Independent Tour of Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum

The famous Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum is located in Lintong district, about one hour's drive from Xian city center. 

How to visit Terracotta Army from Xi'an? 
There are two direct buses from the city center to the museum. One is bus No. 307 departing from the south gate of the Tang Paradise. The other is tourist bus No. 5 (306) departing from 纺织城 (Fangzhicheng, refers to textile city in Chinese), which is also the departure station of Subway Line 1. Tourist bus No. 5 (306) runs from the railway station to the museum at intervals of 15 minutes, between 07:00 and 19:00. It is a large white bus operated by the state-run bus company. The buses are clean and comfortable with air-conditioner; their drivers and conductors are in blue-black uniforms. There are several stops including the Lishan Mountain Cable Car Station, Huaqing Hot Spring, and finally the museum. 

To have the best part of a Xi'an day tour, you'd better arrive at Xian or left your hotel in the early morning: 
If you reach Xi'an by high-speed train, you will arrive at 北客站 (Beikezhan, the North Railway Station), where you can easily take Subway Line 2 and transfer to Subway Line 1 at 北大街 (Beidajie, refers to the North Street in Chinese), which will take you to 纺织城 (Fang Zhi Cheng) where you can take the tourist bus No.5 (306) to the Terra-Cotta Warrior Museum. The whole trip takes about 2 hours and car fare is CBY 11.

If you start from 火车站 (Huochezhan, Xi'an Railway Station), you can walk southward about 1,100 meters to reach 五路口 (Wulukou), where you can take Subway Line 1 to 纺织城 (Fangzhicheng) and get on the tourist bus No.5 (306). The whole journey takes about 110 minutes and the car fare is CNY 9. In the front square of Xi'an Railway Station, there are also many minibuses traveling to Lintong, the town where Terra-Cotta Warrior Museum is located. But they are not well maintained and operated.

The bus terminates at the parking lot of the museum, and you can easily find the ticket office. It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the ticket office to the entrance of the museum; a battery powered cart at a cost of CNY5 per person is also available. The entrance fee for the museum is CNY150 in peak season and CNY120 in low season. As the historical background of the terracotta army is a little complicated, it is suggested that visitors hire a guide to show them around and to deliver a detailed explanation.

The museum covers 16,300 square meters in three sections, Pit No.1, Pit No.2 and Pit No.3. After going through the entrance, you will face Pit No.1. It is the largest and the first pit excavated. Thousands of pottery soldiers and chariots are arrayed in the pit. Pit No. 2 is just to the east of Pit No.1, and Pit No. 3 is to the north of Pit No. 2. After visiting the three pits, you don’t want to miss the Exhibition Hall. There, the exquisite Bronze Chariot and Horses are on show. To the south of Pit No. 1, you will find the cinema with a 360º screen. There, a movie played in a continuous loop introduces the history of the Qin Dynasty, including the manufacturing procedure, subsequent damage, discovery, and repair of the pottery soldiers, and exhibition.

Two to three hours are recommended for visiting Terracotta Army. There are many restaurants outside the museum, but most are tourist restaurants with low service and food quality. For westerners, the fast-food restaurants like KFC and Subway are better choices. If interested, you can sample a famous local dish called 肉夹馍 (Roujiamo, aka Chinese hamburger).

Since 2010, the ticket price for the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum includes entrance to the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, 1.5 kilometers away. If you are interested in it, you can have a look at this mausoleum of China's first emperor after visiting Terracotta Army. There are free shuttle buses traveling between these two sites. The mausoleum park is very large, so most visitors choose to take the battery carts at fare of CNY8 per person to travel around the park.