48hours in Xian, China

China | Dec 26 - Dec 28, 2018

As a picky and non-speaking Mandarin traveller, I did spend some time searching for the right guide for our Xian trip.

Fortunately, I found KimKim website by chance.

With some basic itinerary in mind already, I emailed KimKim my inquiry to which Max promptly replied within 24 hours. Right after, Max arranged for Eric, our designated local Xian guide, to touch base with me.

Although using the KimKim app was sufficient, I would definitely recommend using the WeChat app as well, which I used more frequently to communicate with both Max and Eric.

We took the bullet train (about 4.5hrs ride) from Chengdu to Xian. When we got to the Xian train station, we were immediately greeted by Eric (who I must mention is friendly, knowledgeable, accommodating and very fluent in English) at the arrival hall.

With only 2 days to explore Xian, we kept our itinerary as simple and flexible as possible. We managed to visit the Muslim Quarters, the historic Great Mosque and the very impressive Terracotta Warrior museum.

A nice bonus while in Xian was that it snowed on our way to the Terracotta Warrior museum on our second day of visit. Most of the city was covered in snow by the time we left the site! The downside from this though was that we had to cancel our visit to the City Wall. The cold weather had become too much for my daughter to do another outside excursion. Admittedly, I was pleasantly surprised when Eric refunded me (the City Wall tickets) immediately even with the last-minute cancellation.

Also, I was incredibly impressed when Eric and our designated driver were able to get us to the seafood restaurant (my daughter and I had been dying to go to!) in the nick of time even though we were delayed by traffic.

BIG thank you to Max, Eric and the driver for their outstanding service and for making our brief Xian trip fun and memorable!