Luoyang Departure: Xian, Terracotta Warriors, Huaqing Palace and the City Wall, 4 Days 3 Nights

Board at Luoyang Longmen in the morning and reach Xian North in ninety minutes. Lunch is a bowl of paomo, and you break the bread yourself: pieces the size of a soybean soak up the broth, larger ones stay hard in the middle. Check in, then go to the South Gate in the evening and climb the wall. The top is wide enough to drive on; rent a bicycle and ride from the South Gate to the West Gate in forty minutes, with the sun dropping behind the corner towers. Finish with a walk through the Muslim Quarter, where lamb skewers, sticky rice cake and persimmon cakes come off a single row of stalls.

Attraction introduction: The city wall of Xian was extended in the Hongwu era of the Ming on the foundations of the Tang imperial city. It runs 13.74 kilometres around, stands 12 metres high and is 12 to 14 metres wide at the top, with corner towers and a moat, and is the largest and most complete ancient city wall in the country.

Tips: The wall is completely exposed and the stone stays warm into the evening. Guests generally find the ride from the South Gate to the West Gate takes forty minutes at an easy pace. In practice, rent and return the bicycle at the South Gate, because the other gates keep fewer bikes.

Out at eight for Lintong. Pit One first: the door opens into a hangar the size of an aircraft hall, and underneath it six hundred figures stand in formation, three ranks of vanguard in front, wings on either side. From the railing every face is different, some with the mouth pressed shut, some frowning. Pit Two is the mixed formation of crossbowmen, cavalry and chariots; Pit Three is the command post. Lunch outside the site, then Lishan Garden in the afternoon for the bronze chariots, two of them, built to half scale.

Attraction introduction: The Terracotta Warriors form the burial pits of the First Emperor of Qin, found in 1974 and inscribed with the mausoleum as a World Heritage Site in 1987. Pit One measures 230 metres by 62 and is the largest of the three. The bronze chariots came from the west side of the burial mound, each a carriage at half size, harness and all.

Tips: There is no shade between the pits and the walk is long. Guests generally find Pit One crowded before eleven and calmer after two. In practice, take Pit One first while energy is high, then the bronze chariots, which need far less standing.

Morning at Huaqing Palace. Nine Dragon Lake comes first, its halls rebuilt; further in are the Tang bath foundations, still where they were found. The Crabapple Pool belonged to Yang Guifei and is cut in the shape of a crabapple flower; the Lotus Pool was the emperor. Above them stands the Five-Room Hall, where the Nationalist leader stayed during the 1936 incident and the bullet holes are still in the glass. Lunch at the foot of the hill, then Mount Li in the afternoon by cable car or on foot. The summit holds the beacon tower, and the whole of Lintong lies below it.

Attraction introduction: Huaqing Palace sits at the northern foot of Mount Li in Lintong and was the imperial hot spring retreat in the Tang, where Xuanzong stayed each winter. The bath site was excavated in 1990 and five Tang pools were uncovered. Mount Li rises to 1,302 metres and is the setting of the beacon-fire story that every Chinese schoolchild knows.

Tips: The bath site is roofed and warm, so layers are easier than a coat. Guests generally find the climb from the pools to the Five-Room Hall takes twenty minutes. In practice, ride the cable car up Mount Li and walk down, which is easier on the knees than the reverse.

Morning at Daci'en Temple, where Xuanzang translated the sutras he carried back and where the pagoda he built to hold them still stands, seven storeys and open to climb. The square below has a musical fountain with a show at noon. In the afternoon the Shaanxi History Museum, booked ahead: the Tang gold and silver from the Hejiacun hoard fill gallery three, and the agate cup with the beast head is the piece to look for. Evening train from Xian North back to Luoyang.

Attraction introduction: Daci'en Temple was built in the twenty-second year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang by the crown prince who later reigned as Gaozong, in memory of his mother. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was raised to store the sutras and now stands 64.5 metres. The Shaanxi History Museum holds more than 1.7 million objects, strongest in the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang.

Tips: The museum is free but books out, and tickets are released seven days ahead. Guests generally find the morning slots go first and the afternoon ones linger. In practice, book on the day the window opens rather than waiting until the trip itself.