Make the connection

It doesn’t matter whether you’re starting your adventure in Xi’an or arriving from somewhere else in Asia: as a major urban hub located in the heart of China, there are plenty of ways to reach your destination. Just take a look at the range of cities you can reach from Xi’an’s centre and work out how you will take the next step on your journey.

By air

Located 40 kilometres to the north of the city, Xi'an Xianyang International Airport will be the first port of call for a majority of visitors. Covering an area of five square kilometres, it is the largest airport in China's northwest. In 2012, the airport handled 23,420,654 passengers – that’s almost half the passengers London Heathrow dealt with in the same time span – making it the busiest airport in northwest China and the 8th busiest in the nation.

As Xi’an is in the centre of China, it takes no more than two hours by air to travel to or from most of the key Chinese cities you’ll want to visit, so you can connect to Beijing, Shanghai and countless other areas on the mainland in a relatively short space of time. International flights are available to Helsinki, Bangkok, Paris, Moscow, Seoul as well as Tokyo and Hiroshima in Japan, and Singapore via Chengdu. This means a speedy flight to Xi’an fits neatly into any tour.

It’s easy to get to the terminal too, as there is a regular bus service that will take you from the city to the airport for ¥26. And don’t worry if you’re arriving very early or extremely late: as long as there is an arriving flight, there will be a bus.

By train

Because it is regarded as the gateway to the West, Xi’an plays a significant role in the Chinese railway system. Six of China's main railway lines intersect here and, as a consequence, the city is linked with all of the country’s provincial capital cities.

There are two main rail stations in Xi’an that transport both everyday passengers and tourists, Xi’an City and Xi’an North – the latter of which runs a high-speed rail service. The high-speed train from Xi'an North Station to Luoyang-Longmen runs several times a day with services starting at 7am. The distance of 400 kilometres takes around 90 minutes, so you can carry on your journey through China in no time at all.

The line runs as far as Zhengzhou and has been so effective at transporting passengers between the two destinations, that air travel became uncompetitive and all passenger flights between the two cities were suspended within 48 days of start of the regular rail service.

Another high-speed service has recently opened between Xi'an and Baoji, taking just two hours to get between the two cities. You can also take the high speed train to Wuhan, Taiyuan, Guangzhou and more. With further development planned for 2020, high-speed services are set to improve vastly in future even more.

You can also travel to Beijing and Shanghai via regular train but – for supreme comfort on these services – it is recommended that you book a luxury soft-class sleeper. Costing around ¥1000, they consist of two soft beds with quilting, a small sofa seat and cosy little extras such as slippers. Some cabins even have a private bathroom, offering you a tiny slice of seclusion on what can be a very crowded method of public transport.

By bus

Xi’an is ranked as the second largest highway transportation hub in China because of its excellent roads, supported by five national highways that span the length of 345 kilometres and twelve provincial freeways that cover 266 kilometres. It’s no surprise, then, that in recent years buses have become a very popular way to travel between cities within the mainland.

Presently, there are seven large long-distance bus stations, all of which are built in the main urban area. Below are a few examples of destinations you can get to from the city centre by bus:

• From Xi’an Bus Station of Shaanxi, you can reach about 18 provinces and municipality cities, such as Shanghai, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Gansu and Tibet.
• Xi’an Coach Station has 600 scheduled departures every day and plays an important role in connecting the city with surrounding counties and towns, such as Huxian, Zhouzhi, Qinzhen and Fengyu.
• At Sanfuwan Long-Distance Bus Station, destinations include Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin as well as cities in Zhejiang, Fujian and Henan.

There are also buses departing from Xi’an North, Xi’an East, Xi’an South and Xi’an West bus stations. Most of the buses in the same station leave for cities and counties in the same direction within Shaanxi Province, so you can choose the right station if you know the direction of your intended end point.