Xi’an & Luoyang: Heritage, Kung Fu & Ancient Dress-up

After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel and escort you on a one-hour drive to the UNESCO-listed Terracotta Army Museum. World-famous as the massive burial guard troop of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang (259 - 210 BC), it boasts over 9,000 life-sized terracotta warriors and horses, crafted more than two millennia ago to accompany him into the afterlife. As you tour the three pits, you’ll be astounded to discover each soldier with unique facial features, expressions, and hairstyles. Some carry determined looks with eagle-like eyes, as if ready for combat. Others wear identical twisted buns on the right, vividly embodying the rigid military discipline of the time. A further group looks like new army recruits with young, beardless faces. Such incomparable craftsmanship may be the very reason the site is praised as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”.

★ Special Highlight 1: Family Visit to the Miracle’s Discoverer

We’ll then visit the home of one of the Terracotta Army’s discoverers. There, you may chat with him and hear the story of how he dug a well with a pickaxe to combat drought, only to discover the very first terracotta warrior.

★ Special Highlight 2: DIY Your Own Mini Terracotta Warrior

Later, follow your guide into a local workshop and craft a one-of-a-kind miniature terracotta warrior with your children. Guided by a master artisan, your kids can easily join in: press clay into a mold, demold it gently, and use a bamboo stick to carve its eyebrows, eyes, and armor. In just several steps, the most memorable souvenir of your trip will be born.

Let’s then drive back downtown and roam around the Shuyuanmen Street. Here, you’ll be overwhelmed by countless traditional items: hand-painted lacquer fans, glossy walnut bracelets, calligraphy rubbings, seal inscriptions, and ink brushes. 

Within walking distance stands the Stele Forest Museum, reputed as “China’s largest stone library”, home to over 4,000 ancient steles spanning nine centuries. Accompanied by the in-depth commentary of your gold-medal researcher guide, admire various traditional Chinese calligraphy styles, such as reserved seal script, orderly regular script, and unrestrained cursive script, while digging into the stories behind famous steles. Proceed to its new exhibition area, where your kids can copy masterpieces like the Multi-Treasure Pagoda Stele and Xuanmi Pagoda Stele via large touchscreens, feeling like little calligraphers. As their fingers interact with every stroke, they’ll marvel at the elaborate craft of stele carving.

Subsequently, round off the day with an imperial banquet and a Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show. You and your whole family will feast on traditional imperial delicacies just like ancient nobility, while leisurely enjoying a splendid historical stage play with English subtitles, which mainly consists of traditional instrumental music and classical dance performances. Finally, your guide and driver will escort you back to your hotel.

Accommodation: Eastern House Boutique Hotel, Xi’an (4 stars)
Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Dinner

In the morning, your guide and driver will meet you at your hotel lobby and then accompany you to the sought-after Shaanxi History Museum. Rated a world-class museum by UNESCO, it holds upwards of 1.7 million cultural relics spanning over a million years, with exhibits ranging from primitive stone tools to everyday items from before 1840. The highlight of your visit is the special exhibition Treasures of the Great Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Under your expert guide’s commentary, you’ll dive into the glorious Tang era through exquisite gold, silver, and jade artifacts showcasing its supreme craftsmanship. Check out the most famous Agate Cup with Animal Head, a wine vessel naturally carved along agate veins into a beast’s horn. Gazing upon its unique design may remind you of the rhyton, a prevailing equivalent in Central and West Asia.

★ Make an Authentic Chinese Hamburger by Yourself

Let’s then head to a local-favorite eatery famed for authentic Chinese hamburgers, where you’ll go from being onlookers to hands-on “chefs”. Join hands to make dough, bake buns, stuff meat, and pour rich gravy, far more interesting than just sampling the snack. This unique experience not only arouses your kids’ curiosity and creates warm family moments but also allows you to bring back a customized English recipe.

After lunch, move on to Da Ci’en Temple, with a history of over 1,350 years. Here, head straight to snap souvenir photos with one of Xi’an’s most famous landmarks, the square-shaped Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, erected on the eminent monk Xuanzang’s initiative to preserve valuable Buddhist scriptures brought back from India. Also, witness the world’s only surviving offspring of the sala tree cultivated by him.

★ Unforgettable Experience: Dress in Traditional Chinese Attire

Our last stop will be Great Tang All Day Mall, where vermilion corridors, soaring eaves, and elegant archways will instantly take you back to a flourishing ancient Chinese realm. To enrich your trip, we’ve specially included a traditional costume styling experience for you. At a nearby studio, your whole family could pick your favorite attire and enjoy premium makeup and hairstyling on the spot. Just imagine how thrilled your children will be to see everyone dressed up like ancient royalty! After that, head to the iconic Zhenguan Monument, which portrays the high-spirited emperor holding his horse reins, followed by over twenty attendants. Use it as your backdrop and pose like ancient people for breathtaking Instagram-worthy snapshots.

As the night falls, you’ll enjoy a cozy car ride back to your hotel, together with your guide and driver.

Accommodation: Eastern House Boutique Hotel, Xi’an (4 stars)
Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Today, your guide and driver will accompany you to City Wall Park, nestled between the foot of the time-honored City Wall and the calm moat that reflects swaying willows. Enjoy a laid-back stroll here and get lost in a vivid picture of local life: seniors sing rustic local opera, the young go for runs, and children play table tennis.

★ Bike around the 600-year-old Xi’an City Wall

Next, we’ll ascend the ancient City Wall, first built in 1370 AD, which is the largest and best-preserved of its kind nationwide. Riding bicycles is a popular way to sightsee the 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) circuit, so we’ve included a fantastic cycling tour for your family. If you feel concerned about kids riding alone, we can also rent you double-seater bikes. Along the critical military stronghold reinforced by successive empires, behold ancient defensive architecture, including arrow towers, drawbridges, and crenellations along the way.Afterward, your guide and driver will escort you to Xi’an’s railway station for your pleasant high-speed train journey to Luoyang. Though the train runs at 350 km/h (217 mph), carriages remain quiet and steady enough to keep a water cup motionless on the folding table as if by magic, allowing your children to experience what “racing serenity” truly means. During a short 1.5-hour ride, while you’re still soaking in the quaint charm of Xian, you’ll reach Luoyang, celebrated as the “Millennia-old Historic Capital and City of Peonies”.

Upon your arrival at Luoyang’s train station, your local guide and driver will pick you up and accompany you on a comfortable private car ride to Longmen Grottoes, carved over 1,400 years ago. This World Heritage-listed site gathers over 100,000 Buddhist statues and nearly 3,000 stone inscriptions. After appreciating the well-known Vairocana Buddha at Fengxian Temple, let’s take a close look at the sculptures of graceful flying apsaras in Guyang Cave, honored as “the First Cave of Longmen”. Clad in flowing robes and bearing musical instruments, they drift freely among clouds as if poised to soar away from the stone walls. This vibrant scene perfectly embodies the ancients’ most romantic vision for the sacred, pure land.

Eventually, let’s visit the eight-century-old Luoyang Old Town, an ideal place to witness genuine leisurely local life. Wander down old streets to browse fine handicrafts such as Tang tri-colored pottery, peony porcelain, and traditional palace lanterns, while inhaling the mouthwatering aromas of local delicacies. If you’d like to enjoy something for dinner here at your own expense, it’s recommended that you try the Luoyang Water Banquet. With a history of more than 1,300 years, it ranks alongside Longmen Grottoes and peonies as one of the “Three Wonders of Luoyang”. And your guide will be happy to help you order a few dishes from its 24 courses to your family’s tastes.

In the end, your guide and driver will escort you to your hotel in Luoyang. Sleep well!

Accommodation: Hampton by Hilton, Luoyang (4 stars)
Meal: Western buffet breakfast

This morning, after meeting your guide and driver at your hotel, enjoy a 1.5-hour drive to Shaolin Temple for an in-depth exploration of Buddhist culture and Chinese martial arts, both steeped in a history of 1,500-plus years. Here, uncover traces left by warrior monks: practice holes in ginkgo trees almost as old as the temple, deep foot pits at training sites, and Lixue Pavilion associated with the touching story of the second Zen patriarch who severed his arm to seek enlightenment. Also, don’t miss its star attraction, Pagoda Forest, a graveyard of revered monks from the 8th to the 19th century. 

★ Featured Treat 1: Admire a Kung Fu Show

Follow your guide to watch an original kung fu performance at its birthplace. Hold your breath while you see the monk’s blue veins standing out and sharp spearheads pressing against his throat. Feast your eyes on vivid animal-style boxing moves like the nimble monkey fist and the fluid snake fist. When other performers soar through the air and land firmly on the ground, your little ones may not help but cheer loudly, filled with admiration and yearning for strength and courage.

★ Featured Treat 2: Study Kung Fu

Over the next 1-2 hours, step into a real kung fu lesson with your children. A master will teach you basic Shaolin boxing forms such as the Five-step Fist and Chain Punching, allowing you to feel how fast and powerful each strike is. Master correct breathing techniques and settle your mood to comprehend the fusion of Zen and martial arts. After this wonderful class, you and your kids will be deeply impressed by the same martial spirit Bruce Lee embraced!

As your Xi’an family tour with Luoyang draws to a close, your guide and driver will see you off at the train station. Thank you for travelling with us! Should you have further travel plans, feel free to contact us to tailor your exclusive tour!► Extension Inspirations:
1. If you’d like to delve deeper into kung fu, you may stay in Luoyang for one more day. We can arrange an all-inclusive package for you at a professional martial arts school, including 2-hour training classes both in the morning and afternoon, venue use, professional coaching, accommodation, and meals.
2. If you intend to have 1 or 2 additional days in Xi’an, take your children to The Longest Day in Chang’an Theme Block for a trip back to ancient times, explore Yuanjia Folk Village for local snacks, visit Huaqing Palace and enjoy the historical drama of “Song of Everlasting Sorrow”, or quietly learn traditional calligraphy and fan painting. We can tailor the itinerary for you upon request.
3. From Xi’an, a high-speed train to Beijing or Shanghai takes 5-7 hours, while a flight takes just 2 hours; a flight to Guilin takes 2.5 hours, which allows you to plan multi-city tours effortlessly.

Meal: Western buffet breakfast