Terracotta Army: How to Book, Get There and See the Pits

The Terracotta Army is about 40 kilometres east of central Xi'an in Lintong District. Plan a full day for it, including about an hour each way by road. Tickets cost 120 yuan, the same all year, and are sold only through the museum's official website and two official WeChat accounts, with your passport as ID. They cover the three pits and Lishan Garden, the emperor's burial mound park, on the same day. Book as soon as your date opens on the official channels, usually about a week ahead and longer around holidays. Holiday dates sell out at the daily cap of 65,000 visitors. Inside, see Pit One first, then Pit Three, then Pit Two, then take the free shuttle to Lishan Garden. Four to five hours covers it all.

The Xi'an travel guide has the full three-day plan.

Booking: official channels only

The site's official name is the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum. Its booking rules, from the museum's own ticketing page:

• Price: 120 yuan for adults, all year; 60 yuan for students.
• What it covers: the pit museum and Lishan Garden on the same day. A free shuttle bus links the two.
• Where to buy: the official website (bmy.com.cn, ticketing section) or the WeChat accounts 秦始皇帝陵博物院 and 兵马俑票务在线. A June 2025 notice from the museum said it had never authorised third-party sellers, so be wary of agency tickets and "skip the line" offers.
• ID: foreign visitors book with a passport and enter with the same original passport. The name and number must match.
• Booking window: about seven days ahead, extended to around ten around public holidays.
• Daily cap: 65,000 visitors. When it is reached, sales stop. Holiday dates fill up.

Organised tours buy their own group tickets, which is one reason they remain popular. If you go independently, book your ticket before you arrange transport.

Opening hours

In the peak season, 16 March to 15 November, the museum opens 08:30 to 17:00 for entry, with ticket checks stopping at 17:00 and the grounds closing at 18:30. In the off season last entry moves to 16:30. In summer 2026 the museum extended its hours (08:00 to 19:30 from mid-July to late August) before returning to the normal schedule. Check the official notice for your date, because the museum announces holiday and summer changes separately.

Getting there

Bus 306 (also signed 游5). Since 29 August 2026 this tourist bus has started from Xi'an East Railway Station rather than the old stop by Xi'an Railway Station's east square, so older guides send you to the wrong place. It runs 28 stops over about 45 kilometres to Huaqing Palace and the Terracotta Army, between 07:00 and 19:00, for 5 yuan paid on board.

Metro Line 9 plus a short taxi. Take Line 9 east from Fangzhicheng (an interchange with Lines 1 and 6) to Huaqingchi or Qinling West. Both stations are about 3 kilometres from the museum, so you finish with a taxi or local bus.

Taxi, ride-hailing or a hired car. About an hour each way from the city centre, depending on traffic. A car is the easiest way to combine the pits and Huaqing Palace on the same day.

Tours. Many hotel and agency tours cover the army and Huaqing Palace together. Check whether they include Lishan Garden. Some skip it, which leaves half the ticket unused.

Inside: Pit One, then Three, then Two

Pit One is the one in every photograph: a hangar-like hall over a pit about 230 metres long and 62 metres wide, with rows of infantry and the remains of chariots. An estimated 6,000 figures stood here. You walk around a raised rail looking down at the ranks. Go here first, while you have the most energy and before the midday crowd at the front rail.

Pit Three is the smallest, at about 520 square metres, and the quickest to see. It is the command post, with 68 officers and a single chariot. Seeing it before Pit Two helps make sense of how the army was organised.

Pit Two, about 6,000 square metres, held chariots, cavalry and archers. It is still partly being excavated: in January 2026 a new round of work there reported two more war chariots. Glass cases near the edge show individual figures up close, including a kneeling archer, where you can see the tread pattern carved on the sole of his shoe, and a standing archer.

Across the three pits there are thought to be about 8,000 figures in all. Around 2,000 had been restored by 2024, the 50th anniversary of the discovery. Each figure was built from a set of standard body parts and moulds and then finished by hand, so the faces differ. They were originally painted in bright colours, which flake off within minutes of being exposed to air, and that is why most look bare. The famous green-faced warrior found in Pit Two in 1999 is rarely on display, so don't count on seeing it.

Lishan Garden: the half many people skip

The same ticket covers Lishan Garden, reached by free shuttle. It includes the emperor's burial mound, which remains unexcavated, and the Bronze Chariot and Horse Museum. The two half-size bronze chariots found here in 1980 have been displayed together again since 2024, after a three-year conservation of one of them. They are some of the finest bronze castings from ancient China, and they get far fewer visitors than Pit One. The museum suggests about an hour and a half for each part of the site.

Background

In March 1974, farmers digging a well in Lintong broke into the first pit. The pits lie about a kilometre east of the burial mound of Qin Shi Huang, the ruler who unified China in 221 BC, and form part of a mausoleum complex of about 50 square kilometres built between 246 and 208 BC. UNESCO listed the mausoleum and the pits together in 1987.

Pairing it with Huaqing Palace

Huaqing Palace, the Tang hot-spring palace, is about 10 kilometres back towards the city, around 15 minutes by car or longer on bus 306. Most Lintong days put the army in the morning and the palace in the afternoon. If the pits and Lishan Garden take longer than planned, drop Huaqing Palace, not the army. In the evening, you can be back in the city for the city wall lights or the Muslim Quarter.

Don't try to fit the Shaanxi History Museum or the Big Wild Goose Pagoda into the same day. They belong to a city day.

Things to confirm before you go

• Your booked date and the passport used to book it.
• Peak or off-season last entry (17:00 or 16:30), and any holiday changes.
• Bus 306's current starting point if you are using public transport.
• That your ticket or tour covers Lishan Garden.
• Which star pieces are on show; some travel to special exhibitions.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Terracotta Army ticket?

120 yuan for adults all year, 60 yuan for students. It includes the three pits and Lishan Garden on the same day, with a free shuttle between them.

How do foreigners book Terracotta Army tickets?

On the museum's official website or official WeChat accounts, with a passport, about seven days ahead. Bring the same passport on the day.

How do you get to the Terracotta Army by public transport?

Bus 306 from Xi'an East Railway Station (5 yuan) or metro Line 9 to Huaqingchi or Qinling West plus a 3-kilometre taxi ride.

How long do you need at the Terracotta Army?

Four to five hours: about three for the pits and an hour and a half for Lishan Garden. With travel, it is a full day from Xi'an.

Are the Terracotta Warriors the same as the Terracotta Army?

Yes. Both names, and the museum's official name, Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, refer to the same site in Lintong.