I read a damning report of a solo 20 somethings stop off in Xian in the mid 90's. He described it as China's equivalent of Detroit with the worlds greatest archaelogical site on the side. As i'm only spending 12 days in China (Beijing mainly), is this a stop I can consider scratching from the list? Have things improved? Wikitravel make it sound fairly appealing, but eyes on the ground always give a better account. Any advice would be choice.

The warriors are for sure an unforgettable experience, so for that alone, it's worth the visit.
I didn't find Xian particularly exciting but there are other sites worth looking at:-
Big and small Wild Goose Pagoda,
Drum Tower,
Daxingshan Temple, for example.

We really enjoyed the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show.

I have had two trips to Xi'an - as our son spent time studying there - and think there is a goodly lot of interesting sightseeing.

However, you do sound as though you are very uncertain - so think carefully and read a few guide books and travel sites to see if this is the place for you.

LeighTravelClub has listed a good selection of things to do.
I would add a walk or bike ride along the walls and a meal or two of dumplings, and maybe some lamb in the Muslim area.

The music and dance shows are not my personal preference - but they were enjoyed by others in the audience.

I had good experiences there - and spent time the 'suburbs' - which was a bit of a challenge - but a great learning curve for me.

Do some more research - that might help.
Happy travel planning.

Xi'an, I agree, is "worth it" for the terracotta warriors alone, but I also enjoyed walking around and visiting some of the other sites. You can save time by taking an overnight train from Beijing (saves a hotel night, too .)

And an account from the 90's is old; much of China is changing very rapidly! Even this report is outdated--it's from 2005--but here's my perspective:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...s-in-china.cfm

I've visited Xi'an three times - '97, '01 and '04. There is much more to see than just the warriors - see http://wilhelmswords.com/asia2001/index.html for my fullest TR and http://tinyurl.com/ygro6md for pix.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it as much on my last visit: "I had enjoyed exploring Xi'an on my previous visits, loving the sense of history, the feeling of difference, but this time I found it just another big Chinese city with too many glass and concrete buildings, too much traffic and way too much pollution." But if it had been my first visit I think I would still have found plenty to do and enjoyed it.

I found the Terra Cotta Warriors about a one hour attraction and X'Ian is probably one of the most air polluted cities on the planet. Knowing what I know now I would have skipped it.

"X'Ian is probably one of the most air polluted cities on the planet" - you must not have visited Chongqing - when I was there you could actually see the particulates in the air, and that was back in '97. Or Datong, where a film of coal dust coats everything.

Don't argue. Linfen is the pollution winner:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...e-in-china.cfm
In fact Time thinks it's the most polluted city in the world:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/20...661016,00.html

I spent a lot of time in Xi'an in the 90s, but comparing mid-nineties urban China with the China of 2010 is like comparing a developed-nation city with itself 50 or more years ago.

I haven't been back for a few years, but it can be guaranteed that Xi'an certainly won't be pretty even now, but will have been even further modernised than when I last saw it, albeit with hideous, aesthetically impoverished, gimcrack construction, just like every other Chinese city. Despite the absurd hype, China is still a vastly impoverished country, and if you're hoping for beauty in its urban environment, you're going to be disappointed in every city you see. And it's still grimy, over-populated, hugely polluted, and with vast areas of slum housing.

Xi'an in the 90s was certainly filthy, with coal dust everywhere, but was still worth visiting for the Terracotta Warriors, significant museums, remarkable temples, street life, and day trips into the countryside for other Tang era temples and tombs. As with elsewhere in urban China you put up with widespread hideousness for the other pleasures you gain.

Peter N-H

I think Xi'an is a very interesting city. The mosque and surrounding area is fascinating, the prefectural museum is fabulous (the way Kyoto streets are named made perfect sense after I visited that museum), walking or biking on the city wall is a great way to see different neighborhoods, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is where the sutras from the Monkey King tale are housed (or so they say!). You can also wander off the beaten track and find great little neighborhoods or go to the modern shopping mall in the center of the city and visit the Buick dealership. It can be dirty and polluted--but that's their reality. Just as we have our own realities. It is what it is. I've been there 3 times (2003, 2004, 2006) and would go again to see the amazing changes and experience the things I haven't seen.

Thank you all. 2 nights should be plenty.