Xiangtan accommodation from AU$83

While staying in our hotels in Xian visit the city centre and see the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. Both towers were constructed during the Mong Dynasty and have become symbols of the city. Historically, the bell was struck at dawn and the drum was beaten at sunset to indicate the start and the finish of the day. The Bell Tower is around 40m high and contains a number of large bronze bells from the Tang Dynasty and the Drum Tower offers spectacular views over Xian.

One of Xi'an's main tourist drawcards is The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and his Terracotta Army, which are located 40 km east of the city centre. Qin was the first "emperor" unifier of China, he ruled from 247 BCE to 221 BCE. This amazing historical site was not discovered until 1974. There are around 8000 terracotta soldiers and horses, in formation, buried in a number of pits near Emperor Qin's tomb. Its is said this terracotta army was made to help the Emperor conquer an empire in the afterlife; hence they sometime referred to as "Qin's armies". The faces of the soldiers are all unique and show the various ethnic groups that made up Qin's real life army. It is estimated that it took 700 thousand labourers and 40 years to build.

Another tourist drawcard and interesting historical site is the Xian Banpo Museum, which houses artefacts and gives access to excavated buildings of the Banpo archeologically site. The site was first discovered in 1953 and contains the remains of a number of well organised Neolithic settlements dating back to around 4500 BCE.

There are a number of other sites which should not be missed, while staying in our Xian hotels, including The City Wall of Xian, the Big and Small Wild Goose Pagodas, and the Great Mosque of Xi'an and numerous museums and national parks.

With Wotif.com's great deals on Xian accommodation you can afford to stay a little longer and discover all this wonderful city has to offer.