Terracotta Warriors: Tickets and How to Get There from Xi’an

The short version

• Price: RMB 120 per adult, the same all year. One ticket covers the Terracotta Warriors museum and the emperor’s mausoleum park (Lishan Garden), linked by a free shuttle bus.
• Booking: online only, with your real name. Book on the museum’s official website, bmy.com.cn, or its WeChat accounts, using your passport details. There is no ticket office sale on the day.
• Entry: pick a time slot, arrive about 30 minutes early and show the original passport you booked with.
• Hours: ticket checks run 8:30–17:00 from 16 March to 15 November and 8:30–16:30 from 16 November to 15 March.
• Getting there: the museum is in Lintong, about 40 km east of central Xi’an. Take Metro Line 9 to Qinlingxi, then bus 617 or a short taxi ride, or take a DiDi for about an hour.
• Time needed: about 1.5 hours for the warriors and 1.5 hours for the mausoleum park, plus travel. Plan half a day, or a full day with Huaqing Palace.

This guide uses the museum’s official ticketing instructions and visitor guide, checked on 30 September 2026. Prices, hours and transport can change, especially on public holidays.

How to book Terracotta Warriors tickets

The museum is officially called the Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum (秦始皇帝陵博物院). All visitors, including foreigners, must book in advance with a real name.

Where to book

Step by step on the official website

1. Open bmy.com.cn and tap the ticket booking (购票) button.
2. Choose your date and a time slot.
3. Add each visitor with full name as in the passport, ID type passport, and passport number.
4. Add children in the same order, even if they enter free.
5. Pay online. Keep the confirmation and the order number.

Before you book:

• The name and passport number must match exactly. The gate checks the person, the ticket and the document together.
• The museum caps daily visitors at 65,000. On public holidays, book as soon as your plans are fixed.
• You can cancel before your ticket is checked. Refunds go back to the original payment account in 3 to 5 working days.

Want someone to handle it? Our attraction tickets service can book the time slot for your group with your passport details.

Ticket prices and discounts

What foreign visitors should know: free entry for seniors aged 65 and over, and for children under 16 by age, applies to Chinese nationals. Foreign seniors and taller foreign children pay the adult price.

Inside the site, electric carts cost RMB 5 per person at the warriors museum and RMB 15 at the mausoleum park. The shuttle bus between the two sites is free.

Opening hours

The ticket is valid on the booked day only, and it is checked up to three times as you move between areas. Opening hours on major public holidays follow the museum’s latest notice.

How to get to the Terracotta Warriors from Xi’an

Taxi and DiDi costs are our estimates for central Xi’an, not fixed fares.

By metro and bus

1. Take Line 1 or Line 6 to Fangzhicheng (纺织城), the western end of Line 9.
2. Change to Line 9 and ride to the last stop, Qinlingxi (秦陵西).
3. From Qinlingxi, take bus 617 to the Terracotta Warriors parking area, or a short DiDi.

Line 9 also stops at Huaqingchi (华清池), for Huaqing Palace, so you can combine both on one day.

Tourist Bus 5, also numbered 306, has long run from the east square of Xi’an Railway Station to the museum. Routes and stops change, so confirm the current departure point with your hotel before you rely on it.

By DiDi or taxi

DiDi is the simplest option for most visitors. Set the destination as 秦始皇帝陵博物院 or 兵马俑 in the app. Coming back in the late afternoon, expect a wait for a car, and use only the official taxi rank or the app. See How to get a taxi in China.

Ignore touts at Xi’an Railway Station and the museum car parks who offer cheap rides. Some add shopping stops or take you to a replica site.

From Xi’an North Railway Station

Most high-speed trains arrive at Xi’an North (西安北站), north of the city. It is about an hour to the museum by DiDi. If you arrive in the morning, store your luggage at your hotel first, or use the museum’s free luggage storage after security.

From Beijing

The fastest high-speed trains from Beijing West to Xi’an North take about 4.5 hours, and most take longer. With the extra hour to Lintong, a same-day return is exhausting. Stay at least one night in Xi’an. See how to book China train tickets and our Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai route.

What to see, and in which order

You enter through the north gate. The museum area has three pits and an exhibition hall.

Our suggested route: start with Pit 1, which is the most impressive and the most crowded, as soon as you enter. Then visit Pit 3 and Pit 2, and finish in the exhibition hall. If you arrive in the busiest late-morning hours, reverse it: Pits 3 and 2 first, then Pit 1 once the tour groups move on.

Don’t miss the bronze chariots. The two half-size bronze chariots and horses, among the finest bronzes ever found in China, are displayed in the mausoleum park (Lishan Garden). Take the free shuttle bus there after the pits. It is on the same ticket.

Guides, audio guides and tours

The pits are impressive on their own, but the story behind them is what makes the visit. You have three choices:

• Official museum guides: book at the visitor center. The museum lists guide booking phone numbers on its website.
• An audio guide: cheaper, at your own pace.
• Your own guide from Xi’an: they meet you at your hotel, handle transport and explain the site in English, and they know how to avoid the busiest viewing points.

Unofficial “guides” often approach visitors at the car park. Use an official guide or one arranged by a licensed agency. Not sure you need one? Read do you need a tour guide in China?

Practical tips

• Bring the original passport. A photo or copy is not accepted at the gate.
• Go early. The first time slots have the thinnest crowds, and in summer it is cooler.
• Security check: drones, lighters, knives, kites, loudspeakers and filming equipment are on the banned list. Bags go through a scanner.
• Wear comfortable shoes. Between the car park, the pits and the mausoleum park you will walk several kilometers.
• Wheelchairs and strollers are available at the visitor service center west of the north square entrance.
• Pay by phone: the food outlets and shops accept Alipay and WeChat Pay. See Alipay for foreigners.

Plan your Xi’an day with us

Combine the Terracotta Warriors with Xi’an’s city wall, the Muslim Quarter and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. See our Xi’an guide. Our free trip planning service can book your time slot, an English-speaking guide and a private driver, and fit Xi’an into a wider route.