XIAN 3 DAYS HIGHLIGHTS

Xian - 3,000 years old, the city is a vital element in the history of China. Here the dramas of more than a dozen Chinese dynasties unfolded. Everything originating from Xian had a
far-reaching influence on the course of China's development.

In Xian, Zhou Dynasty aristocrats instituted rites and composed music while making offerings to gods and ancestors and inscribed their laws in bronze ware and stone tablets, many of which remain to this day. From here the Qin army eliminated six rival states and initiated the first centralized autocracy in Chinese history and Han and Tang monarches established their capital. This was the eastern terminus of the elebrated Silk Road and an oriental metropolis thronging with visitors and merchants from every nook and corner of the world.

Day 1. Arrival

Arrival in Xian will be in the afternoon. Meet by PC Tours Representatives and transfer to the hotel in air conditioned bus.

Welcome ceremony at City Wall The City Wall of Xian built in the third year of Hongwu Reign of the Ming Dynasty forms a boundary 14km long. On each side is a gateway, and over each stand three towers. At each of the four corners is a watch tower, and the top of the wall is punctuated with defensive towers. The wall is 12 metres high and 18 metres wide at its base, so wide that functions and small fairs are held on it and it makes a splendid scenic stroll.

The ceremony for welcoming guests into Xian city is in ancient style, re-enacting the highly courteous procedures of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. When the guests come to the North Gate, 'warriors' in armour on both sides shout 'open the door' and slowly push its two heavy vermilion halves. To ancient music, the 'rite officials', guided by 'maids' holding lamps in hands, welcome the guests at the open gate, offer them 'welcoming wine' and issue the 'officials pass documents' to every guest. Theguests, guided by the 'officials' and 'maids', enter the city by walking along a red carpet. Dancing maids trip alongside to give a warm welcome. The 'officials' affix the vermilion city seal to the 'official pass documents'. By all this, guests feel as if they were back in the time of the Tang, enjoying the elegance of its culture.

Guests move on to The Bell Tower. This is a four-square structure in the centre of Xian that you enter through an underpass on the north side and then ascend to a gallery which goes all around. A bell tower was first constructed in the late 14th century, but was rebuilt at the present location in 1739 during the Qing Dynasty. A large iron bell in the tower used to mark the time each day and the opening and closing of the Wall gates.

There will be a 'dumpling dinner' at the Dafa Chang Restaurant which was established in 1936. It specializes in a range of stuffed dumplings originally created in palaces and mansions. Prepared by steaming, boiling and frying, their big attraction is the combination of colour, flavour, taste and shape.

Guests can take a walk around the Moslem Quarter, the backstreets to the north and west of the Great Mosque which have been home to the city's Hui community for centuries. The narrow laneways are lined with old butcher shops, sesame oil factories and smaller mosques hidden behind enormous wooden doors. Throughout the streets and lanes are numerous food stalls featuring local delicacies and snacks.

DAY 2.

Breakfast will be taken at the hotel.

The party will drive to the site of the Terracotta Warriors.

The Terracotta Warriors stand about 1,500 metres east of the Tomb of Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China, a perpetually vigilant force standing guard over the ancient imperial necropolis since 210BC. Burying a live armed guard had been discontinued so figurines were used instead although the emperor was still supposed to have had 3,000 wives and concubines interred alive to accompany him into eternity.

In 1974 peasants digging a well uncovered the major archaeological discovery of the 20th century: an underground vault of earth and timber that eventually yielded thousands of life-size terracotta soldiers and their horses in battle formation. The 6,000 terracotta figures of warriors and horses face east in a rectangular battle array. Each figure differs in facial features and expression. The horsemen are shown wearing tight-sleeved outer robes, short coats of chain mail and windproof caps. The archers have bodies and limbs positioned in strict accordance with an ancient book on the art of war. Nothing you can see in photography of this site does justice to the reality, especially in the details of the figures and the expressions on the faces of the warriors.

Lunch will be taken at a local restaurant.

After lunch the party will visit the Big Goose Pagoda, located in Daci'en Temple, south of Xian, and built in 652AD. It is 64 meters high with seven stories. It is one of the landmarks of Xian. It was built to house the Buddhist scriptures brought back from India by travelling monk Xuan Zang, who then set about translating them into 1335 Chinese volumes. The impressive, fortress-like wood-and-brick building rises 64 metres. You can climb to the top for a view of the countryside and the city.

After this visit, guests return to the hotel. Dinner will be held at the Tang Dynasty Restaurant, a grand exotic dinner theatre restaurant in the centre of Xian. This richly decorated venue with its army of smiling staff serves superb Cantonese food and stages for diners the most elaborate costumed shows featuring the dance and music of the Tang dynasty from the 7th to the 10th - centuries AD.

DAY 3. Hang Yangling, Departure

Breakfast will be taken at the hotel.

The party will be transferred to airport with stop at Han Yangling Museum en route.

Hang Yangling is the joint tomb of the fourth emperor Jing Di of the Western Han Dynasty and his empress Wang. The project started in 153BC and was completed in 126BC. In 1999, based on the excavation and research at the Yangling Mausoleum, the Han Yangling Archaeological Museum was established. Two huge burial mounds at Emperor's tomb is in the west are 31m high while the Empress's tomb is in the east with a burial mound 25.5m high. There are 81 subordinate pits radiating from the burial mound of the Emperor's tomb and 28 from that of the Empress's tomb. Han Yangling is up to now the western Han Dynasty's most intact imperial mausoleum ever found. It is well laid-out tomb and regularly laid out subordinate pits, the satellite tombs and ceremonial buildings are quite typical in the construction of the royal tombs of ancient China. The excavation of 11 pits to the northeast of the Emperor's tomb has yielded a large number of relics such as, daily necessities, miniature granaries, weapons, chariots and horses, clothed pottery figures and animals, chops, lutes and many other valuable relics, vividly representing the imperial court culture of the Western Han Dynasty.

Special arrangements can be made to site not open to the public including shanxi archeological research institute, mural vault of the shaanxi historical museum and Pit#5 of the terra-cotta warriors museum.