The city is surrounded by a city wall, in its middle the Bell Tower Chinese:é楼; pinyin: ZhÅnglóu. From this one, the four main streets descend into the four points of the compass.
North-Street åå¤§è¡ BÄidà jiÄ.
East-Street ä¸å¤§è¡ DÅngdà jiÄ.
South-Street åå¤§è¡ Nándà jiÄ.
West-Street è¥¿å¤§è¡ XÄ«dà jiÄ.
Do not get confused by different names in tourist guides, addresses and bus stops: Nandajie, Nanda-Street, South-Street, South-Avenue are all the same.
Locals often speak about Within city walls and Outside city walls when talking about locations. Outside the walls, the southern part is the most interesting, it offers shopping streets, bars and some nightlife.
There are plenty of buses departing everywhere in short-intervals main lines every 5-10 minutes. If you are not confident enough with orientation, or if you do not like packed buses, the cheap taxis are the best alternative, broadly available, except for during rush hours.
By taxi
Taxis are *very* limited. It can take a rather long time to find a vacant one and even then - given their choice of fares - they may decide to decline your destination for a more profitable one that is closer. Watch the taxi drivers in Xi'an as the industry is not regulated as it is in other larger cities. You may find yourself being taken on a long ride around town to get where you are going. It can also be difficult to convince them to take you anywhere even to the railway station. If in doubt get your hotel or hostel to write down the place you want to go in Chinese. Between 3 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon the taxis change their shifts. This means the drivers are rushing to their handover points, so they won't pick you up even they are empty.
Trips within the city walls are generally around ¥10, longer trips to the attractions south of the city are ¥12-20. Especially when you take a longer ride, like to or from the airport, it is always good advice to insist on using the taxi meter.
The rate for the normal green taxis is ¥6 for the first 2 kilometer and then ¥1.5 for every additional kilometer. Waiting times longer than 2 minutes will be charged ¥1.5 per minute. As of 2012, there is a fuel-surcharge on every ride of ¥1, so the price you have to pay is ¥1 higher than the meter shows there is a sign on the taxi's dashboard showing this "rule". After 11:00 PM the starting price is ¥7. At the airport and around some of the big hotels you might also find black taxis. They charge ¥2.4 per kilometer, but are more spacious and comfortable. There is a road fee of ¥10 for the Airport Expressway. This is not included in the price the taxi meter shows. So going to or coming from the airport is usually ¥10 more than what the meter shows.
Be careful when taking a cab to areas outside Xi'an City, for example the bing ma yong. Such trips cost up to ¥120 and will not bring you all the way as the road is "apparently under maintenance and only the local cabs know the rest of the road to bing ma yong". So the cab will drop you off outside a building where you can view a model of bing ma yong for ¥30. Other local cab drivers will offer to bring you to a blue jade factory or a smaller version of bing ma yong after you view the replica. Be careful to reject going to such places as the cab drivers earn a commission from bringing you such places, which are no substitute for an authentic experience touring the actual bing ma yong. Thus, it is generally much safer and reliable to take the buses if you want to travel to bing ma yong.
By bus
Regular buses within the city cost ¥1 ¥2 for air-conditioned, marked with a snow-flake no matter how far you go. Since there are many buses in the city, it can be useful to go to the Tourism Office Center which is situated near the Bell Tower and ask for a free map of the city, with the buses' lines on it.
A popular line for tourists is #610 also labeled "游8" in Chinese, which means "tourist #8" which connects the railway station, the Bell Tower, the Small Goose Pagoda and Xi'an Museum, the Shaanxi Historic Museum and the Big Goose Pagoda. Unfortunately it is not one of the most frequent sometimes you can wait for half an hour, though usually it comes in a few minutes. Near the Bell Tower, it stops at the beginning of West Street; take it westwards to then go south to the museums and pagodas, take it eastwards to then go north to the railway station. Near the railway station there are many stops for different lines you can catch it at the third block on the main street going straight south from the station.
Another useful line is #609 that connects the Bell Tower, the South Gate and the Big Goose Pagoda. Near the Bell Tower, it stops at the beginning of South Street.
Although the 609 and 610 can be infrequent, the 611 is very regular, and connects the train station and the Bell Tower. Look for it over the road from the station.
There are many buses leaving regularly for the Terracotta Warrior museum in front of the Xi'an bus station east to the train station, outside (in the north the city walls).
Bus 306 Chinese bus green 5 leaves from the lot in front of the train station and will take you to a parking lot right in front of the museum site in about an hour it can take up to 90 minutes in case of traffic jams. A one-way ticket costs ¥7 just get on and sit down, then a conductor will come and give you a ticket. It also stops at several other tourist attractions along the way, e.g. the hot springs. Make sure you don't make the mistake of going to the bus station on the inside of the wall near the train station. That's were there are touts with signs saying bus 5 and bus 306, trying to hustle you onto their private bus. Although they do take you to the destinations, you are forced to go to visit attractions you might not want to go to. If you're facing the train station directly, the lot where the bus departs from will be on your right - it's near a Dico's. Look out for a sign with a bunch of Chinese characters with 306 5 in between them.
Small buses which are used by the locals e.g. number 914. These buses will also take you to the Museum however they go through local small roads no highway express like bus 306 therefore it will take longer to arrive. Not a bad trip if you want to see the local bumpy rural roads.
Most hostels and hotels run tours to the warriors with an English speaking guide. These aren't necessarily better, be prepared to spend a good portion of the day as with any Chinese tour visiting "terracotta factories," "museums", "Chinese medicine shops", and other tourist traps. But, you will get to your destination without dealing with the bus the warriors are quite far outside of town and not all of the public buses that go there are legitimate.