo is a landmark), quite a few expat residents, and many restaurants and bars. Along the lake are mainly upmarket places, while the back streets have more modest establishments. Around Hubin Nanlu (Lakeside South Street) are shops and offices.

Xiahe Lu, south of Hubin Nanlu and roughly parallel to it, is one of the main streets of the newer part of the city; it has many banks, hotels and offices, several of the larger shopping centers, and the train station. The east-west BRT line runs along it.

West of the lake, between it and the seashore, is Haiwan Park which has a half-dozen bars/restaurants right on the seashore, all with large patios overlooking the water. Like the ones on the lake, these mostly offer Western food and are popular with Xiamen's large expatriate community.

Xiamen's container port, on the west side of town north of the lake, is among the 20 busiest on Earth. From the main road up the west side of the island, you can look out over hundreds of stacked containers and some enormous cranes for moving them. In the photo of Haicang Bridge on the right, some red cranes are visible beyond the bridge.

Information sources
The tourist bureau has several information offices around town:
 * at the airport, in the domestic arrivals area (phone +86 592 570 8273)
 * at the side of the railway station, near the car booking area (+86 592 393 0058)
 * on Gulangyu, on the left side of the road that runs uphill from the ferry dock
 * 1st floor of the Hall of the People, 76 Hubin North Road (+86 592 512 3128)
 * opposite the Brahma Temple in Tong'an (+86 592 736 8357)

They also have an administrative office for each district, but few visitors will need to interact with them. If you think you need to — for example to file an official complaint about a scamming business — ask for directions at one of the information offices.

The municipal government has a foreign affairs department but it deals mainly with companies, not individual travellers.

Climate
Xiamen is just one degree north of the Tropic of Cancer. The climate is subtropical, warm year round; even in the coldest winter months (January and February), the average nightly low is 10 °C (50 °F). Frost is extremely rare and the last time it snowed was a freak storm in 1893.

It does get hot in summer; in July and August, average daily high and low are 32 and 25 °C (~ 90 and 77 °F), and it is often humid as well. There is a fair bit of rain; average is 1350 mm (~ 53 inches) a year. October to January are the driest months.

Xiamen has cleaner air than many Chinese cities; it is right on the sea, there is not much heavy industry and almost no domestic heating with coal, and the city government is generally strict about pollution since it might drive away investment. Xiamen got an international award in a contest for most livable and environmentally aware cities in 2002; neighboring Quanzhou won the following year.

There is a risk of typhoons, mainly July to September, but Xiamen is partly sheltered from them. Typhoons come in off the Pacific; most of them cross Taiwan before reaching Xiamen, use up much of their power smashing up Taiwan, and are significantly less nasty by the time they hit Xiamen.

Overall, the climate is usually very pleasant year round.

History
The region has been inhabited since prehistoric times and Xiamen Island is mentioned in Han Dynasty records around the time of Christ. There has been a town in the area at least since the Song Dynasty, a thousand years ago. For most of that time, it was administratively a district of Quanzhou, which was historically the richest and most important city in Fujian. In the past couple of centuries, however, Xiamen has grown a great deal; now it is administered separately and is much more than just an appendage of Quanzhou.

Until 1842, the Chinese Empire allowed Western "barbarians" to trade only in Guangzhou (then known as Canton), and only under strict controls. After China lost the First Opium War, Britain took Hong Kong and China was forced to open five Treaty Ports — Canton, Xiamen (then known as Amoy), Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai — to foreign trade, and to eliminate some of their restrictions. Trade boomed and these port cities developed very quickly. In Xiamen, the island Gulangyu became a foreign enclave with consulates and luxurious homes. Today it is a quiet area (no cars or motorcycles), five minutes by ferry from downtown, and remarkably scenic.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Fujian was a focus of missionary activity and there are many historic churches in the region. China's oldest Protestant church, the Xinjie Church, is in downtown Xiamen near the Ximing Road & Zhongshan Road intersection.

Some of the history of the China trade is darker; key commodities were tea, silk and ceramics plus "pigs and poison" — indentured labourers and opium. Some labourers were very badly treated, almost slaves, and opium caused major problems in China. Xiamen had its share of the dark side as well as the more positive side; one company there was prosecuted by the British for kidnapping potential workers.

Many overseas Chinese around the world can trace their ancestry to Fujian, often to the Minnan-speaking region around Xiamen. In particular, much of the Chinese immigration to Southeast Asia has been from Fujian, as was nearly all immigration to Taiwan before 1949. Examples of Southeast Asian cities with Minnan-speaking majorities among the Chinese community include Penang, Medan, Klang, Kuching and Manila. Some overseas Chinese maintain connections to the "old country", especially Xiamen. Tan Kah Kee, after making his fortune in Malayan rubber, started Xiamen University, an Overseas Chinese Museum nearby, and a technical college in neighboring Jimei. The Filipino chain store SM first entered the Chinese market with a store in Xiamen, the company founder's birthplace. Overseas Chinese often visit the region, some donate to various good causes in the area, and Xiamen University has many overseas Chinese students, including a large contingent from Indonesia.

In the 1980s, Xiamen was one of the first cities to become a Special Economic Zone to encourage development and open mainland China to the outside world; like other SEZs it has been booming ever since. While only Xiamen Island and Gulyangyu are in the SEZ, the whole region is flourishing. Xiamen has more Taiwanese investment than any other mainland city, partly because Taiwanese is a dialect of Minnan (Southern Min), the local language of southern Fujian. There is also a major influx of other foreign investment; among the foreign companies with large factories in Xiamen are Lifetime Products, Dell and Kodak.

Xiamen also has five large industrial development zones set up for various types of development, two in Haicang and one each in Jimei, Xiang'an and on Xiamen Island. Details on Wikipedia.

Talk
The main local language is called Minnan Hua (Southern Min speech) in Chinese, and in China usually just Minnan in English. It is also widespread in Southeast Asia, where it is known as Hokkien, and in Taiwan where it is called Taiwanese. All these variants are mutually intelligible and the Xiamen version is the standard, so Xiamen is an excellent place to learn Minnan. Minnan is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin, Cantonese or even with other Min (Fujian) dialects, though it is partially mutually intelligible with Teochew, which is spoken across the border in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong province.

As with anywhere else in China, Mandarin is almost universally spoken, at least by educated people, since it has been the main language used in education, government and most media since the 1950s. However, locals often have a strong accent when speaking Mandarin, which is very similar to a Taiwanese accent. Like other prosperous coastal cities, Xiamen has many migrants from other parts of China, most of whom speak Mandarin but not Minnan.

Foreigners staying in Xiamen long term generally choose to learn Mandarin instead of (occasionally, as well as) Minnan because Mandarin is so much more broadly useful. Go a hundred miles from Xiamen in any direction, except across the Taiwan Strait, and no-one will speak Minnan; the local language will be something completely different. Go anywhere in China, though, and most people you meet will speak Mandarin. That being said, attempts to speak Minnan are most certainly appreciated by locals, and might even be essential for breaking into local social circles.

English is not widely spoken. You can expect reasonable-to-excellent English from staff in higher end hotels, tourist shops, and the many restaurants and bars that cater to expatriates. Elsewhere the range is likely to be none-to-limited, with the occasional exception. This is a Chinese-speaking city with some English facilities, not somewhere like Amsterdam or even Hong Kong where an English-only traveller can expect to cope quite easily.

You can survive and have a good time in Xiamen speaking only English more easily than in most Chinese cities, but there will be difficulties. You will need some help from Chinese friends or hotel staff — things like writing down a destination in Chinese or giving directions by cell phone — because the cab drivers generally speak no English. English is OK for high-end restaurants, but if you want to eat more cheaply or more adventurously then you need to learn some Chinese or bring along a translator.

Learning some Mandarin opens up most of the city to you. The only areas where knowing some Minnan, or bringing along a local guide, are likely to be essential is if you want to get out into the countryside, shop in a farmers' market, or buy from fishermen at the docks.

Get in
Xiamen has a major airport and good road and rail connections; it is easily reached from anywhere in China and many places beyond.

Visas
See the China article for more general visa information for mainland China.

If you are a citizen of Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, Russia, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, or the United States, you may be eligible to obtain a visa exemption to visit Xiamen only for up to 144 hours (6 days) if you are in transit to a third country (Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan count as separate countries with regard to this scheme). You must enter and exit mainland China through Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport or the Xiamen Port, and must present an onward ticket to a country other than the one you arrived from to immigration on arrival. You are also not permitted to travel beyond Xiamen city boundaries for the duration of your stay.

By plane

Xiamen Airlines use XMN as their main hub. They have connections all over China, international flights to many Asian destinations, and a few beyond Asia such as Amsterdam and Sydney. Most other Chinese airlines also fly to Xiamen and there are connections to almost any major Chinese city.

Probably the most common way to fly into Xiamen from overseas is to connect through Hong Kong. Flying via Guangzhou or Shanghai is also common; both are major international hubs, have good connections to Xiamen, and are reasonably nearby. Shanghai, however, generally requires a somewhat inconvenient change of airports; most international flights come in to Pudong Airport but domestic routes use Hongqiao Airport, on the other side of the city. Connecting via Beijing is also possible, but Beijing is a long way from Xiamen.

Direct international flights to Xiamen are becoming more common, and may offer better options for many fliers. Xiamen also became a popular transfer airports for flights to/from Asia.

From Taiwan, there are numerous flights on multiple airlines from both Songshan and Taoyuan airports in Taipei to Xiamen, as well as several flights form Kaohsiung. However, these take a circuitous routing and can be rather expensive; consider flying into Kinmen and taking a ferry to Xiamen instead.

From Southeast Asia, there are flights direct to Xiamen from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur. Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila and Cebu. See Discount airlines in Asia.

From North America, there are direct flights on Xiamen Airlines from Los Angeles and New York but several two-hop possibilities are available from the US, Canada or Mexico. Korean Air have direct flights to Xiamen from Seoul. They sometimes offer good discounts and Incheon International Airport is very user-friendly with free Internet and nice free lounges with couches to stretch out on. Also, unlike many other countries, Korea allows sterile transit; if you are just changing planes, then you do not have to go through Customs or Immigration and do not need a Korean visa. Japan Airlines have direct flights to Xiamen from Tokyo and Osaka, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific have direct flights from Manila and Cebu Pacific also have flights from Cebu.

Xiamen Airlines offers direct flights between Amsterdam and Xiamen, creating the first direct link to Europe for Xiamen. Flights are scheduled three times per week: Amsterdam-Xiamen on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Xiamen-Amsterdam on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Buses from the airport include #18 to Xiamen University and #27 to the harbour, both with stops at the train station. #37 just goes to the train station, #41 to the SM Mall area, 91 to the Exhibition Center. #105 goes north into the suburbs, to Tong'an via Jimei.

By train
Xiamen is well connected to China's high-speed rail network; it is on a major line that runs along the South China coast from just across the border from Hong Kong all the way to Shanghai.

There are two high speed railway stations: (near downtown) and  (Xiamenbei; outside of the Xiamen Island). More high speed trains run from the latter which can be reached by metro from downtown.

From Xiamen, the routes are:
 * Northeast to Fuzhou (¥85, 100 minutes), Wenzhou, Ningbo, Hangzhou and Shanghai (around ¥400 and eight hours).
 * Southwest, to Zhangzhou and Longyan in southwestern Fujian, and on to places in the next province, Guangdong like Chaoshan for Chaozhou and Shantou. The line runs via Shanwei and Huizhou all the way to Shenzhen (¥150, 3½ hours). From Shenzhen, one can cross to Hong Kong, change trains for Guangzhou, or take a ferry to Zhuhai. There also direct trains from Xiamen to Hong Kong, taking a bit more than 4 hours.

Another high-speed line goes inland from Putian (north of Xiamen on the Fujian coast) to Nanchang in Jiangxi (an inland province West of Fujian). Xiamen-Nanchang time is about five hours.

There is also service on regular trains from Xiamen to various destinations in Fujian and to major cities throughout China's interior. It is inexpensive, but slow (e.g., about 20 hours to Wuhan) since the railroads travel a circuitous route through mountains.

By bus

 * Quanzhou, ¥35, 1½ hours.
 * Fuzhou, ¥70-90, 4 hours.
 * Hong Kong, Guangzhou, or Zhuhai, around ¥200-300, overnight sleeper bus. There is a bus direct to Xiamen from Hong Kong airport. From Hong Kong, there are some buses that go all the way and some where you have to change buses at the Hong Kong-China border.
 * From Hong Kong via Shenzhen: take the metro to Lo Wu border station, cross the border on foot (usually fast and easy if your visa is in order). There are small shops selling bus tickets within the border complex, with pickup nearby, or you can walk a block to the main bus station. A number of bus operators are available and bus service is frequent. A trip from Lo Wu (China side) to Xiamen will take 9 hours and cost ¥250-300.  Night sleeping coaches are also available.
 * Shenzhen, ¥200-300, 8 hours. Buses leave for Xiamen from the Qiaoshe long-distance bus station (侨社客运站) daily at 09:10, 09:40, 11:00, 11:40, 12:30, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00, 21:30, 22:00 and 22:20. Tickets can be purchased at the Shenzhen Tourism Group (深圳市旅游股份有限公司) counter at Qiaoshe bus station. They take credit card or cash.

By ferry
A boat service operates from Xiamen's Wutong ferry terminal (五通客运码头) to and from Kinmen's Shuitou port, which is under Taiwanese control, hourly 08:30-19:00 every day. Tickets cost NT$750 from Kinmen and ¥160 from Xiamen. The boat ride takes about 30 minutes. No visa-on-arrival is available, so make sure your Chinese visa is in order. Travelling from Xiamen to Kinmen is considered to be departing China, so make sure you have a multiple entry visa if you want to return to Xiamen after visiting Kinmen.

Get around
Local public transit is easiest to pay for with the Xiamen public transit mini-app on Alipay or WeChat.

If you are planning on staying in Xiamen for a significant amount of time, you can also get an eKatong (e卡通) stored value card. It can be used in different forms of public transport not only in Xiamen, but also in the neighbouring cities of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou.

The local bus system is very good, but the normal bus routes are listed in Chinese and do not have English on the signs. Signs in the BRT and Metro are bilingual in Chinese and English, while announcements are trilingual in Mandarin, Minnan and English.

Taxis are cheap, starting at ¥8 (plus ¥3 fuel tax – so ¥11) for the first 3 km. After the first 3 km, the meter charge will go up based on distance. Although the meter may read with a decimal, most taxi drivers will round up. On the other hand, as anywhere in China, tipping is not expected.

During the day time, you should be able to get anywhere on Xiamen island, including the airport, for under ¥40. But be wary that some taxi drivers might take advantage of you if they know that you are not a local and might take the longer route to your destination. For example, if the driver says "Huándǎo Lù" after you tell him where you want to go, say bù (no), because that is the ring road that circles the entire island and although it is scenic, it is likely the most expensive way to go.

There is a frequent ferry service to/from Gulangyu. Non-Xiamen residents have to take the ferry from Dongdu Wharf, accessible via taxi or bus #51. Tickets are ¥35 for the trip to Gulangyu, and ¥18 for the trip back to Xiamen; the ferry ride takes about 20 minutes.

To go around by bicycle is a great way to explore Xiamen, except Gulangyu where bikes are forbidden. Try the Island Ring Road (Huándǎo Lù) which has an extra path for bicycles along much of its length. Start at Xiamen University Beach and go up until the International Exhibition Center. There are various rental stations on the Huándǎo Road, starting at ¥30 per day. Enjoy the sunshine while cruising next to the sea. If you leave the bicycle path, be cautious about the traffic.

Motorcycles are forbidden everywhere on Xiamen Island and enforcement is quite strict in the central areas (e.g. Yundang Lake, Zhongshan Road, etc.). In other areas, enforcement is more relaxed and some people do ride, but this risks a fine or even police seizure of the bike. Motorcycles are allowed in the mainland suburbs (Jimei, Tong'an, Haicang or Xiang'an), but see Driving in China for some cautions.

See
Xiamen has a few large clumps of interesting stuff to see. Gulangyu may be the main tourist area, but there is quite a lot on Xiamen Island as well, and some out in the suburbs.

North of the lake
One is the area around Yundang Lake. The north side has a large group of restaurants and bars (see below) plus a rather pretty lakeside park area with a walkway right down by the water. Around dawn and dusk, you can watch the egrets (symbol of Xiamen, used as the logo for Xiamen Airlines) flying to and from the lake.

At night, there is a bit of a light show; many buildings (especially around the south side of the lake) have laser or LED displays that attract attention, sort of an advertisement by commercial buildings and some residential complexes to draw attention to their business. This sort of thing is fairly common in Chinese cities, but Xiamen has more of it than most others. It is best seen from the north side, augmented by reflections in the lake. This is not really an attraction in itself, just a nice extra for anyone imbibing in a lakeside bar.

Around the university
Another is the area around  Xiamen University. In Chinese, it is 厦门大学 (Ē-mn̂g tōa-o̍h in Minnan, Xiàmén dàxué in Mandarin), usually abbreviated to 厦大 (Hā-tāi in Minnan, Xiàdà in Mandarin). This is Fujian's most prestigious university, the province's only "national key university" controlled by the central government in Beijing rather than by the provincial education department.

To get there, take a 20-minute walk south from the Zhongshan Road and Gulangyu ferry area, along either Lujiang Road or Siming Road, jump in a taxi or take a bus. Buses that go to the main gate include #1, 15, 18, 21, 29, 71 and 82. #2 or 22 go to other parts of the university.

The university has a beautiful campus with old traditional buildings, extensive gardens and a small lake. Among the attractions are a small but interesting Anthropological Museum (straight ahead and a bit to the right from the main gate) and a large bookstore with quite a few high-grade Chinese art books and (by Chinese standards) a fine selection of English books. Entrance via the main gate may be restricted on busy holidays; use one of the three smaller gates which are across from Baicheng beach. Just outside the main university gate is the south end of Siming Road, generally referred to as Xiada Street. This is a lively area of shops, street stalls and restaurants; it is only perhaps 150 m long, but packs a lot into that space, plus a few smaller streets running off it. There is also a large bookstore here, not quite as good as the university store for art books, but better for CDs and DVDs. Because this area caters to the student market, it tends to have a lot of fairly cheap stuff. You need to bargain to get good prices. Few of the vendors speak English, but there are sometimes helpful English-speaking students about.

Beach and boardwalk
From Shoushan Road to Baishi Fortress is about ten km (six miles) of boardwalk along the beach; it runs parallel to the Huandao Lu ring road. Plans call for it to eventually extend all the way to the Conference Center, roughly doubling its current length. Along it are bicycle rental places, many food stalls and restaurants, and various other attractions:

Other sights
There are a number of other sights outside these main areas:

Trade fairs
Xiamen is host to many influential trade shows. A majority of the Xiamen exhibitions are located at the Xiamen International Conference & Exhibition Center (XICEC), listed as one of the world's top exhibition centers by Trade Show Executive.
 * The China Xiamen Machinery and Electronics Exhibition (CXMEE), also called the Straits Fair since it is run as a joint venture with a Taiwan organisation, is downtown (on Hubin Bei Lu) in the Spring.
 * The China International Fair for Investment and Trade  (CIFIT) is held at XICEC.
 * The annual China International Garden and Flower Exposition takes place in a different city each year. It was in Xiamen in 2007, and a large Water Garden Expo Park was built to host it (details at Jimei); presumably it will return there sometime.
 * There is an annual Xiamen International Stone Fair at the XICEC from March 6–9 and reserved for industry professionals.
 * The biannual Xiamen Buddhist Fair is held in the Spring and Autumn. Is generally open to the public, but is oriented towards industry professionals.
 * An annual Xiamen Tea Fair takes place in October and is open to the public for retail purchases of tea products. It is the world's largest of its kind. See Chinese cuisine for background.

Learn
Xiamen is home to Xiamen University (厦门大学 Ē-mn̂g Toā-o̍h in Minnan, Xiàmén Dàxué in Mandarin), one of China's premier universities and the most prestigious one in Fujian. There are opportunities for international students to enroll at the university, as well as for students at foreign universities to study here on exchange programs.Xiamen University is one of the Double First-Class University in China.

Buy
Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street (中山路步行街) runs inland off Lujiang Road (which runs along the coast) near the Gulangyu ferry terminal, through a historical part of the city. This is major shopping area with interesting smaller streets off it. The opening time is generally from 09:00-22:00. The buildings along Zhongshan Road combine a European architecture style with Chinese.

Other major shopping streets in the area are Siming Road and Jukou Street. The area also has many smaller streets with shopping; most are off to the left as you come up Zhongshan Road from the sea.

As you come along Zhongshan from the sea, you can look for a set of stairs going off to your right a short way along; these lead to a smaller parallel street with many little shops and street vendors. From the inland end of that (Siming Road), turn left to get back to Zhongshan Road at the inland end of the pedestrian area.

Xiamen University Street is actually half a street because the other side is part of Nanputuo Temple. Hundreds of shops line the street which is only a few hundred meters. Most of these shops sell garments and cultural things, and the book stores are also worth a look. Since they cater to students, these stores are often more reasonably priced than other areas, but some haggling may be needed to get the best prices.

There is also much tourist-oriented shopping on Gulangyu.

Xiamen has a number of modern enclosed shopping malls or large standalone chain stores. Here are some of the main ones:

Most of these sell everything from fresh vegetables to clothing and LCD TV's.

Eat
Xiamen local foods:

 * Xiamen Glass Noodles 面线糊 miànxiàn hú
 * Oyster Omelet 海蛎煎 hǎilì jiān (蚵仔煎 ô-á-chian in Minnan) - Differs significantly from the Taiwanese version.
 * Xiamen Fish Balls 厦门鱼丸 xiàmén yúwán
 * Sea Worm Jelly 土笋冻 tǔsǔndòng
 * Shacha Noodles 沙茶面 shāchá miàn
 * Shrimp Noodle Soup 虾面 xiāmiàn
 * Xiamen Spring Roll 春卷 chūnjuǎn
 * Xiamen Glutinous Rice Wrap 厦门烧肉粽 xiàmén shāoròu zòng
 * Peanut Soup 花生汤 huāshēng tāng
 * Xiamen Pot Stickers 韭菜盒 jiǔcài hé
 * Crab Porridge 蟹米粥 xièmǐ zhōu
 * Braised Duck with Ginger 姜母鸭 jiāngmǔyā
 * Xiamen Wonton Soup 扁食汤 biǎnshítāng
 * Xiamen jelly grass 烧仙草 shāo xiān cǎo
 * Xiamen Four Fruit soup 四果汤 sì guǒ tāng

Budget food areas
Two areas with many cheap local restaurants are around the university and the many smaller streets near Zhongshan Rd, inland from the ferry terminus.

There is an old restaurant on the east end of Zhongshan Rd (intersection of Xinhua Rd) which serves the local dish Shachamian, noodles with peanut soup.

Gulangyu also has much cheap food, though prices there are higher than Xiamen.

Around the lake
The area from the north side of Yundang Lake over to Haiwan Park has a large number of bars, cafes and restaurants. Most are mid-to-high priced, though there are exceptions. Many are popular with Xiamen's large community of expatriates.

There is a whole strip of about twenty cafes and bars along the lake on Xidi Coffee Street (西堤咖啡一条街) running West from the Marco Polo Hotel. Most of them are in villa-style homes converted to cafes with patios or balconies with a view of the lake; these are upmarket establishments whose clients include tourists and expats, but are mainly well-off locals. The parking area along the lake always has many BMWs, Audis and SUVs, and often a Ferrari or two. Most of these serve Western food, but many have Chinese dishes as well and there are some with other specialties. The area also has some stores, also mostly upmarket, selling things like ceramics and lacquerwork. On the side streets off the lake are more places, some of them more modest in decor and pricing.

Inland of the lake, behind a KFC, at 27 Hubin Bei Lu (Lakeside North Street) is a cluster of shops called Haiwan Xincheng. It has several other places:

Haiwan Park
Haiwan Park (Haiwan Gongyuan in Chinese), just west of the lake, also has a number of places:

The park has a lot of other stuff as well, including a lot of flowerbeds and lawns, popular with picnicking locals, an amusement park with several rides, several swimming pools, a roller skate and skateboard area, and a number of discos and nightclubs (see next section).

The Avenue of the Stars in the park is 300 m long by 40 wide and has over 2000 LEDs in the pavement which do computer-controlled light shows. A musical fountain down its center has 240 water nozzles, also computer-controlled.

Buses 11, 22, 31, 43, 54, 66, 71,102, 504, 520, 533, 625, 803, 808 and 810 stop just outside the park at the Haiwan Gongyuan stop. From the westernmost stop on the BRT, it is a ten-minute walk north along the seacoast to reach the south end of the park. From the area around the Marco Polo, a ten-minute walk west on Hubin Bei Lu puts you at the north end of the park.

Around the university
Xiada Street, between the university main gate and Nanputuo Temple, has many restaurants. These mainly cater to the student trade, so they tend to be relatively plain but to offer good value. Neither English menus nor English-speaking staff are common.

Along the boardwalk by the beach, from near the university out toward Hulishan Fortress, are many more restaurants and food stalls.

Other areas
There are also restaurants and bars at various other locations around town.

Drink
As everywhere in China, there are many tea houses in Xiamen and many KTVs (the 'K' is for Karaoke); both are quite popular with locals. See China for background information. A local speciality is kung fu tea (工夫茶), a type of black tea that is also popular in Chaozhou and in Taiwan.

Xiamen also has many bars and discos in a more-or-less western style; these are generally more affordable than comparable places in Shanghai or Beijing. Although crowded, these places are generally safe. Some caution is required, however, since pickpockets sometimes take advantage of the crowding and drunken customers sometimes get combative.

Also, most of the major hotels have live music from Filipino cover bands in their bars.

Alternative and cheaper nightlife can be found in Zengcuo An, formerly a separate village now a neighborhood near Xiamen University. Here you find a lot of cheap pubs, open-air BBQ´s and casual gatherings of students and other young people who enjoy the sunset and mild Xiamen nights over a drink.

That area also has many hotels, mostly small and moderately priced.

Sleep
This lists accommodation on Xiamen Island only. Staying in Jimei instead might save a little money and could be reasonably convenient if you choose a place near a BRT stop. There is also plenty of accommodation on Gulangyu.

Connect
There are consulates in Xiamen for:

Some news stories have indicated that the US is considering opening a consulate in Xiamen, but as of Jan 2021, no such announcement has been made. Staff from the Guangzhou consulate visit Xiamen to provide services to Americans there.

Cope
In addition to the supermarkets listed under buy above, Xiamen has a number of smaller stores catering to expat residents.

Go next

 * Hakka Tulou – 3–5 hours west of Xiamen are these large earthen structures where a number of residences are built inside a single fortified compound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 * Kinmen – Islands controlled by Taiwan have charming villages with traditional Fujianese architecture and interesting cold war defenses. One-hour ferry ride from Dongdu Wharf, or 30 minutes from Shuitou Wharf.
 * Quanzhou – This ancient city has come down in the world a bit since Marco Polo sailed home from there around 1290 and described it as one of the two busiest ports on Earth and incredibly rich. However, it is still well worth a visit. The old fortress town of Chongwu is located farther east, and has direct buses from Xiamen.
 * Liu'ao – a windswept peninsula with long beaches and strange rock formations, south of Xiamen.
 * Chaozhou – Just across the border in Guangdong province, main center of Teochew culture, and whose Teochew dialect is closely related to Minnan.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Xiamen


text:
Xi'an

Xi'an (西安 Xī'ān, read as SHEE-AHN) is a city in Shaanxi Province in China. The oldest surviving capital of ancient China, Xi'an is home to thousands of years of Chinese heritage and history. The city has a pleasant cosmopolitan flair to it and it is worth visiting for the famed Terracotta Warriors. It has often been said that, "if you have not been to Xi'an, you have not been to China!"

History
Xi'an is more than 3,000 years old and was known as Chang'an (长安) in ancient times. For 1,000 years, the city was the capital for 13 dynasties, and a total of 73 emperors ruled here. Xi'an is the undisputed root of Chinese civilization having served as the capital city for the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties. With so much history within the ground the city lies upon, it is no wonder that there are so many historical ruins, museums and cultural relics to be found here. It was already influencing the world outside of the Great Wall of China (长城) as the eastern terminus of the Silk Road (丝绸之路). Here traders from far and wide brought goods and ideas for sale and took goods and ideas back with them to their native countries. In present-day Xi'an not much of its former glory remains within the city confines, due to the constant warfare and political changes that swept China particularly throughout the 20th century.

Climate
Xi'an has most of its annual precipitation from August to late October in the form of rain. It is characterised by hot summers and cold, dry winters. Spring and autumn will be somewhat brief and dry.

Districts
Xi'an is a rapidly expanding city, so the municipality has incorporated large areas around to the city as districts to be under its own administration. But frankly speaking most of these surrounding areas are just undeveloped and sometimes rural inter-city residential areas.

By plane
Most people use taxis or the airport bus to reach town from the airport. A taxi will cost about ¥150 from the airport to the Bell Tower downtown. You will pay around ¥50-75 more if you take one of the climatized Japanese black taxis rather than the typical green taxis. At the airport, both types of taxis are waiting at the same spot to pick up passengers.

Line 14 of the Xi’an Metro runs from the airport to Xi'an North station (more specifically, the metro station named "Beikezhan (Beiguangchang)" ), where there are connections to lines 2 and 4 as well as to the long-distance rail network.

The airport bus leaves the airport from 08:00 until 01:00, a ticket costs ¥25 and takes about one hour; there are several lines but the most useful are Airport Bus No. 1 (no stop to the terminus in front of the Melody Hotel, at the beginning of West Street near the Bell Tower) and No. 2 (to the railway station). As long as there is an arriving flight, there will be a bus, so don't worry about arriving late at night or early morning. Buses will often depart as soon as they fill up. The airport bus route is the best way between city and the train station.

Getting to the terracotta warriors from the airport is complicated but can be done. Immediately when you walk out of the airport you can take bus #2 (¥27) to the Xi'an train station. From there, take bus 306 to the terracotta warriors (see more details below). Alternatively, a taxi will cost approximately ¥85 plus toll charges of ¥15.

By train
Most visitors arrive by high-speed train at (西安北站 Xī'ānběi Zhàn), 15 km north of city center. The main services, on 200 km / hr "D-trains" or 300 km / hr "G-trains", are to Zhengzhou (2–3 hours), Chengdu (4 hours), Wuhan (4–8 hours), Guangzhou (8 hours), Shenzhen (9 hours), Changsha, Shijiazhuang, Beijing (4–6 hours), Shanghai (7 hours) and Lanzhou (3 hours) - change at Lanzhou for the 12-hour train to Ürümqi.

The North Railway Station is an enormous modern transport hub. To reach the city center take Metro line two (red), whose terminus (北客站 Beikezhan) is at the station.

The old railway station, (西安站 Xī'ān Zhàn), is at the north end of Jiefang Road (解放路 jiěfànglù, just outside the old city walls. This is served by conventional trains for regional journeys.

There is no reason to use Xi'an South Railway Station (西安南站 Xī'ān Nán Zhàn), a long way south-east of the center, with limited services.

By bus
The main long-distance bus station (Shaanxi Province Long-distance Bus Station) is about 100 m south of Xi'an railway station, with the city wall between them (there is an underpass). Bus service is available to: Huashan (2–3 hours), Lanzhou (8–10 hours), Luoyang (5–7 hours), Taiyuan (12 hours), and Zhengzhou (9–12 hours).

By car
See Driving in China.

Get around
The old city is surrounded by a rectangular city wall. The Bell Tower (钟楼 Zhōnglóu) is in the dead center of the rectangle, and is considered the center of Xi'an. From here, the four main streets radiate along the four points of the compass.
 * North Street (北大街 Běidàjiē)
 * East Street (东大街 Dōngdàjiē)
 * South Street (南大街 Nándàjiē)
 * West Street (西大街 Xīdàjiē)

Do not get confused by different names in tourist guides, addresses and bus stops: Nandajie, Nanda Street, South Street, and South Avenue are all the same street.

Locals often speak about Within the city walls (城里 chénglǐ, CHUNG-lee) and Outside the city walls (城外 chéngwài, CHUNG-why) when talking about locations. Outside the walls, the southern part is the most interesting - it offers shopping streets, bars and some nightlife. Basically the inner Xi'an, the part inside the City Walls, is the old Xi'an, which is equivalent to the term "downtown" used to describe certain parts of a North American city. The buildings are mostly pretty short due to government policies. People who live inside the City Walls largely preserve a traditional way of life. For example, they are used to going to farmers' market for grocery, and also the provincial dialect is more prominent there. There is much more folklore to be found inside the City Walls than elsewhere in the city. Interestingly, there is a Roman Catholic church in the inner city, which was founded more than 300 years ago by the missionaries from the west.

There has been several urbanization projects happening since the 2000s in the southern part of Xi'an, outside of the City Walls, notably Xi'an Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone. That's where you can find the new, and urban aspects of Xi'an. Large-scale shopping malls around that area are very popular among the new generations. Each shopping mall usually is a combination of restaurants, shopping areas, groceries, and entertainments. Also a considerable population from other parts of the city have relocated to this area for their children's education, since there are few prestigious schools in the area.

As usual in China, subways are the easiest way to get around if they serve your destination. There are also plenty of buses traveling everywhere at short intervals (main lines run every 5–10 minutes). If you are not confident enough with orientation, or if you do not like packed buses, the cheap taxis (出租车 chūzūchē, literally translated as "rented car", which is pronounced as CHOO-TSOO-CHUH) are the best alternative, broadly available, except for during rush hours.

By Metro
Xi'an has four Metro lines, with further lines planned or under construction. A single ride costs ¥5. Bags are x-rayed prior to entry, water bottles should be taken out of bags as they will be scanned by security staff separately. It's much more convenient to have a Changantong (长安通) card, that the locals use to pay for the fare. You can get one at any metro station with a valid ID and some money as process fee. Ask the staff at the reception desk at each metro station for help when you want to apply for a Changantong card. Nowadays you can also pay with Wechat pay or Alipay, by scanning your phone at the terminal. It takes slightly more time than using a Changantong card (1–2 seconds).
 * Line 1 runs east–west and does not cover any interesting tourist spots.
 * Line 2 runs north–south, intersects with Line 1 at Beidajie to the North of the bell tower. It connects the North Railway Station, the City Library (your starting point for visiting the Hanyangling mausoleum), the Bell Tower, and Xiaozhai near the Shaanxi history museum.
 * Line 3 runs southwest–northeast, intersecting with Line 1 at Tonghuamen, and Line 2 at Xiaozhai. It serves the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Dayanta station).
 * Line 4 runs north–south, mostly to the east of Line 2.

By bus
Regular buses within the city cost ¥1 (¥2 for air-conditioned, marked with a snowflake) no matter how far you go. Since there are many buses in the city, it can be useful to go to the Tourism Office Center (which is situated near the Drum Tower) and ask for a free map (地图 dìtú) of the city, with the bus lines on it.

A popular line for tourists is #610 (also labeled "游8" meaning "tourist #8") which connects the railway station, the Bell Tower, the Small Goose Pagoda and Xi'an Museum, the Shaanxi Historic Museum, and the Big Goose Pagoda. Unfortunately it is not one of the most frequent (sometimes you can wait for half an hour, though usually it comes in a few minutes). Near the Bell Tower, it stops at the beginning of West Street; take it westwards to then go south to the museums and pagodas, take it eastwards to then go north to the railway station. Near the railway station (there are many stops for different lines) you can catch it at the third block on the main street going straight south from the station.

Another useful line is #609 that connects the Bell Tower, the South Gate and the Big Goose Pagoda. Near the Bell Tower, it stops at the beginning of South Street.

Although the 609 and 610 can be infrequent, the 611 is very frequent (multiple departures every minute in the rush hour), and connects the train station and the Bell Tower, continuing to the west from the latter. Look for its stop across the road from the station (within the city walls). Its route is a loop at the railway station, so you can board the bus at the same stop for the city center where you got off for the railway station. At the Bell Tower its stop towards the railway station is at the beginning of the East Street.

Bus 500 takes you from the Railway Station to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in 12 stops. This area has the Great Tang All Day Mall as well as the Tang Paradise and the South Lake.

There are many buses leaving regularly for the Terracotta Warrior museum in front of the Xi'an bus station (east to the train station, outside (in the north) the city walls).

 * Bus 306 (also called Tourist Bus #5) leaves from the lot in front of the train station (on the east side, i.e. to your right when looking towards the station) and will take you to a parking lot right in front of the museum. Travel time is about an hour (up to 3 hours in case of traffic jams). A one-way ticket costs ¥7 (pay on the bus). It also stops at several other tourist attractions along the way, e.g. the hot springs. Make sure you don't make the mistake of going to the nearby bus station on the inside (south) of the city wall. That's where there are touts with signs saying bus 5 and bus 306, trying to hustle you onto their private bus. Although they do take you to the destinations, you are forced to go to visit attractions you might not want to go to. If in doubt about whether you have the right 306, stand back and observe. The official bus attendants will not hustle you to get on their rapidly filling bus. They will confirm it is the correct bus and nothing more. The official bus will also fill up very quickly with locals who know which one is the correct bus.
 * Another local bus that goes to the Warriors is 307 (last stop again, normally ~60 minutes, possibly up to 3 hours in case of traffic). 307 also goes to the Great Wild Goose Pagoda.
 * Small buses which are also used by the locals (mainly number 914). These buses will also take you to the Museum, but they use local roads (no highway express like bus 306) so they are a bit slower. 914 is however more frequent during the day than 306. One-way ticket price is ¥7 (pay on the bus). Not a bad trip if you want to see how locals travel.
 * Most hostels and hotels run tours to the warriors with an English speaking guide. These aren't necessarily better, be prepared to spend a good portion of the day (as with any Chinese tour) visiting "terracotta factories," "museums", "Chinese medicine shops", and other tourist traps. But you will get to your destination without dealing with the bus (the warriors are quite far outside of town) and not all of the public buses that go there are legitimate.

By taxi
The availability of taxis varies across the whole city, throughout the day. It also has special non-regulated schedules on holidays. It's very hard to find free taxis during shift changes. It can take a rather long time to find a vacant one and even then - given their choice of fares - they may decide to decline your destination for a more profitable one that is closer. Watch the taxi drivers in Xi'an as the industry is not regulated as it is in other larger cities. You may find yourself being taken on a long ride around town to get where you are going. It can also be difficult to convince them to take you anywhere (even to the railway station). If in doubt, get your hotel or hostel to write down the place you want to go in Chinese. Between 15:00 and 17:00 the taxis change their shifts. This means the drivers are rushing to their handover points, so they won't pick you up even if they are empty.

Trips within the city walls are generally around ¥10. Longer trips to the attractions south of the city are ¥12-20. It is always good advice to insist on using the taxi meter, especially for longer rides like to/from the airport. However, taxis will often refuse to go the airport on meter, you will have to discuss a price in advance, usually between ¥100 and ¥120.

The rate for the normal (green) taxis is ¥9 for the first 3 kmand then ¥2 for every additional kilometer. Waiting times longer than 2 minutes will be charged ¥2 per minute. After 23:00 the starting price is ¥10. At the airport and around some of the big hotels you might also find black taxis. They charge ¥2.4 per kilometer, but are more spacious and comfortable.

With the introduction of online taxi platforms like Uber, drivers working for the city-run taxi corporations may refuse your taking even when no passenger's in the car, because they are on their way to take an online customer. So it's still best to learn how to use local taxi-taking apps for convenience.

By bike
Xi'an's main sites (with the notable exception of the Terracotta Warriors) are bunched fairly close together. Be wary of the narrow streets and cars that squeeze you out of the way. Bike lanes are available on some streets, however, places to lock bikes, typically are not.

In some parts of the city, the roads are built with a "biking" lane, that you can find at the right side of the road, sometimes separated from the motorized lanes. That type of biking lane is especially common in the southern part of the city. However, not all roads have such features, and when there isn't any biking lane, you should always stick to the right of the road, close to the sidewalk. Also be extra careful when you ride your bike, the traffic in China in general is not friendly to cyclists. Never ride bicycle on sidewalks, mainly because the locals would get annoyed by you doing so.

Online bike-sharing platforms like Mobike are exceedingly popular, to a point where nobody purchases his or her own bicycles anymore. Shared bikes are everywhere on the street. So learn how to use the app to unlock them and you will be fine.

Do

 * Stroll round the Drum and Bell Tower area after dark, when they're brilliantly illuminated.

Souvenirs
Xi'an souvenirs include small copies of terracotta warriors, wood-carved Buddhas and dragons, Tang Tricolored Pottery, hand made paper cut (by many regarded as the most important arts form in Xi'an), all other kind of folk art and also fake western products.

Clothes
Xi'an is a great place to buy clothes.

Eat
The Xi'an as is today is very different from like 10 or 20 years ago, when there were only certain restaurants known by the locals to serve delicious food. Now the restaurants are everywhere, especially ones like KFC and McDonald. Unfortunately the younger generations don't seem to appreciate the traditional cuisines and rather choose to eat fast food. Therefore, some of good old restaurants are forced to close down, being taken over by the newer ones.

Xi'an specialties include:

 * Yángròu Pàomó (羊肉泡馍) is one of the signature dishes of the area, it consists of a piece of thick, chewy bread and a kettle of lamb soup. The diner shreds the bread with his hands and places the shreds in a bowl, the soup is then poured over the shreds (along with meat, maybe some noodles or scallion, etc.) The trick is to shred the bread into pieces that are "as small as possible", like the size of your pinky fingernail. Most first-timers will shred their bread in pieces that are too large. In some restaurants, they have already shredded the bread for you. It is normally also served with pickled garlic and chili. If you don't like lamb, some restaurants also offer a beef version. The best, and the most authentically made of this dish can be found in the Hui Muslim Quarter.
 * Biáng biáng miàn ([[Image:Biáng.svg|17px]][[Image:Biáng.svg|17px]]面) is a local provincial specialty noodle dish that is extremely good. The wide noodles are spiced, have a broth, and include toppings such as eggs, tomatoes, beef, etc. The character for "biang" is very complex (58 strokes) and distinctive. Although this kind of noodles has created a brand of the same name (trademarked), under which several such restaurants are run across the whole city, not every one serves the noodles that taste like the original. It's advised to go to the one restaurant that has lasted for the longest time, which is located in Fen Alley, within the City Walls. It is know by the locals as the most "authentic" (正宗) Biáng biáng miàn.
 * Ròu jiā mó (肉夹馍) is the closest thing to a hamburger. This is a local tradition and should be very easy to locate. Sandwich-like, with pork, beef or lamb, this is a must-try item for anyone who is in this area. Still, as a dish that is derived from Hui people's cuisine, the best Ròu jiā mó restaurant is to be found usually within the City Walls, specifically in the Hui Muslim Quarters. Not every Ròu jiā mó restaurant in the city serves the food just like the original. A recommendation of such an "authentic" restaurant would be Yú Lǎo Dà (literally translated as "Mr.Yu's") located in the Wuxing Street, just across the Roman Catholic church. It mostly serves food for breakfast, so get in there in the morning just in case it closes at noon.
 * Xiǎo lóng bāozi (小笼包子) are basket-steamed dumplings (one basket ¥3), common as a midnight snack. Look for its big brother "Da baozi" only available first thing in the mornings, like a steamed Cornish pastie, but very nice.
 * Guàn tāng bāozi (灌汤包子) are steamed buns served with sauces inside.
 * Shìzi bǐng (柿子饼) are buns made from persimmons, stuffed with something (e.g. black sesame paste), and deep-fried, so they're quite sticky-sweet. You can find many sellers in the Muslim Quarter, and they are only ¥1 each or less!
 * Lǜdòu gāo (绿豆糕) are literally green bean cakes (come in small cubes), but they're more moist than you may find elsewhere and also come with a variety of mixings (e.g. sesame). Half a Jin should be about six cubes and cost about ¥5 at a cart in the Muslim Quarter.
 * Ice Peak, or BīngFēng (冰峰) is a kind of carbonated orange-flavoured beverage that is a provincial specialty. Its taste is very similar to the orange-flavoured Fanta, but locals still prefer the "traditional" Ice Peak. It is usually served in traditional restaurants, mostly within the City Walls, such as Biáng biáng miàn restaurants. It is known by the locals to be made with better-quality oranges, and therefore the company is not making as much profit as, for example, Coca-Cola. The price for one glass bottle is usually ¥2-3.

Some good places to look for restaurants are:
 * The Muslim Quarter close to the Drum Tower is a vibrant area with many restaurants spilling out onto the street and mixing with the street sellers. If you're looking for snacks, this area is also full of people selling dried fruit (especially dates) and nuts/seeds (sunflower, melon, pumpkin, etc.) Prices are per Jin (500 g) and are pretty much standardized throughout the area, so you can't really bargain unless you're buying a lot (but who wants 1 kg of peanuts anyway?) Watch out for the pits in the dates! As its name suggests, this is a good place to look for halal food. Since the Muslim Quarter is basically a series of small alleys, there are multiple entrances. The one commonly used by the locals is located behind a shopping mall called Bǎi Shèng (百盛) on the West Avenue, at the northern end of the South Guangji Street. Another one where you can find meat shops more easily is located at the northern end of Qiaozikou. Visitors usually are directed to the one behind the Drum Tower, where you can find more souvenir shops.
 * Street food (mostly sold after sunset, or some near night clubs/bars after 23:00) presents a variety of local/regional dishes, ranging from noodle soups, dumplings, hot pot, and so on by tens of little food vendors on street side, each with a red lamp. There are a few roads running perpendicular to the Muslim Quarter road that have a larger variety of streetside food (at cheaper prices because these roads are harder to access). As streetside stores are nearly a model of perfect competition, look out for food sold at significantly higher prices, yet maintain a long queue as these are likely to be tastier. For instance, some vendors may unscrupulously sell beef mixed with lamb and pass the meat off as pure lamb meat to cut their cost, however those who sell real lamb meat usually charge a higher price.
 * If Muslim food isn't your thing, you can find a few more typically Chinese restaurants on Dongmutou Shi (东木头市) southeast of the bell tower.

Budget
A good way if you do not want the expensive hotel food or just want to try real Chinese cuisine, is to simply go into a small restaurant and point to a dish somebody else is having and you will get a meal for less than ¥10 (seldom ¥20) per person. It's best to do so within the City Walls, as most restaurants there are family businesses and may have been there for a very long time. The real good old restaurants, especially those run by Hui people, usually serve very delicious food that is also very cheap. Most of these have been there for quite a long time, and are usually found within the City Walls. But such restaurants are scattered across the area. It's best to ask someone that you know for which ones to go to.

A good street for eating is Xiyang Shi running east–west near the mosque in the Muslim quarter.

Mid-range
McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC or its Chinese brother, Dicos, are widely available within city walls for a change from the daily Chinese cuisine. There are also three Starbucks within a 5-minute walk of the Bell Tower.

Splurge
Luxury restaurants serving western food are virtually everywhere to be found in big shopping malls these days, mostly in the southern suburbs.
 * Village Cafe (32 Shi Da Lu, opposite of Bank of China). If you miss your burger, this is the place to go.
 * Village Cafe (32 Shi Da Lu, opposite of Bank of China). If you miss your burger, this is the place to go.
 * Village Cafe (32 Shi Da Lu, opposite of Bank of China). If you miss your burger, this is the place to go.
 * Village Cafe (32 Shi Da Lu, opposite of Bank of China). If you miss your burger, this is the place to go.

Drink
Night clubs in Xi'an are not abundant. All clubs play the same music, a mix of Chinese disco and some pop music. Most people go out between 22:00 and 01:00, but clubs are generally open until 04:00.

Be mentally prepared to be aggressively approached by club operators desperate for patrons.

In summer time, the area around South Gate (南门) is beautiful. East of it are three nice bars with terraces and gardens.

Along the short Nandajie (南大街) are the most clubs (you can also eat on the street as there are restaurants open past midnight).

Other options include:

Sleep
As with most Chinese cities, several cheap run down hotels can be found near the train station. There are a few decent ones inside the city walls, on a road called Jie Fang Lu, going directly south from the train station. Bargaining is possible, especially if you are staying for more than one night. Expect to pay under ¥100 for a single room as getting a room for as low as ¥30 is possible.

Budget
There are at least six international youth hostels in the center of the city, and they are easy to find.

Booking on the Internet will usually save you money, prices start around ¥15.

Splurge

Learn
Xi'an Jiaotong University is a locally prestigious institution that offers study programs to foreign students. The website of its school of international education is

Connect
It's not very easy to make friends with the locals in Xi'an, especially if you don't speak the language. Also the most common, or even the only way to keep in touch with anyone in China these days is through Wechat. The locals are mostly not used to using emails. However, in Defu Alley, you can find several bars where Football fans gather during the game seasons, which is a good place to socialize if you are interested in football. Also you may have chances at making friends in Coffee shops too, as that's where new generations like to spend time with friends on weekends.

Stay safe
Xi'an is, like other Chinese cities, generally quite safe. Just watch out for pickpockets in crowds, on the bus, and during national holidays.

Cope
Look at the Beijing notes as they apply to Xi'an, too. Most importantly, take paper tissue with you to toilets.

Generally, Western style accommodation will have western toilets, whereas the very inexpensive guest house (zhao dai suo) will usually have squat toilets. If you need to use western toilets, learn to plan your day accordingly. Major tourist attractions will have western toilets. There seems to be an unwritten agreement that foreigners can use the toilets in most hotels as necessary.

If you arrive in Xi'an by train, try not to be overwhelmed when you exit Xi'an's train station. There are usually aggressive hotel touts looking for customers. Just insist that you already have a place to stay and tell them no, with a serious faced, 不要！ / Bú yào！

Be aware that the taxi drivers at the railway station and near to the airport bus drop off points like to work off-meter and will charge up to ten times the normal fare if they can. Do take this into the context of your country's exchange rate; what may be 10 times the local fare may only realistically be an insignificant monetary cost in your home currency. Also remember that although it may be more expensive than what the locals pay, it may be a small cost for the only available option to get you where you need to go.

It is a good idea to leave your bags at the left luggage office and then go into town to look for accommodation. This way you will not be overwhelmed by the burden of carrying your heavy bags or luggage around.

Go next

 * Xianyang was historically part of Xi’an and is closely integrated with Xi’an due to its close geographical proximity. You can reach Xianyang’s urban area just by taking a metro train. Lines 1 and 14 of the Xi’an Metro both connect Xi’an to Xianyang.
 * Chen Lu: 3 hours' drive north of Xi'an, this community of artisans has been producing pottery since the Tang dynasty. You need private transport, and the road is hazardous in winter. Take in the Yaozhouyao Kiln Museum, 90 km north of Xi'an on the old road to Chenlu Town. There's fine Yaozhou porcelain from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), and the site of the original kiln.
 * Hu Kou Waterfall (壶口瀑布 Húkǒu Pùbù), 150 km north of Xi'an, can be combined with a trip to Huang Di Mausoleum. You need your own transport as the only bus of the day back to Xi'an departs around 10:00.
 * Huashan National Park (华山 Huàshān) 120 km east of Xi'an, takes only 35 min by high-speed train, or 90 min by conventional train or bus. Huashan is a 2160-m mountain with spectacular views; either hike up the 6 km trail (4–6 hours) or take the 10 minute cable car for ¥70 (though the cable car often has lines lasting 2 hours.) Try to catch sunrise on the East peak, but it's cold up there. Accommodation is available but pricey.
 * Louguan (楼观), 60 km southwest of Xi'an and two hours by bus, is the base for seeing Louguantai National Park, a Daoist temple complex. A further 2 km west is Daqin Pagoda (大秦塔 Dà Qín Tǎ), a seven-story octagonal tower, probably Buddhist and from the 11th century. But "Daqin" means Roman or Middle Eastern in early Chinese, and some claim the tower was built in 640 AD by Nestorians, Assyrian Christians who reached China via Persia and the Silk Road. It's far-fetched but has done wonders for the tourist trade.

title: Xi'an


text:
Xiandu

Xiandu is in Zhejiang.

Understand
Xiandu is in Jinyun County, Lishui city, combining pastoral scenery and historical monuments, sightseeing, leisure, and one of the first national AAAA tourist areas. The landscape is elegant with clouds and mis. Total area is.

It is now a 5A scenic spot. Entry fee for the last part of the park: 90 yuan.

By train
You have the high speed train station of Jinyun just a little outside the city center and a normal train station in the city center. The Bus 5/K5 goes from the high speed train station to the city center.

By bus
There are private buses that goes straight to the park. With public buses, you need to make a transfer in the city center. Timetables are not available and buses are a bit unreliable. The entrance of the park is around 5-6km from the high speed train station. It is not expensive to call a taxi.

Get around

 * By bus: you can purchase a ticket for 20 yuan for the scenic buses that go straight to the different spots.
 * By walk: You can also go through the greenway, around 6 km pathway that covers all the spots. It is possible to bicycle too and small scooter. You can also rent pedal cars in some spots for 30 yuan/ 30 minutes.
 * By car: if you have your own car, entry/parking fee may apply.
 * By cable car: inside the paid part, you have a cable car behind the temple that allows you to go to the top of the peak without climbing the stairs. 25 yuan one way / 40 round trip.

See

 * Huanglong scenic area (黄龙景区) Huanglong scenic area is Xiandu scenic spot one of four scenic spot. The area is, with Yanlin landscape and sightseeing agriculture is characteristic, set picking, melon and fruit outdoor development, leisure sightseeing for an organic whole.

Go next

 * Lishui
 * Jinhua
 * Yuwi

title: Xiandu


text:
Xiangcheng (Sichuan)

Xiangcheng (乡城; Xiāng chéng - Tibetan: Chaktreng), is in Sichuan Province in south-west China. It also belongs to the ancient Tibetan province of Kham. Being a necessary overnight-stop on the 'Backdoor'-route to Yunnan, the town is a pleasant place to linger or to serve as starting point for excursions into the surrounding mountain areas. Coming over the mountain passes from either direction, you will at once spot the beautiful villages scattered amongst wheat-field-paddies in the valley ground. The large, cubicle houses look like little castles and with their white-chalked exterior walls give the whole valley a north-African air. Xiangcheng itself consists of an old village paired with a modern Chinese downtown.

Get in
Roads to the north are sealed, while the southern part to Shangrila is rubble and dirt, with construction work at both extremities of the road (2017). Despite the bumpy side, the road is however very scenic, passing a pass at around 4500m, and offering views on rocky peaks and deep gorges.

By bus
The Bus Station is at the southern end of town. The ticket-office is through the side-entrance of the building on your right hand side when facing uphill. Be sure to buy your advance-ticket on arrival, because buses can get crowded in summer. In low season it's ok to buy your ticket just before you leave, but the ticket office opens very shirt time before the bus leaves, especially in the morning. Buses arrive from Shangrila (6–9 hours, ¥85, departs daily at 08:00), Kangding (12–14 hours, ~¥160, departs daily at 06:00).

Departure times are as of November 2007 and both buses tend to leave earlier and fill up quickly! It is possible to buy tickets to Litang on the bus going to Kangding at06:00, around ¥70 (2017). It's a scenic 4-5 hour ride.

Get around
You can easily visit the town on foot.

See

 * In 2000 there were still the remains of a monastery in the centre of town - covering most of the town, with people perambulating with prayer wheels around the perimeter wall.
 * In 2000 there were still the remains of a monastery in the centre of town - covering most of the town, with people perambulating with prayer wheels around the perimeter wall.

Do
Stanley, a 30-year-old Tibetan guy, speaking very good English, has opened a private (but cheap) school in 2015 where kids goes during weekends and holidays to improve their English (seems that the teachers in public school are not very good). He is very nice and it's a great opportunity for him to meet English-speaking travelers in a not-touristy town where he and Angel, another young teacher lady from the school, are the only ones speaking English. As well, as great opportunity for you to meet an English teacher & Tibetan guy, learn about the culture, and interact with kids (between 6 and 10) in his small school. Stanley will certainly invite you for food and might even pay for your accommodation if you stay 1 or 2 days playing and teaching English to the kids. You can contact him by phone : 18123441020 or by email : shambhalaeducation@hotmail.com
 * Hike to the villages north of Xiangcheng
 * Teach English and play with kids in a family owned language school (even for just 1 day)
 * Teach English and play with kids in a family owned language school (even for just 1 day)

 * Join the locals for a night of karaoke!
 * There is an internet coffee in a restaurant/hotel on top of the main street. It must be on the third floor. Looks like the place belongs to the local Police force so don't be surprised to see many of them playing games, drinking and smoking. They won't bother you.

Buy
Small shops downtown provide typical Tibetan clothing and jewellery.

Supermarkets on main-street sell food and toiletries, you can also buy bottles of beer and decent Chinese wine to make up your own nightlife.

Eat
Plenty of small restaurants are to be found on the main road. Look out for Muslim-specialties where the restaurant sign bears Arabic writing, green color and dried meat and yak carcasses are displayed in front of the shop.

Drink
There is not much nightlife in town. To have a beer, simply visit a restaurant.

Budget
Bamu Tibetan Guesthouse is a bit harder to get into now, the gate to the bus station seems to be permanently locked. If you go out of the bus station and turn left at the first road, there is a sign over a driveway on the left in colourful Chinese. This driveway will take you to an apartment building and the guesthouse. The woman there wouldn't do cheaper than ¥35-40 a night for a dorm bed (October 2016).

You can get a dorm bed at a place on the same road as the bus station for ¥25. Lamu, the woman who owns it, will probably try to advertise it at the bus station as you arrive. If you turn left and continue up the street for about 100 m, past the large hotel on the right, there is a concrete stairway in the middle of the building on the left. This will take you to Lamu's place. She speaks very limited English but is exceptionally goodhearted and will help you find a place to eat as well as buy cheap (cheaper than quoted at the ticket office) bus tickets if you ask.

 * Some more hotels are to be found in the new town on the main street. Just leave the bus-station and head straight on. Among those, Xiang Bal Seven Lakes Hotel charges ¥60-80 for a standard double with bathroom (hot water 24 hrs, quite clean).
 * As of Nov 2008, the city experiences some electric cuts. Most of the guest houses don't have their own generator so expect "very" cold room and no hot water.
 * Found a single room for ¥30 (shared bath-room & hot water) in a small hotel in the downhill dead-end street just on the opposite side of the main road when you go out of the bus station. There are actually two hotels in this street, this is the smallest one, the first on your left. In the other one, which is more decent & cleaner, can have a double for ¥60 if you bargain (June 2017)
 * Found a single room for ¥30 (shared bath-room & hot water) in a small hotel in the downhill dead-end street just on the opposite side of the main road when you go out of the bus station. There are actually two hotels in this street, this is the smallest one, the first on your left. In the other one, which is more decent & cleaner, can have a double for ¥60 if you bargain (June 2017)

Stay safe
People around Xiangcheng supposedly still own firearms left over from the guerrilla war against the Chinese invasion in the 1950s. In July 2007 a dispute about mushroom-collecting grounds between two villages in the district turned into a gunfight with more than 10 persons killed (story read on South China Morning Post).

Go next
Going south to Yunnan and Shangri La, if you are on your own (car, bike) try the S217, a rough piste through the mountains. Nearly no traffic but fantastic landscape. This road is sometimes closed few kilometers after Xiangchang at the end of the asphalt portion. If so you'll have to take the main road.

Public buses
Buses for Shangri La depart daily from 6am at the Bus Station. The ticket office is open in the morning before the bus leaves but in Summer it is probably better to buy your ticket the day before (after 2pm). Don't expect any help from the ticket ladies!

title: Xiangcheng (Sichuan)


text:
Xiangyang

Xiangyang (襄阳; Xiāngyáng), which was called Xiangfan (襄樊; Xiāngyfán), is a city in Hubei Province. It is comprised of two halves, Xiangyang (on the south side of the Han River) and Fancheng (on the north side of the river).

It is best known for being the site of an important battle between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Mongol Empire, which the Mongols won decisively, following which they were shortly able to conquer all of China. The Fancheng area is also known for being the site of an important battle during the late Eastern Han Dynasty between the forces of the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao.

By train
Linked to the Chinese train network.

By bus
Linked to the Chinese bus network.

Go next

 * Wudang Mountain (武当山) — a famous Daoist mountain renowned for its martial arts. It can be a day trip out of Xiangyang (2 hour bus each way), but there are also places to stay on the mountain both for tourists and longer-term guests. Wudang Shan is particularly famous for its Taiqi Quan and offers many multi-week classes (register in advance) open to Chinese and foreigners alike.

title: Xiangyang


text:
Xianghai National Nature Reserve

Xianghai National Nature Reserve (向海自然保护区) is in Jilin province.

Understand
On the edge of the Songliao Plain and in Tongyu County in eastern Horqin Grassland, Xianghai Nature Reserve is the natural habitat for 293 kinds of precious birds, including six breeds of cranes. The idyllic prairie and the local Mongol folklore combine to make this bird watching place a very fascinating place.

title: Xianghai National Nature Reserve


text:
Xianyang

Xianyang (咸阳; Xiányáng) is a city in Shaanxi Province.

By plane
A bus service operates between the airport and Xianyang West Railway Station. The bus departs from Terminal 3 and stops at Terminal 2 before heading to Xianyang West Railway Station. Buses to Xianyang West Railway Station run between 09:00 and 21:00. Buses going in the opposite direction, from Xianyang West Railway Station to the airport, operate between 08:00 and 19:30. There is one bus every 40 minutes in each direction. The fare is ¥15 and the journey time is about 40 minutes.

By local public transit
If coming from Xi’an, it is often easier to take a public bus or metro train.

Line 1 of the Xi’an Metro links downtown Xi’an with downtown Xianyang. Xianyang West Railway Station is the terminus of the line.

Line 14, which runs between the airport and Xi’an North Railway Station, has multiple stations in Xianyang.

Get around
The metro lines mentioned in the Get-in section may also be used to get around the city. There is, however, no direct line linking the western part of the city with the eastern part, so if you wanted to travel from Qindu District to the eastern part of Weicheng District by metro train, you would need to go into Xi’an first and change trains two times. Obviously, it would be somewhat easier in that case to catch a mainline train from Xianyang to Xi’an North Station, then get a metro train from there.

Of course, public buses are also available. WeChat users can use the same mini-app to pay the bus fare that they would use in Xi’an.

One bus that travellers might find useful is bus no. 1010, which runs between Feng River Forest Park Station on Metro Line 1 and Qingong Station on Metro Line 14. By taking this bus, you can travel between the western and eastern parts of the city without going through Xi’an.

title: Xianyang


text:
Xiaogan

Xiaogan (孝感; Xiàogǎn) is a city in northwest Hubei Province, central China. It borders Wuhan City, Hankou area, around 40 km from Wuhan Tianhe Airport and 60 km from Central Wuhan City.

Get in
If you are in North Wuhan Hankou or Hanyang Area, take the Wuhan Metro to Hankou station or Tianhe Airport station. from either of the station, you can take a CHR train to Xiaogan Railway Station East. then you arrive in the east of Xiaogan Xiaonan District. it only takes less than 30 mins to arrive Xiaogan, if you start from Tianhe Airport, 15 mins is enough.

But if you are in South Wuhan Wuchang Area, You can take the train from Wuchan Railway Station to Xiaogan Railways Station.

Or you can take the bus from GUTIANROAD (1st) in Qiaokou District, directly to Xiaogan Bus Station.

See
From People's Square walk west to the somewhat scenic (for downtown) Houhu lake. There is supposed to be a museum north of the Square (go up Chengzhan Road about 600 meters) beside the library.

Sleep
Rooms at the Qiankun Business Hotel on Qiankun Avenue (乾坤大道) were about ¥280 in December 2022 and include breakfast.

title: Xiaogan


text:
Xidang

Xidang is a city in Northwestern Yunnan.

Understand
Xidang is located in the Mekong river valley at the altitude of 2 300 m. As Feilaisi is getting more and more touristy, some people prefer staying in Xidang before starting the Yubeng trek.

There is an ¥80 entrance fee to go to Yubeng but if you just stay in Xidang you can return the ticket and get your money back on the way out.

Get in
There is a local bus from Deqin to Xidang daily at 15:00 and from Xidang back to Deqin at 08:00. The bus takes you to Xidang village, not up to the hot springs, unless there are enough people going up. It's ¥15 from Deqin to Xidang, add ¥5–10 to go to the hot springs. Taking a minivan from Deqin is ¥150. It is also possible to hike down from Feilaisi.

Get around
Walk. The people are extremely friendly and might offer you apples or a cup of butter tea.

You can also arrange a car to go to the hot springs where the Yubeng trek starts.

See
There is a nice temple (Bajiu) down by the Mekong river with two large stupas and 108 small ones. From the temple you can walk down to a beach by the river and then back to the path over the cliffs. There are also ruins of an old tower. Or you can admire the mighty Mekong from a walking bridge.

Don't be fooled by the name of hot springs. There are no pool like springs but there are cottages with showers and the water comes from a hot spring. If the weather is cloudy, it is the only option to have a hot shower as the guesthouses use solar water heaters.

Do
Hiking is pretty much the only option. You can hike to Mingyong (there is a path, don't walk the main road), Yubeng, a couple of viewing places (you can see Yubeng, holy waterfall and glacier lake from one spot) and Ninong.

Maybe you can help the locals working on their fields. Also a nice place to relax, enjoy the quiet and watch mountains, maybe read a book in the sunshine.

Buy
Caterpillar fungus, matsutake and snow lotus.

The village has a few small shops to buy snacks, drinks and cigarettes but nothing fresh.

Eat
The guesthouses serve food but there aren't any restaurants.

Sleep
There are a few guest houses in the village and one at the hot springs.

Go next
The public bus to Deqin leaves at 08:00 from the village or hire a minivan.

title: Xidang


text:
Xidi

Xidi (西递; Xīdì) is a village in Anhui Province in China. Together with Hongcun, it is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as "Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui".

Get in
Tourist buses from the bus terminal next to Huangshan North railway station stop at Xidi en route to Hongcun. In Xidi, the tourist information centre near the ticket office sells bus tickets and guides you to the bus stop when the bus is coming.

From the Huangshan bus station, there are minibuses to Hongcun, but for Xidi it may be necessary to transfer. Ask the drivers.

You can also get to Xidi by bus or taxi from Tunxi (taxi ¥150-180)

Get around
Cars are not permitted on the old streets of the village, so walking is the only way to get around.

See
Xidi is a nice old and charming village full of ancient buildings, narrow streets, and no cars. During the daytime many Chinese tourists groups are walking around but they are less common than they are in Hongcun. Besides tourists, you will see many art students painting pictures everywhere. During night is much more silent.

Admission to the village is ¥105, but the attractions inside are free. There are many entrances to the village, nearly all of which have someone to check your ticket, but tickets are only sold at the west entrance.

Eat
There are many small restaurants found within Xidi. Often you can walk into the kitchen and choose the ingredients of your dish. Tip: ask for the price when you order to avoid surprises after ordering the bill.

Go next
Huangshan is one of China's most spectacular mountains.

The valley between Hongcun and Tachuan is colourful around late October and early November.

The area also has other small old villages that are quite pleasant, but far less crowded (and harder to get to) than Hongcun or Xidi.

,

title: Xidi


text:
Xigatse

Xigatse (日喀则; Rìkāzé - Tibetan: གཞིས་ཀ་རྩ), also spelled Shigatse, is the second largest city in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is 3,800 meters above sea level.

Understand
With a population of about 50,000, it is an important trading and administrative center.

Get in
Located at the intersection of several highways, the city of Xigatse is positioned on the Friendship Hwy. Buses and Mini-buses travel the distance from Lhasa. There is public transportation to Gyantse, Lhatse, Sakya, Dromo, Gampa and Khangmar on a semi-regular basis.

Shigatse Peace Airport opened for public service in November 2010, when a 532 million yuan expansion was completed. On 30 October 2010, the airport was opened as the fifth civilian airport in Tibet. The airport is 45 km away from Shigatse city.

There are several daily trains from Lhasa, taking just under three hours. is located south of the city.

Get around
All sites of interest are within easy walking distance. Auto-rickshaws are also available.

See

 * Tashilhunpo Monastery. The traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas. It was constructed in 1447 and is where the Panchen Lamas resided and conducted their religious and secular duties. Covering a floorspace of 300,000 square meters, the monastery is enshrined with the world's largest gilded bronze Buddhist statue, the 22.4 meter high statue of Maitreya Buddha.
 * The free market and the gift market in Old Town
 * The ruins of the Xigatse Fortress

Eat
Lots of restaurants around Samdup Hotel

Sleep
Accommodation in Xigatse is more expensive than in Lhasa and there are only a few budget options.

Budget

 * Fruit Hotel - located across from Tashilhunpo Monastery
 * Tenzin Hotel - located across from gift market in Old Town below Shigatse Dzong
 * Tenzin Hotel - located across from gift market in Old Town below Shigatse Dzong

Go next
Xigatse is one of the best places in Tibet to pick up a travel permit, issued at the police station with only an hour or two of waiting. The permit is valid for anyplace in Xigatse Prefecture that you specify. That allows you to go up to the border with Nepal. Interesting places to visit in Xigatse Prefecture include Sakya, Gyantse, Mount Everest, and Tingri.

title: Xigatse


text:
Xigatse (prefecture)

Xigatse prefecture (日喀则地区; Rìkāzé Dìqū) is in Central Tibet. It has numerous places of interest for tourists, and has good public transportation by Tibetan standards.

Cities, Towns and Villages

 * - the capital, and the only real city in the prefecture.
 * - the fourth largest city in Tibet. Home to a famous stupa.
 * - town located at Nepal border
 * - a minor town with little tourist interest, but important as a transportation hub as it is final destination for all public transportation in the direction of Mount Kailash and Nepal. There are a few guest houses and several shops.
 * - site of 'Milarepa's cave'.
 * - a large village with an important old monastery.
 * - launching point for the landrover trip to Qomolangma National Nature Reserve.
 * - the closest town on the "highway" to Nepal and Mount Everest. It offers a wide, but simple choice of accommodation and is a good place to view Mount Everest. With camping equipment, it's also possible to trek to Everest back camp - a journey of about four days.
 * - the closest town on the "highway" to Nepal and Mount Everest. It offers a wide, but simple choice of accommodation and is a good place to view Mount Everest. With camping equipment, it's also possible to trek to Everest back camp - a journey of about four days.

By plane
Xigatse Peace Airport is located 43 km from Shigatse city, It has flights to Chengdu, Shanghai and Xi'an.

See

 * . A reserve spanning the foothills of the northern side of Mount Everest.
 * . A sacred monastery near Everest with a magnificent view of the north face of Everest.
 * Nyalam Pelgyeling Monastery, 10 km north of the village of Nyalam. A monastery built around a cave where the enlightened yogi Milarepa (1040-1123) and his disciple Rechungpa spent many years in meditation.

title: Xigatse (prefecture)