Traveler Reviews

• Petal502016 13-Jan-2020

  We had a wonderful day with Tina Yang who was at the airport greeting us with a smile. She was ready to take us to which ever of the activities we wished. She took us to a local restaurant to eat prior to heading off to see the 3 pits of the Terra Cotta warriors. We saw the winter Palace of the king and the City Wall of Xi'an. She even came in to the airport to make sure were checked in.

• Kktraveller78 13-Dec-2019

  Our family of four with two young daughters (aged 11, 8) had the most fantastic day in Xian with Rosa as out tour guide. We were very crunched for time in Xian and had planned to arrive at 08:30 in the morning via the sleeper train from Beijing and to fly out from Xian the same evening. Rosa picked us from the train station, helped us find vegetarian breakfast before heading out to see the Terracotta warriors. On the way there she gave us fantastic historical information taking the time to answer the numerous questions from our children! At the museum itself, Rosa guided us really well making sure we got the best views and understood the significance of the things we were seeing. She was patient with us as we ate lunch at the museum and flexed our tour to make sure we saw the best of everything. She then took us to Muslim street where to our amazement and our daughters' delight got fridge magnets (with our daughters' photo from the terracotta museum) delivered to her. She then accompanied us to the airport and stayed till we entered the security checkin to ensure we got on our flight in time. Rosa's thoughtfulness, care and organisation meant we had the most fantastic experience in Xian without a single hiccup. Thank you Rosa!

• Richard T 03-Dec-2019

  I was fortunate to have a free day in Xi'an and opted to book a private tour of the Terracotta Warriors along with airport transfers. My guide Nana was a bundle of joy and information. Very passionate and didn't get phased by the chilly weather. Not only did I get to see the warriors museum but we also spent some time walking the City Wall as well as a 'shuffle' down the Muslim Market - which was an interesting assault on the senses :) Overall - highly recommended :)

• Ben W 14-Oct-2019

  We were picked up from our hotel in Xi'an, visited both the Qin's Terracotta army Museum and the Hanyangling Museum and were dropped off when the tour ended at the airport. Linda, our guide, was very knowledgeable and professional! We had a great day, and would recommend this tour to anyone!

• Pinktam574 07-Oct-2019

  The setup before we left Australia was easy and Mason was very accomodating with any information we needed. The tour itself was awesome and our tour guide Lisa was exceptional. We had teenagers with us and the early morning start was difficult but definitely worth it to save us a days travel and overnight accomodation. thank you very much!

• Glenda C 17-Sep-2019

  Very efficient tour to an amazing site. Rosa was friendly and helpful and knew the best places to move around the museum and take photos.She spoke good English and gave us a great understanding of the history of the site and could answer all our questions. Hotel pick up was on-time and well organised.

• Howard0102 06-Sep-2019

  I erased all my emails and had to go back and find this one. Eddie is a very hard worker. He is very informative about the tour, he was very helpful. When I was leaving he actually got out of the car(which he didnt have to) came into the train station and help with the the language barrier, and got me on the correct train. Eddie you mad my trip very easy for me It was exactly what I wanted, and that was great...... Thank you Eddie.. P.S. You want great professional service -----> ASK FOR EDDIE Keep in touch

• Sillysweetandsour 25-Aug-2019

  Really enjoyed this tour. We had peace of mind from the beginning as we contacted the company via WeChat to ask a few questions. The deposit was paid via PayPal for added peace of mind. They also pre-booked our tickets to the Terra-cotta warriors to ensure we didn’t miss out (there is a max number of tickets sold per day). Our tour guide James was friendly, knowledgeable and flexible. He realised we were more interested in history and culture, so he shared much more about XiAn than we expected to learn. He also recommended a restaurant and some local dishes which were delicious and well priced. Our driver MrChen was calm, and knew the roads well so we were never far away from where we needed to be. Highly recommend booking with these lovely people!

• Paulmedin 20-Aug-2019

  We had a great experience from start to finish. Firstly The warriors themselves are stunning and a trip should be made on a trip to Xian as it’s a must see sight. The company were very communicative after booking regarding pick up locations, times and name of our guide. Our guide Tina met us in our hotel at the agreed time. We travelled in a modern air conditioned vehicle and as well as the Terracotta warriors we could choose two other sites and a place for lunch. Tina was very friendly and had a great sense of humour. She was also very professional and knowledgeable with regards the history of the places we visited. Tina also took us to a great noodle bar which we both enjoyed very much. I would recommend this company and Tina

• Dm_dxb 16-Aug-2019

  Background: We were holidaying in Chengdu when, at short notice I decided to visit Xi'an with my wife and daughter - both Chinese speaking, I am not. Having researched, largely through TripAdvisor, I concluded that we needed a bilingual guide for terracotta warriors as that was the main point of the trip. By short notice - I mean the following day! After looking extensively at the reviews I decided to book via terracottawarriorstour.com Why did I choose them? Because they had an overwhelmingly positive set of reviews from non-chinese speakers, and the small number of negative reviews ( everyone will have some...) seemed to be in circumstances that would be mitigated by the fact we have native Chinese in our party. Also, although my wife thought they are expensive (of course a local can always come up with cheaper option for anything using WeChat), I was reassured by the fact that their price list is published on the web site. And my wife's'wechat options' unsurprisingly had recommendations from Chinese people. I wanted a 'western viewpoint' Lastly, being in the professional services business myself, I know that paying a premium doesn't necessarily guarantee success but it typically improves the odds. The price differentials between tour guide options are miniscule compared with the overall cost of our holiday but could have a disproportionately large impact on our enjoyment. The Booking Experience: Very easy. I chose to communicate via WeChat but follow up conversations were by email. I actually did all the booking while we were on the train from Chengdu! We still hadn't decided how many days we would be in Xi'an or what hotel we'd stay in but Olivia ( you never know when doing stuff on the internet who you are actually dealing with! I decided to live with the image of a charming young waif - could have been her grandfather for all I know), anyway the operator was patient, flexible and responsive. By the time we had checked in our hotel at 5pm, I had the phone number of our guide, David, who would pick us up at 7.30 following morning The days proceedings: Sure enough, bang on 7.30 David met us and his driver took the 4 of us in a very comfortable SUV out to the warriors' site. There are enough reviews describing the detail of the museum. Suffice it to say, the whole experience was awesome. As I remarked to my Facebook friends: Imagine being in an aircraft hanger the size of Wembley football pitch. There are 10s of thousands of figures - they all look the same, but close up you see that, in fact, none of them are actually identical! And those were just the tourists!😂😂 As for the exhibition, Yes! Well worth getting up at 6.30. as it was the place was crowded. Another half hour and it would be packed with massive queues. Excellent English speaking guide. Car, logistics etc all very comfortable. Amazing history behind the 8,000 figures, horses, chariots, archers and infantrymen. Emperor Qin Shi Huang had them facing east since that's where he believed his enemies were. And the story of the farmer digging a well in 1974 who chanced across some broken pieces of pottery. Fascinating stuff and worth putting Xi'an on any China itinerary..." The Guide: I think the tour guide industry works here the same as in Dubai. Guides are licensed but quality may vary. So you might get a particular guide via several different agencies. By choosing terracottawarriorstour.com, my logic was that I had high chance of getting a good one. My strategy worked! David is a native of Xi'an with 20 years experience as a tour guide. It's his full time job. He knows his stuff - he answered every question with authority (including a couple I cheekily asked when I already knew the answer) and he was entertaining without being showy/salesy in any way. He was educated in international affairs and we had interesting discussions on a wide range of topics. He managed to keep English conversation going with me while also updating in Chinese for my family. David clearly had a routine to follow - he has clearly been to the museum many times, but was flexible in allowing us to dictate the pace and modify the agenda. I can't recommend him too highly. A perfect 10. Addendum: We had only booked for a half day. Having 2 Chinese in our party we didn't need a guide tobtakevus around the city sights. But what we did benefit from was his advice about how to spend the rest of the day. We asked where to eat local food - not in the tourist traps. "Where do you take your wife on your wedding anniversary?" "Pizza hut" was the cheeky reply. But he then followed up with a great recommendation of a local restaurant in the wanfujing shopping centre near our hotel. But THE BEST piece of advice was for us to see a particular show: "The Legend of the Camels Bell". We went. It's a 1 hour show. It is awesome. First suprise. The theatre is round and the set changes are effected by rotating the auditorium (all 3,000 seats). Quite disorientating at first - you think the stage is moving, but actually you are. The story is about the development of the silk road. It charts the fortunes of a group of families as they travel from the middle East to China. The tale lasts an hour with about 10 set changes. It's a spectacular dance show that Cecil B de Mille would be proud of, but the theatrical effects include a caravan of 20 live camels, 30 wolves who enter the auditorium and run down the isles before fighting on stage; a 15 meter high Buddha emerging from the ground, a 20m torrential waterfall, a 12m volcano - all wrapped up in spectacular costume and choreography. I think that about covers our day in Xi'an!