My sessions end at four in the afternoon. Can the first day really start that day?

Yes, and that is what the plan is built around. Your driver waits at the venue or the hotel, whichever you name, from the afternoon the sessions close, and the first evening is the food street and the lit avenue. Nothing before that afternoon is part of this plan: your conference nights, your conference-period arrangements and your arrival pickup are separate and are not charged here.

I may still be working that first evening.

Then tell us before you book. Day one runs from late afternoon into the night, so this plan is sold only to guests whose sessions are finished and whose evening is free. If your evening is not free, we take the evening segment out and price the plan again without it. What we will not do is sell you an evening you cannot use.

I have already been in China for a week for the fair. Is this still inside my visa-free window?

It depends on your numbers, and we work them out before you pay rather than after. The 30 days are counted from the day after you entered, not from day one of this plan, so we take three facts first: your entry date, the closing date of your fair and your onward flight. Entry date plus conference days plus these three days has to land inside 30 days. If it does not, we tell you before payment and we do not sell the order. There is no workaround we would offer you here.

A whole day at the Terracotta Warriors. Is that too long?

About three and a half hours are spent at the pits themselves; the rest of the day is the round trip out of the city and back, and lunch. Putting anything else into the same day is what makes this site feel rushed, so we do not. The gain is concrete: your guide has time to walk you through the ranks until you can separate a general from a crossbowman yourself, and you leave when you are finished rather than when the schedule is.

Can I book a departure in December?

Not yet. Day one is an outdoor evening from start to finish, and Xi'an evenings in November and December are cold. Two things are still open: the winter operating hours and lighting schedule at Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City, and the cold-weather arrangement for that evening, either an indoor substitute or a shorter outdoor stretch. We will not take your money for an evening we cannot yet describe. What you can do now: tell us your fair dates and we write to you the day those dates open, and the rest of the plan, the pits and the museum morning, is unaffected either way.

Underground and After Dark

Overview

You did not come to Xi'an to travel. You came for a fair, the sessions close on a weekday afternoon, and your flight home is three days later. This plan starts that afternoon. The first evening goes to a food street and a lit avenue, because that is the hour a city stops working and starts eating. The second day belongs to the Terracotta Warriors and to nothing else: one site, one day, the round trip included. The third morning puts what came out of that ground at eye level, then a workbench, then the airport. One city, two nights, no flight in between. By the first hour you'll notice the badge has stayed in your bag.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us the closing date of your fair, your flight home and how many of you there are. First reply within 4 hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day. On this route we will also tell you plainly, before you are asked for anything, where the confirmation time and the change terms stand, and whether your dates fit inside your 30 days.

Why you'll love this trip

Your spare days, used well. A food street, a lit avenue, a museum hall and a shadow puppet bench, with an English-speaking guide throughout.
3 days from a conference badge to an army underground. See the city underneath.

Walk out of your last session and be on a food street two hours later, one street off the visitor run, with your guide reading the stalls for you: the walk and the guide are in the base price, what you eat is on your account.
Give one day to one thing: the Terracotta Warriors get the whole of day two, admission and the round trip in the base price, and you leave the pits without once having checked the time.
Stand at the rail above an estimated eight thousand men and be able, by the end of the morning, to pick a general out of them by the way his hair is tied.
Spend the last morning with what came out of that ground, then an hour and a half at a shadow puppet bench with your own hands in it, and still be at the airport in the afternoon.
Be collected at the venue door, unpack once for two nights, and see no airport, no station and no second hotel until you fly home: From 1 guest.

Things to do

We are loading the host-led experiences for the second half of the page.

Itinerary

Arrivals

Xi'an · Day 1 - Day 3

Day 1 · Badge off, street on

Your last session ends and the car is at the door. Tonight the city stops working at the same hour you do.

Collection at your venue Your driver and vehicle wait at the venue or the hotel, whichever you named on your confirmation, from the afternoon the sessions close. Everything before that afternoon, including your conference nights and your arrival airport pickup, sits outside this plan.

Sajinqiao About two hours on the food lanes, one street off the visitor route, with your guide reading the stalls and ordering for you. Stand at the mouth of the lane while a length of dough is pulled out to arm's width and slapped down on the board, twice, three times, before it goes into the water. Twenty minutes in, you'll notice you have not once reached for your phone. What you eat is on your account.

Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City About two hours walking a lit avenue after dark, your guide with you the whole way. Stop halfway and look back along it: the lights run away from you in both directions and the crowd moves at walking pace, nobody going to work. Whatever is sold inside is on your account.

Your first evening This plan commits it end to end, which is why it is sold only to guests whose sessions have finished. Need that evening for work? Tell us before you book and we take the evening segment out and price the plan again without it.

Day 2 · One site, one day

The pits get the whole day and the vehicle stays with you for it. This is the day you will be describing at home.

Out to the site The Terracotta Warriors sit outside the city, and your private vehicle runs the round trip with you and waits. Nothing else is scheduled today, so the drive back is not a rush and you leave the site when you are finished with it.

The pits An estimated eight thousand figures stand in the ground in ranks. Your guide reads them for you: armor tells you one thing and the way the hair is tied tells you another, and between them you learn to separate a general from a crossbowman from an infantryman without being told which is which. In the newer excavation areas, look for pigment still surviving on the surface of some figures. Standing at the rail you'll hear yourself drop your voice, the way everyone at the rail does.

Shaanxi noodle lunch About an hour, booked by your guide at a local noodle house, on your account. Wheat country food eaten in wheat country: the bowl in front of you is what people here eat on a working day.

Day 3 · Out of the ground, into a case

The morning is what came out of ground like yesterday's. Then a workbench, then the airport.

Shaanxi History Museum About two and a half hours in the provincial museum for Shaanxi. Yesterday the ground was open in front of you and everything was at the far end of a rail; this morning what came out of ground like it is at eye level, behind glass, at the distance you read a book. Admission is booked by us, so you walk in on your own schedule.

Xi'an shadow puppetry workshop About an hour and a half at a bench with the puppets in your hands: translucent figures jointed at the limbs, driven with rods from behind a lit screen so that what the audience gets is the shadow and not the figure. You work them yourself. A few minutes in, you'll feel how much wrist it takes to make a small figure walk like a person.

Airport drop-off Your driver takes you to the airport in the afternoon, timed to your flight with room to spare. Tell us your flight number when you book and the morning is set around it rather than against it.

Departures

Free PDF

Read it on your own time

We'll send this itinerary guide to your inbox for free.

No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime.

Hotels

Hotel pairings continue loading right after the upper journey sections.

Included / Excluded

What's Included

Private vehicleAir-conditioned private vehicle for all listed touring, including the round trip out to the Terracotta Warriors site and back; collection at your venue or hotel on day one; airport drop-off on day three afternoon. This is a single-city plan, so there is no inter-city transport leg and no cabin class to state
Hotel2 nights in Xi'an at your chosen level, four-star, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included. Hotels named in your written confirmation
GuideLicensed English-speaking guide, all three days
MealsTwo hotel breakfasts, on day two and on day three. Two breakfasts, and no other meal: every other meal on this plan is on your account and the meal-by-meal list is in Not Included below
AdmissionsTerracotta Warriors admission · Shaanxi History Museum admission. Both in the base price, booked by us
ExperiencesThe Sajinqiao food walk with your guide, walking and interpretation · the Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City evening walk with your guide · the Xi'an shadow puppetry workshop. All three in the base price
InsuranceTravel accident insurance

Not Included

Flights and everything before day oneYour flight home, and everything before day one as well: conference-period hotel, conference-period arrangements, arrival airport pickup
Meals, meal by mealDay 1 dinner, including everything eaten on the Sajinqiao food street · day 2 lunch, the Shaanxi noodle meal · day 2 dinner · day 3 lunch. These are recommended and booked by your guide, on your account
Spending inside any sitePaid performances, paid halls, in-site rides or shuttles and personal spending inside any place on this plan. Souvenirs count as personal spending. This applies to every place alike, whether or not it is named above
Optional add-onsNone on sale at present. Anything extra is priced when you choose it and is never added by default
PersonalVisas, gratuities, single supplement, personal spending

Special Notes

A few things on this route follow the calendar, the season or a supplier's confirmation. Here they are, told straight.

November and December departures are not open yet 11 — day one is an outdoor evening from start to finish, and Xi'an evenings in November and December are cold. Two things have to be settled first: the winter operating hours and lighting schedule at Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City, and the cold-weather arrangement for that evening, meaning either an indoor substitute or a shorter outdoor stretch. Until both are settled and written into this page, we take no November or December order and no deposit for those dates. October departures are on sale as written above.
No departures October 1 to 7 — the national holiday week is when visitor numbers at the Terracotta Warriors site run at their heaviest. We do not sell a departure into that week rather than sell you a queue.
The last departure this season is December 29, 2026 — the current visa-free policy runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is a three-day plan, a December 29 departure still finishes inside that window. Later departure dates are quoted only once the official renewal is published.
Your 30 days are counted from your entry, not from day one 30 — you entered China for the fair, so the clock started well before this plan does. Every quote starts from three facts taken before any payment: your entry date, the closing date of your conference or fair, and your onward flight. We add your entry date, your conference days and these three days together and check the total against your 30 days. If it runs past 30 days, we say so before you pay and we do not sell the order.
Not sold in the United States or Canada — our gateway records show no direct air link between Xi'an and either market, so we cannot stand behind entry and exit for a plan that begins and ends here. This holds at the venue too: there is no on-the-spot exception for a walk-up guest from those two markets.
The first evening is fully committed — day one runs from late afternoon into the evening, so this plan is sold only to guests whose sessions have finished and who have no work that night. If you need that evening, we take the evening segment out and price the plan again without it.
Confirmation time and change terms are being finalized — the commitment on how fast we confirm, and the change and refund terms, are being settled with our ground partners. Until they are, every quote states in writing the confirmation deadline for that order together with its change and refund conditions, and no order is taken without them in writing. One structural fact worth knowing while those terms are set: this route is single-city with no inter-city transport, so a date change touches only hotel and reservation inventory.
Hotels — the named hotel list for this route is being confirmed with our partners. Until it is published here, your written confirmation is where your hotel is named, and it is named before you pay the balance.

Is Three Days Your Length?

More than three days?

The three days come apart cleanly. Day one stands on its own as an evening. The Terracotta Warriors day stands on its own as a full day. If your fair closes earlier than you thought, or your flight home moves, tell us the two dates and we rebuild the days between them rather than sell you the same block twice.

Good to Know

Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size.
Pace: One city, 2 nights, no travel day. Day one starts late, when your sessions are done
Effort: Museum halls and street walking, with one longer day out at the Terracotta Warriors site. Nothing on this plan involves a climb
Ports: Xi'an in, Xi'an out: the plan starts where you already are. Collection at your venue or hotel on day one, airport drop-off on day three afternoon
Visas: UK, most European, Australian and New Zealand passports enter visa-free for stays days, counted from the day after entry. Your entry date, your conference days and these three days are added up and checked against that window before you pay. Not sold in the United States or Canada
Language: Licensed English-speaking guide on all three days
Payment: From 1 guest. A 10% deposit (minimum $399) locks your dates. The balance is due 14 days before departure. "Or similar" never means a quiet downgrade
Season: Selling window October to December 2026. October departures on sale; no departures October 1 to 7; last departure this season December 29, 2026. November and December departures are not open yet, see Special Notes

Your Private Concierge

Jason Hu

Private China Route Concierge

“A bilingual planning desk for tailor-made China journeys.”

Our China team tunes pacing, hotels and local hosts around each route style.

20+

Years

300+

Trips Designed

24/7

On-Trip Care

Step 01

Tell us what excites you

Not your dates and budget — your curiosity. Where have you always wanted to go? What do you want to feel? We start there.

24h

First concept delivered

Step 02

We design it around you

Your specialist builds the itinerary from scratch — routes, hosts, hotels, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.

100%

Bespoke, never off-the-shelf

Step 03

Lock it in with 10%

When the plan feels right, a 10% deposit holds your entire trip. Balance due 30 days before departure.

10%

Deposit to secure everything

Step 04

Travel. We handle the rest.

Your Trip Pack arrives before you fly. On the road, your concierge is one message away — for the expected and everything you didn't plan for.

24/7

Support throughout your journey

Free cancellation up to 30 days

English-speaking concierge

Secure payment via Stripe

Guest Reviews

Verified reviews are loading now.

China Ready

Travel prep guidance is loading now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common planning answers are loading now.

Underground and After Dark

Overview

Why you'll love this trip