Last updated: September 2026
On 23 September 2026, Elon Musk named three Chinese cities in an interview with CCTV Finance: Shanghai, Beijing and Xi'an. He called the Terracotta Army one of the world's wonders and the Beijing-Xi'an high-speed rail trip "a great experience." Here is what that third city actually offers, and how to build a trip around it.
What exactly did Elon Musk say about Xi'an?
Musk made the recommendation in an interview with CCTV Finance that was broadcast on 23 September 2026 and carried widely by Chinese state media. The lines that matter:
- On where to go: "I recommend Shanghai, Beijing and Xi'an."
- On the rail journey: the Beijing to Xi'an high-speed train was "a great experience," and the station itself "spectacular."
- On the Terracotta Army: "the Terracotta Army is one of the world's wonders."
- On how to travel: look out of the window rather than at your phone, because "there is far too much to take in."
- On the country overall: "no language can fully express China's incredible magnificence."
It was his second public recommendation in six weeks. On 11 August 2026 he posted on social media that China was "amazing" and urged people to go and see it for themselves.
Two caveats are worth keeping. First, this is a private traveler's recommendation from a businessman whose company manufactures in China, not a policy statement or an official ranking. Second, the itinerary he describes - Shanghai, then Beijing by rail, then Xi'an - is not a new discovery: it is the standard first-timer axis. His only addition to it is Xi'an, and that addition is the interesting part, because Xi'an is usually treated as an optional extra rather than a core stop.
Xi'an at a glance
- Where it is: Shaanxi Province, on the Guanzhong Plain in central-northwest China.
- Imperial record: capital of 13 dynasties, and a capital city for more than 1,000 years.
- Recorded history: more than 3,100 years.
- Historic name: Chang'an, the eastern terminus of the Silk Road.
- UNESCO World Heritage: two properties in and around the city - the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, inscribed in 1987, and the Silk Roads: the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, inscribed in 2014.
- From Beijing: about 4 hours 10 minutes by the fastest high-speed service, Beijing West to Xi'an North.
- From Shanghai: about 6 hours by high-speed rail.
- By air: Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY), with 63 international passenger routes reaching 27 countries and 55 cities.
- Visa-free transit: XIY is an eligible port under China's 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit policy.
Culture and heritage: what to see in Xi'an
The Terracotta Army. The site was found in March 1974 by farmers sinking a well, and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was inscribed by UNESCO in 1987. Three pits covering more than 20,000 square meters hold around 8,000 life-size figures and horses. It is a working archaeological site rather than a finished exhibit, which is why repeat visits are worthwhile; our guide to what five decades of archaeology have established at the site covers the pits, the conservation problems and why the excavation is still incomplete.
The City Wall. Built in the 1370s under the Ming dynasty, it runs 13.74 km around the old city and is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient city walls still standing in China. Most visitors rent a bicycle on top and ride the full loop.
The Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Da Ci'en Temple. First built in 652 to house the Buddhist scriptures Xuanzang brought back from India, and one of the sites inscribed as part of the Silk Roads listing.
The Shaanxi History Museum and the Xi'an Museum. The Shaanxi History Museum holds the archaeological record of the dynasties that ruled from here; the Xi'an Museum pairs its collections with the Small Wild Goose Pagoda next door.
Daming Palace National Heritage Park. The Tang court city, begun in 634 and roughly 3.2 square kilometers in extent, inscribed in 2014 as part of the Silk Roads: the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor listing. The park now includes a hands-on archaeological exploration center.
The Muslim Quarter and the Great Mosque of Xi'an. The mosque dates from the Tang dynasty and is built in traditional Chinese architectural form, which is why it does not look like a mosque from the street. The surrounding quarter is the city's main food street.
Evening Xi'an. Datang Everbright City (Grand Tang Mall) for its street performances, the City Wall light shows, and a Tang-dynasty music and dance performance with a dumpling banquet.
Day trips. Huaqing Palace and Mount Hua are both manageable in a day, as are the Han and Tang imperial tombs west of the city.
For a private route that covers these sites at an unhurried pace, see our 3-Day Xi'an Historical and Cultural Tour, or the 5-Day Xi'an Grand Tang Dynasty Classic Tour if you want the Tang material treated in depth.
Business travel: why Xi'an is now a corporate destination
Xi'an's business profile has changed in three specific ways.
The China-Europe rail corridor. Xi'an is one of China's principal assembly hubs for China-Europe freight trains. In the first half of 2026 the city ran 3,310 services, up 8.3% year on year, and it is the only city operating three full-schedule China-Europe lines. Railway data puts the fastest full-schedule service into Duisburg, Germany, at about 12 days, and the trans-Caspian route at about 11 - days rather than weeks, which is what makes inland China competitive with coastal ports for time-sensitive cargo.
Advanced manufacturing. The industrial base now runs from semiconductors and integrated-circuit packaging through to new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaics and aerospace components. Samsung's Xi'an complex is among the largest foreign-funded semiconductor investments in China and has drawn packaging, materials and equipment suppliers into the city.
Access and payment. The T5 terminal at Xi'an Xianyang International Airport has expanded border inspection capacity from 42 lanes to 72, and the airport now runs 63 international passenger routes to 27 countries and 55 cities. By the end of 2025 more than 1,100 foreign-card POS terminals had been installed across key attractions, commercial districts and cultural venues, and an inbound visitor service platform covering inquiries, bookings and currency exchange opened at T5 in June 2026.
Entry rules for a business trip. Two routes apply. Nationals of 50 countries can enter for up to 30 days visa-free for business, tourism or exchange visits; separately, eligible nationalities transiting to a third country can use the 240-hour visa-free transit scheme, which now covers 57 countries across 65 ports in 24 provincial-level regions, with Xi'an Xianyang as an eligible port. Both routes, and the December 31, 2026 expiry date on most of the unilateral list, are set out in our visa-free policy overview and the 240-hour transit guide. For executive groups, our 6-day itinerary for senior executives visiting Xi'an is built around this combination of plant visits, institutional meetings and heritage time.
Study travel: what Xi'an gives student groups
Archaeology students can practice, not just look. The Daming Palace archaeological exploration center has students excavate and record replica material in five-meter grid squares, using the same method field archaeologists use, before they read the stratigraphy of the Terracotta pits in person. The sequence matters: observation, then practice, then the real site.
The academic base is broad. Xi'an Jiaotong University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Chang'an University and Xidian University are all in the city, and all run short-term international programs and exchange schemes that incoming school and university groups can plug into.
What the traffic looks like. Shaanxi's border authorities report that study-travel, tourism and business arrivals from Europe, Central Asia and Southeast Asia grew notably through 2026, which means student groups are no longer unusual here and the support infrastructure has caught up.
How programs are usually built. Five to fourteen days, English-guided, typically 16 to 30 students per group. A two-teacher place is normally included free of the land cost. Xi'an also combines well with a Beijing or Shanghai leg, which is what makes the route Musk described practical for a school group: fly into Shanghai, rail to Beijing, rail to Xi'an, fly home.
See the 5-Day Xi'an Archaeology and Heritage Study Tour for a secondary and university cohort, or the 5-Day Xi'an Archaeology and History Study Tour for a version weighted toward the dynastic record.
The numbers behind Xi'an's inbound surge
Xi'an's rise is not only a travel-media effect. The underlying figures, as reported by People's Daily Online, Xi'an Daily and China.com in 2026:
| Indicator | Latest figure |
|---|---|
| Foreign nationals through Xi'an port, 2026 to 24 July | More than 300,000, a record, up 15.9% year on year |
| Visa-free entries at the port | More than 120,000, up 31%, equal to 87% of foreign arrivals |
| Shaanxi inbound visitor numbers, first half 2026 | Up 59.43% year on year |
| Shaanxi inbound tourism spending, first half 2026 | Up 56.66% year on year |
| International passenger routes from Xi'an | 63 routes to 27 countries and 55 cities |
| China-Europe freight trains from Xi'an, first half 2026 | 3,310 services, up 8.3% year on year |
The composition is what matters for planning. Almost nine in ten foreign arrivals at the Xi'an port now enter visa-free, and the fastest-growing source directions are Europe, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. When entry friction falls that far, the constraint shifts from "can I get in" to "can I get the dates I want" - which is the same pattern we described in our breakdown of whether the social media travel trend is converting.
How many days do you need in Xi'an?
- 2 days: the Terracotta Army, the City Wall and the Muslim Quarter. Enough for the headline sites, and the version most people do as a stop on a longer trip.
- 3 to 4 days: add the Shaanxi History Museum, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Daming Palace, one evening Tang performance and a food walk. This is the point at which the city stops feeling like a checklist.
- 5 to 7 days: add Mount Hua, Huaqing Palace, the Han and Tang tombs, and either Famen Temple or a loop out to Pingyao or Luoyang.
If Xi'an is one leg of a longer route, our 14-day Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Yunnan itinerary shows how the three-day version fits against the other regions without dead travel days.
When is the best time to visit Xi'an?
- April to May and September to October are the most comfortable months and the best light for the City Wall and the Tang sites.
- July and August are hot and humid; Xi'an's July normal daily maximum is about 32°C (90°F).
- December to February are cold and dry; the January normal daily maximum is about 5°C (41°F) and the normal daily minimum is about -3°C (26°F).
- Those figures are China Meteorological Administration climate normals for Xi'an.
Autumn is the busiest stretch, so build in lead time for hotels and for high-speed rail seats if your dates fall in the first week of October.
Frequently asked questions
Did Elon Musk really recommend Xi'an?
Yes. In an interview with CCTV Finance broadcast on 23 September 2026 he said, "I recommend Shanghai, Beijing and Xi'an," called the Terracotta Army one of the world's wonders, and described the Beijing to Xi'an high-speed rail trip as a great experience.
How do you get to Xi'an from Beijing or Shanghai?
High-speed rail is the practical answer. Beijing West to Xi'an North takes about 4 hours 10 minutes on the fastest services, and Shanghai to Xi'an about 6 hours. Xi'an Xianyang International Airport covers the rest, with 63 international passenger routes.
How many days does Xi'an need?
Two days covers the Terracotta Army, the City Wall and the Muslim Quarter. Four days covers the main sites without rushing. A week adds Mount Hua and the surrounding heritage.
Can you visit Xi'an without a visa?
Often, yes. Nationals of 50 countries can enter China for up to 30 days visa-free, and eligible nationalities transiting to a third country can use the 240-hour transit scheme, which includes Xi'an Xianyang International Airport as a port and Shaanxi as a participating province. Most of the unilateral list expires on 31 December 2026, so confirm your status before booking.
Is Xi'an worth it for business travelers, or only for tourists?
Both. Xi'an is a semiconductor, new energy and aerospace manufacturing center, one of the main China-Europe freight train hubs, and it now has the airport capacity, payment infrastructure and visa-free entry routes that a business itinerary needs.
What makes Xi'an different for student groups?
It is the rare city where the archaeology is still in the ground. Groups can excavate and record replica material in genuine grid squares at Daming Palace, then read the real stratigraphy of the Terracotta pits, and pair that with workshops in the crafts those dynasties depended on.
For the wider picture - how China's inbound market is performing and what it means for trip planning - our China Travel Insights column tracks the numbers and the practical implications.
