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| Emperor Qing Shi Huang Statute Bimanyong (Terra Cotta Army Museum) Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China |
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| Terra Cotta Warriors Binmayong, Lintong District, Xi'an |
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| Big Wild Goose Pagoda Xi'an, Shaanxi |
Day 2 Thursday August 28 2025 (Xi'an, Shaanxi) - spent our day visiting the Terra Cotta Army Museum (Bingmayong), Huaqing Palace (external visit only) & The Big Wild Goose Pagoda & Water Fountain Show. My past visits to Xi'an were in 2006, 2012, 2015 & 2017 - glad that I could show up & re-visited the major touristy places in Xi'an in this trip. Major touristy places I visited in Xi'an in the past were:
- Bingmayong (twice)
- Hua Shan
- Huaqinggong Relic Site
- Famen Si
- Big Goose Pagoda
- Small Goose Pagoda
- Ancient City Wall of Xi'an
- Bell & Drum Tower
- Shaanxi History Museum
- Xi'an Museum
- Forest of Steles Museum
- Da Ming Palace
- Muslim Quarter
- Shu Yuan Men (Ancient Culture Street)
- Qin Shi Huang Ling
- Lintong Museum
1) Hostel buffet breakfast, Xitang Inn, Xi'an, Shaanxi - complimentary, simple breakfast menu !
2) Metro train ride from Bell Tower > Fan Zhi Cheng Metro station > Tourist shuttle bus > Bingmayong (Terra Cotta Army Museum) - information booths operated by major travel agents in prominent metro stations offer direct shuttle bus services for fee to Binmayong & Huaqing Palace.
3) After exiting the Fang Zhi Cheng Metro station, there is a direct shuttle bus (Y$5) service in front of the Metro station to Binmayong (Terra Cotta Army Museum) - so pretty straight forward in terms of using public transport services to Binmayong in Xi'an.
4) Upon arrival, a short walk towards to the Binmayong Scenic Area (passing the Binmayong Car Park) across a main road > Binmayong Visitor Center / Ticketing Counter.
5) Emperor Qin Shi Quang statute - a prominent landmark in Binmaying Scenic Area - an ideal meet up point after visiting the Binmayong Museum. Lots of publicity eg billboards, video presentations on Binmayong on site !
6) Long queue (but orderly) of visitors / tourists / day trippers heading to the Binmayong Visitor Center to queue up to buy entrance tickets.
7) Binmayong Visitor Centre - admission ticket for adults Y$120, students 1/2 price, no concession for senior citizen. My travel buddy bought a ticket to enter but not me as I had been inside the museum twice (2006 & 2017) so I relaxed my time, rest my feet at the Visitor Center watching an interesting video presentation on a story relating to Terra Cotta Army Museum background & history etc
9) Binmayong (Terra Cotta Army Museum), Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi - this world famous museum was opened to the public in 1979, the main exhibits are approx 8,000 clay warriors & horses & more than 40,000 bronze weapons found in 3 pits, the museum is the treasure house of Qin Dynasty on its military, art, technology & culture, the Terra Cotta Army, as part of the Qin First Emperor's Mausoleum was inscribed into the World Heritage list by UNESCO, it becomes a well known 8 Wonder of the World ! The pictures below were taken by my travel buddy on Terra Cotta Army Museum & site.
10) Video presentation on Terra Cotta Army Museum at the Binmayong Visitor Center - very informative & interesting to watch !
11) Shuttle bus ride from Binmayong > Huaqing Palace - as it was drizzling at the time of our visit & as I had visited this touristy place in May 2006, both of us decided to skip this visit & took a nearby metro back to Xi'an city thus ending our day visit to Binmayong - a great outcome for my travel buddy & me too ! In my past free & easy visits to Binmayong (2006, 2012, 2017), I had the pleasure of accompanying 3 of my travel buddies (brother Yuen, Choy & KC) to Lintong District, Xi'an so this place has become a familiar territory to me !
12) Huaqing Palace front entrance - drizzling at the time of our visit ! My last visit to Huaqing Palace was in May 2006, so I decided to skip entering this tourist site & move on !
13) Metro ride from Hua Qing Chi station to downtown Xi'an, Xinjiang.
14) Walkabout in City Wall Park, Xi'an, Shaanxi - Xi'an City Wall is the largest & most well preserved city wall in China that carries the historical heritage of the ancirnt capital city Chang'an City, that through her distinctive charms, unfold her greatness, magnificence & broadness to the people, and the profundity, wisdom & embracing manners an ancient capital city to the world.
Xi'an City Wall was first built in 582 ADm the 2nd year of Kai Huang in Sui Dynasty, passing through the 5 dynasties ie ong, Jin, Yuan dynasty & other periods till Hong Wu time of Ming Dynasty. The Wall was rebuilt & expanded for imperial Palace of Chang'an City during the Tang dynasty. The City Wall of Xi'an has a moat, suspension bridge, floodgate, archery tower, gate tower, turret, defending tower, parapet walls, crenel & a series of other ancient military installations, which are among the first important national protected relics & a 5A tourist attraction.
15) Yongningmen Metro Station & nearby shopping malls
16) Metro ride from Yongninmen Metro Sation > Big Goose Pagoda
17) Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, Shaanxi - a monument Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, built in 652 AD during the Tang dynasty when Xi'an was the imperial capital, the Pagoda originally had 5 stories it was rebuilt in 794 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian.
18) The magnificent looking Big Wild Goose Pagoda standing tall dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618 > 907 AD), functioned to collect Buddhist materials that were taken from India by a senior monk, Xuanzang !
19) The start of Asia's largest Water Fountain Show facing the front of Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, Shaanxi - a huge crowd at the frontline waiting for the anxious moment to watch the water fountain show till the end !
20) Water fountain show time is over, dispersal of crowd to move on enjoying the night life surrounding the Big Wild Goose Pagoda & the scenic area, it was a scenario of "people mountain people sea" along the walking paths, scary to see such a huge crowd appearing in front of you, perhaps it was time to wine & dine while the night is young !
21) The glorious Wild Goose Pagoda in the limelight of the night - the center of attention !
22) Metro train ride from Big Wild Goose Pagoda to Yongninmen Metro station nearby our hostel.
23) The ancient City Wall of Xi'an turned red - brightened up the surrounding, red signifies good luck, joy & celebration, a strong association with blood & fire, giving it primal connections to LIFE, Death & Energy ! The Red Communist Party of China is still very much alive !
24) Suyuanmen, the ancient culture street of Xi'an by night (where our hostel is located) !
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