What changed in Xi'an.

On 30 June 2026, Xi'an East Station officially went into service, opening together with the Xi'an–Shiyan high-speed line (西十高铁). It is one of northwest China's largest integrated transport hubs — 13 platforms and 25 tracks in its first phase, designed for a future 8-line metro interchange.

What this means for travel:

• A new route south: the Xi'an–Shiyan line threads the Qinling mountains, cutting travel times to central and southern China. Shiyan is about an hour away.
• Where it sits: the station is on the city's eastern edge, served by Metro Line 5 — the line that opened in 2020 now has a major new anchor.
• For visitors: most long-distance services still run through Xi'an North station (the HSR hub) and the classic Xi'an station inside the city. Check your ticket's station name — they are not the same place. Our railway stations guide maps all of them.

The east station is the latest piece of Xi'an's rail expansion — a city that keeps adding capacity as it grows.

China kept opening through 2025 and into early 2026, and both visa-free tracks that serve Xi'an grew:

• Unilateral visa-free entry — 50 countries, to 31 Dec 2026. Up to 30 days visa-free for tourism, business or family visits. The list reached 50 in February 2026: the United Kingdom and Canada were added on 17 Feb 2026, Sweden in November 2025, on top of the 45 already covered — most of Europe plus Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, the UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and others. Check whether your passport is on the current list.

• 240-hour visa-free transit — 65 ports, 55 countries (Nov 2025 expansion). Transiting through China to a third country? You can now stay up to 240 hours (10 days) visa-free, entering through any of 65 designated ports across 24 provinces — 21 ports were added in the latest round.

What this means for Xi'an: Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is one of the 240-hour transit ports. If you're eligible and hold an onward ticket to a third country, you can fly into Xi'an visa-free and stay up to 10 days — comfortably the Terracotta Army, the City Wall and a day-trip to Mount Hua. See the 240-hour transit guide for the rules (onward ticket, regional limits) and the visa-entry guide for the unilateral list.

Policy keeps moving — confirm against the National Immigration Administration (en.nia.gov.cn) before you book.

The Terracotta Army is not a finished exhibit — it is an excavation in progress, and Pit 2 keeps proving the point.

In December 2024, the museum announced the first high-ranking officer figurine (高级军吏俑) ever excavated from Pit 2 — and only around the tenth general found among the roughly 2,000 warriors unearthed since 1974. The identification rests on classic markers: the distinctive headdress, the crossed-hand posture, the ribbon details on the armour. The excavation team's lead, Zhu Sihong, judged the figure likely to be the highest military commander of its unit. It was recovered together with traces of a command chariot and three pottery horses.

Then, on 14 January 2026, the 2025 excavation season's results were presented: two more chariots from Pit 2, plus 15 chariot fittings and nine weapons. These chariots have no wheels — deliberate funeral symbols rather than practical vehicles, a known feature of imperial burial practice.

For visitors this is the quiet charm of the site: the pits are a working archaeological field, and what you see roped off today may be in a display case — or a headline — next year.

On 20 February 2025, Terminal 5 (T5) of Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) opened. It is the airport's largest terminal — the first phase alone spans 700,000 m², and it is built around a Tang-dynasty garden at its heart, with a rooftop view of the runways and a museum of Shaanxi's heritage inside the departures area.

What travellers need to know:

• Which airlines moved: T5 is now the base for international flights and several domestic carriers — check your airline or boarding pass before setting out. The old T1/T2/T3 cluster remains in service.
• Getting between terminals: a free shuttle runs between the T1/T2/T3 cluster and T5 every 10–15 minutes, and Metro Line 14 now serves both — the airport's T5 stop is one stop east of Airport West.
• Time: T5 is huge — allow extra time for check-in and security, and arrive 3 hours before international flights.

The opening roughly doubled the airport's capacity and is part of Xi'an's push to become a true international hub — see our airport guide for the full arrival and departure walkthrough.

On 17 December 2024, China's transit visa-free policy was extended from 144 to 240 hours (10 days), and the list of eligible ports grew to cover 60+ entry points across 24 provinces. Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is one of them, and the whole of Shaanxi province is in scope.

What this means in practice:

• 54 nationalities — including the US, UK, Canada, Australia and most of the EU — can enter without a visa when transiting to a third country or region.
• The 10-day window comfortably fits a full Xi'an itinerary: wall, Terracotta Army, museums, a Mount Huashan day trip — even a slow week.
• The clock starts at 00:00 the day after arrival, which in practice means a little more than 240 hours.
• Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan count as third regions, so routing home via Hong Kong unlocks the whole trip visa-free.

This is the single biggest visa-policy change for Western travellers since the 2023 waiver wave — see our 240-hour transit guide for the full rules and entry walkthrough.

On 1 December 2023, China began a unilateral visa waiver for ordinary-passport holders of six countries: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. Entry was visa-free for up to 15 days for tourism, business, visiting family or transit.

It was the first move in a sustained opening:

• March 2024 — the waiver extended to Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg.
• November 2024 — extended again, to nine more countries (Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, South Korea) and lengthened to 30 days.
• 2025 — the list kept growing, covering most of Europe plus Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and others.

For Xi'an travellers this matters directly: a 30-day visa-free window is far more than enough for any realistic trip, and the 240-hour transit covers everyone else. See our visa guide for the current list and rules.

On 30 April 2022, Changan Twelve Hours (长安十二时辰) opened its doors beside the Grand Tang Mall in Qujiang — a fully indoor, fully immersive recreation of a Tang-dynasty street scene, named after the hit TV series of the same name.

What's inside:

• Costumed staff and scheduled performances — from court dances to drum shows, staged through the day across the block's plazas.
• Period food and drink — Tang-inspired snacks and drinks served from period-style stalls.
• Hanfu rental in adult and children's sizes — dress up and walk straight into the scene.

It's a paid, indoor attraction — the perfect rainy-day or heatwave option, and a companion to the free evening spectacle of Grand Tang Ever-Bright City next door. Hours and current prices change — check our attraction page before you go.

On 28 April 2022, the Shaanxi Archaeology Museum (陕西考古博物馆) opened its doors in the city's southwest — China's first museum dedicated to archaeology as a discipline, rather than to a single site or dynasty.

What makes it different:

• How, not just what — the museum walks you through the actual methods: how digs are laid out, how tombs are entered, how fragile finds are lifted and conserved. Its four halls cover prehistory, the Zhou and Qin, the Han and Tang, and modern archaeology.
• The finds are genuine and often recent — including pieces from digs that were still underway when the museum opened.
• It's the perfect complement to the big sights — the Terracotta Army shows you the result; here you learn how it was ever recovered in the first place.

Entry is free with a real-name reservation. See our museum page for how to book, hours and getting there.

On 28 December 2020, Xi'an opened three metro lines on a single day — a record for the city:

• Line 5 — runs east–west across the city, linking the university belt in the southwest with the eastern districts.
• Line 6 (Phase 1) — the northwest–southeast spine through the tech district and the city centre.
• Line 9 — the line that matters for visitors: it reaches Huaqing Pool and Lintong, putting the Terracotta Army within metro reach (a short bus or taxi from the terminus).

The triple opening took Xi'an's metro from four to seven lines, a milestone the local press called the city's entry into the "big-metro era". Since then the network has kept growing — see our metro guide for the current map and how to ride it.