Airlines CAAC is on the southeast corner
of the crossroads with Fenghao Lu (Mon-Sat
8.30am-9pm; tel 4264026). The airport bus leaves
from the bus stop outside every thirty minutes
between 5am and 6pm daily.
Bike rental Bikes cost ¥5 a day, with
a deposit of up to ¥400. You can rent a Flying
Pigeon from the Flats of Renmin Hotel,
the Jiefang Hotel and the Victory
Hotel. Mum's and Dad's
restaurants also have a few bikes for rent.
Banks and exchange Branches of the
Bank of China (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-3pm) are
at 318 Dong Dajie and 233 Jiefang Lu. A further
branch, on Nan Dajie next to KFC, is open
on Sundays (10am-2pm). You can also exchange
cash, though not travellers' cheques, at the
business centres of the larger hotels.
Bookshops The Foreign Language
Bookstore, at 347 Dong Dajie, has little in
English except Agatha Christie novels. For books
on Xi'an, try the Shaanxi Historical Museum or
the shop behind the Small Goose Pagoda. Most are
expensive, with more glossy pictures than text,
but there are a couple of reasonably priced,
well-illustrated paperbacks on sale.
Buses The most central and largest bus
station is just south of the train station on
the west side of Jiefang Lu; destinations served
include Hua Shan, Yan'an, Ruicheng and Luoyang.
Another station just outside the southwest
corner of the city on Huancheng Nan Lu has a
regular service to destinations south and west
of the city.
Cinema You can watch Bruce Willis
speaking Mandarin at the picture houses at 379
Dong Dajie and 352 Bei Dajie, where they show
the occasional dubbed foreign action movie, a
change from all the home-grown action movies.
Hospital The Provincial Hospital is on
Youyi Xi Lu, just west of the intersection with
Lingyuan Lu.
Internet The cheapest place to get
email access is the Foreign Languages University
(daily 8am-2pm and 5-10.30pm; ¥6 per hour).
It's not easy to find - take bus #603 from
outside the Bell Tower on Chang'an Lu, get off
at the last stop then cross over the road and
turn back north. Take the first left onto Shi
Dajie; walk past the main University building
and continue down the street for a half-kilometre
on to campus. Turn right immediately after the
compound gates, and the office is fifty metres
down on the right-hand corner of the street. An
easier but more expensive option is Weizhong Co.
Ltd, 50-56 Chang'an Lu (daily 7am-11pm; ¥20/hour);
again take bus #603 and get off at the stop
after the Xi'an Foreign Languages Institute. You
can also gain Internet access at the business
centres of large hotels.
PSB 138 Xi Dajie (Mon-Sat 8am-noon
& 3-5pm).
Post office There is a post office
opposite the Hyatt, at 161 Dong Dajie
(Mon-Fri 9am-7pm), and another opposite the New
World Hotel on Lianhu Lu (Mon-Fri 9am-noon
& 2-5pm).
Telephones A 24hr telephone service is
available in the same building as the post
office on 161 Dong Dajie; you can also make
international phone calls from the business
centres of large hotels.
Trains There is a Foreigners' Booking
Office on the second floor of the train station
booking hall (daily 10.30am-12.30pm &
2.30-4.30pm), but it's of limited use - staff
ask you where you want to go and when, then
write it in Chinese and tell you which of the
other windows you should queue up at actually to
buy the ticket. The Advance Ticket Booking
Office on Lianhu Lu, marked in English on some
maps, often won't sell tickets to foreigners.
You can also buy tickets from the backpacker
restaurants and CITS in the Jiefang Hotel.
Travel agents The main office of CITS
is at 32 Chang'an Lu (Mon-Fri 8am-noon &
2-6pm; tel 5262066, fax 5261558), but the
friendly pair who staff the small CITS office
(daily 8am-9pm; tel 7431023) at the back of the Jiefang
Hotel are more approachable, and sell
tickets for onward travel by train and plane,
for the airport bus and for Yangzi River
cruises.
