Trip to Yinchuan, Zhongwei, and Xi'an

A group of four (my mom, my husband, my kid, and me) spent 9 days in Yinchuan, Zhongwei, and Xi'an. Here’s the detailed itinerary:

Day 1: Nanmen Square, Zhongshan Park, Drum Tower, Pedestrian Street

Flew from Changsha to Yinchuan. Took a taxi from the airport to Yinchuan 101 Express Hotel. I had booked the hotel online in advance—it was quite cheap, only 358 yuan for 4 nights. The hotel is in the old city, right next to Nanmen Square. The taxi for the four of us was about 60-some yuan. The airport shuttle seemed to be 20 yuan per person; if you’re traveling alone, taking the airport bus to the Civil Aviation Building and then walking to the hotel would be fine—it's not far.

After dropping off our luggage at the hotel, we visited the nearby Nanmen Square and saw the so-called “Little Tiananmen.”

Then we went to Nanguan Mosque, but it was closed due to the pandemic. I had originally planned to see Nanguan Mosque, Chengtian Temple Pagoda, and Haibao Pagoda, but all temples were closed because of COVID—a real pity. We found a restaurant on Ningxia Niujie that served lamb offal soup for lunch. We only ordered one bowl for the four of us (since it was our first time in the northwest and we weren’t sure if we’d like the food, so we ordered just one bowl to try; we’d order more if it was okay). Turns out that decision was wise—we just couldn’t eat it, it was way too gamey!!! I saw a neighboring table enjoying a sheep’s head and was tempted to order one, but they stopped me: “Didn’t you see them eating whole raw onions? You can’t even handle raw onions, and you can’t stand the gamey taste of lamb offal soup—ordering more would just be a waste.” Fine... I agreed verbally but thought to myself, next time I’ll definitely try a sheep’s head, haha. The yogurt and fried dough twists snacks were quite good, though.

After lunch, we took a bus to Zhongshan Park (it wasn’t originally in our plan, but since we only had half an afternoon and other attractions would be too rushed). Zhongshan Park had nice scenery, perfect for a leisurely stroll. It’s quite large, and there’s even a zoo inside—tickets were only 20 yuan! Though the animal variety isn’t as impressive as big zoos, it was well worth 20 yuan, and my kid especially loved it. There’s also a square where you can feed pigeons, and the pigeon food was cheap at 2 yuan a bag.

Traveling with a kid means taking it easy, no group tours, no rush. After Zhongshan Park, we took a Didi for 7 yuan to the Pedestrian Street, saw the Drum Tower, wandered around, snacked, and then walked back to the hotel. In the evening, we ate at Xianhelou restaurant, but honestly, we couldn’t get used to the food. The signature dish, hand-grabbed lamb, I just couldn’t eat after one bite—too gamey. It would have been better to eat at the night market at Nanmen Square: grilled lamb skewers only 2.5 yuan each, grilled oysters (I recommend the first stall upon entry)—fresh and delicious! The clam vermicelli was also good. At night, you can also watch square dancing at Nanmen Square...

Day 2: Zhenbeipu Western Film Studio, Helan Mountain Rock Paintings

Walked a few minutes from the hotel to the bus stop and took bus 316 (1 yuan) to Yinchuan Tourist Bus Station. Our original plan was to go to Sand Lake, but there was only one bus to Sand Lake, departing at 9:30. We arrived early, around 8-something, so we changed plans on the fly and took a Didi (68 yuan) to Zhenbeipu Western Film Studio (ticket 80 yuan). The place was pretty nice; for someone visiting the northwest for the first time, it felt quite novel. You can easily spend several hours walking around and exploring. We came out around noon, then took a Didi (25 yuan) to Helan Mountain Rock Paintings (ticket 70 yuan). The scenery along the way was nice, but after seeing the rock paintings inside the site, we felt it wasn’t really necessary to go—we just weren’t interested in rock art, hehe. We caught the 3 pm tourist bus (15 yuan) back to town, then a Didi (7 yuan) to the hotel (you can ask the ticket seller on the tourist bus to drop you off at a bus stop closer to Nanmen Square, where you can then transfer).

The photo below was taken on the way to Helan Mountain.

Rock paintings (there’s a rock art museum and a Han Meilin Art Museum inside; if you’re interested, you can check them out. We went in but just gave a quick perfunctory look because we weren’t interested.)

Day 3: Sand Lake

Having learned the bus schedule from the tourist bus station yesterday, we slept in a bit today and arrived at the station at 9 am.

Sand Lake is half lake, half sand. You first take a boat through reed marshes before reaching the desert. You can do all kinds of activities: sand sliding, desert off-roading, camel rides, paragliding, etc. Since we planned to visit Zhongwei Shapotou later, we only tried sand sliding here (30 yuan). Later at Shapotou, we realized that the sand sliding at Sand Lake is only suitable for kids, haha. We took the tourist bus back to the station either at 3 pm or 3:30 pm (20 yuan).

It was quite hot that day, and the sand was scorching underfoot, so make sure to wear appropriate shoes! There are also desert shoe covers that you can buy online in advance. I didn’t buy any, thinking they weren’t that useful, and I wanted to experience the sensation, haha.

Day 4: Xixia Style Garden

Initially planned to go to Shuidonggou, but locals told us it’s similar to Sand Lake, and we were also going to Shapotou—all sand, same activities. So we skipped Shuidonggou and changed plans to Xixia Style Garden (60 yuan). You can just take the bus: BRT1 from the hotel entrance to Fuzhou Street, then transfer to bus 108 right where you get off to Xixia Square bus terminal. It’s a long ride—about 1 hour 50 minutes—but cheap (2 yuan), haha.

Xixia Style Garden isn’t very big, and the only thing really worth seeing is the war horse show (11 am and 4:30 pm). We were lucky to catch the 11 am show. After the show, you can try horse riding (30 yuan). I gave it a go and specifically asked to ride fast, wanting to look cool—ended up slapping my own face! I felt like I was about to be thrown off the horse, my feet couldn’t reach the stirrups, my butt was bouncing in the air. If I hadn’t held on tight, I really would have fallen. But the experience was still pretty good—it’s all about participating, just to feel it, haha. The kid tried pottery for 30 yuan. There’s a dining area inside; the food was okay. There’s also a winery where you can taste some wine and see the vineyards where the grapes are grown. There wasn’t much else to see, many shops weren’t open, so we came back early in the afternoon.

Day 5: Zhongwei Gaomiao Bao'an Temple, Tonghu Grassland in Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia

We had booked train tickets from Yinchuan to Zhongwei the day before, as well as the Xiangshan Xiushui Hotel (right next to the train station), and rented a car to pick up at Zhongwei train station.

It was raining. After getting off the train, it was about a 1-minute walk to the hotel. We dropped our luggage, rested, then went for lunch. We found a beef bone gnawing place—Sulai Specialty Bone Gnawing—their beef bones were excellent. I couldn’t get used to the sand onions (too much vinegar), and the eight-treasure tea was way too sweet! After lunch, we returned to the hotel for a nap, then visited Gaomiao Bao'an Temple. You could enter the grounds but the inner temples were closed due to the pandemic. The scenery inside was quite nice. We picked up the car at 4 pm and drove straight to Tonghu Grassland. Seeing a grassland for the first time, with cattle, sheep, and horses grazing, I have to admit I was a bit excited~~ Tonghu Grassland also has a desert, and the main event is the evening show (by the way, tickets with the show pre-booked online a day before are 150 yuan; without pre-booking it’s 180 yuan). We’ve seen quite a few shows, and with some rain, it felt just average. But they have a bonfire dance where you can join in and dance around the fire to soak up the atmosphere.

(Note: It’s best to rent a car. After the show it gets quite late, and everyone leaves by bus or car; the roads are empty, so if you’re traveling independently without a rental, it might be hard to find a taxi back.)

There are yurts and dining options—hotpot buffet or à la carte. We ordered grilled lamb ribs and basa fish, etc. Grilled lamb ribs were better than hand-grabbed lamb, at least they were grilled and less gamey.

Day 6: Zhongwei Shapotou

Since we had already been to Sand Lake and Tonghu Grassland and seen plenty of desert, it wasn’t that novel anymore. But because Where Are We Going, Dad? made Shapotou famous, and since we rarely come this way, we had to check it out.

Shapotou has many combo tickets—you choose different combos based on what activities you want to do. We pre-booked online a 285 yuan ticket that included: entry, speedboat and sheepskin raft combo, sand sliding, desert dune buggy, camel ride, electric cart, glass bridge, shuttle bus, and desert escalator.

The actually enjoyable activities were the speedboat and sheepskin raft combo, sand sliding, desert dune buggy, and camel ride.

The rest, like the glass bridge, weren’t that interesting. The desert escalator is just an escalator to go up or down, saving you from climbing.

If you’re not old or a child under one meter, you don’t need the electric cart at all; just take the speedboat there and the sheepskin raft back.

After Shapotou, we returned the car at the train station (we’d put our luggage in the car when we checked out in the morning), then took the train back to Yinchuan. We had booked the Ruihao Theme Hotel (Yinchuan Gulou Pedestrian Street branch) in advance. The hotel is near the pedestrian street, so you can shop and eat. Since we had an early flight to Xi’an the next morning, we didn’t explore much and went back to the hotel to rest.

Day 7: Xi'an Tang Paradise, Grand Tang All Day Mall

We flew from Yinchuan to Xi'an early in the morning (we have relatives in Xi'an, so we stayed at their place). After arriving and resting, we had lunch and then started exploring Tang Paradise. It’s now free! You just need to reserve via WeChat. It’s huge and the scenery is fantastic. If you’re interested, you can watch Tang Paradise’s evening show (pretty expensive, tickets over 300 yuan, and the best seats cost several thousand). We didn’t watch it; instead, in the evening we went to Grand Tang All Day Mall (kind of Xi’an’s pedestrian street). It was absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful! The architecture, the lights… just stunning! Among the inland cities I’ve been to, if I had to pick ones I’d want to revisit (besides coastal cities), one is Chongqing and the other is Xi’an!

Day 8: Terracotta Warriors, Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Muslim Quarter

We bought tickets online the day before to see the Terracotta Warriors. Many people say that coming to Xi’an and not seeing the warriors is a regret, but after seeing them you’ll regret it even more. Haha, true. For us laypeople, there wasn’t much to see. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is worth a visit, though—I recommend it! The Muslim Quarter is just for eating.

Day 9: Han City Lake Park

On our final day, we took a walk around Han City Lake—just a park stroll. My mom and kid took some ancient costume photos there.

Nothing special, just a leisurely walk. We had lunch out, came back for an afternoon nap, had dinner, and then flew back to Changsha.

As for Xi’an food: roujiamo, mipi (cold rice noodles), biangbiang noodles, yangrou paomo, hulu chicken, etc. The taste was just average; we didn’t quite get used to it.

If you ask me how the trip was? Here’s my kid’s expression—figure it out yourself, haha.