Current visitor details
Hours, admission, booking and passport guidance below come from the Place record shared by city, itinerary and booking pages. Unverified or stale high-risk claims are not shown as facts.
Booking
Day tickets are easy to obtain; the 长恨歌 performance sells out well ahead.
Plan ahead: Day ticket: same-day is usually fine. 长恨歌: book 7-10 days ahead in peak season — it sells out fast.
On site: Available at the ticket office; day tickets are usually available.
Channels: Official WeChat: 华清宫景区 · Ctrip / Meituan / OTA · On-site ticket office
Foreign passport
On-site purchase is available for day tickets — bring a passport. The 长恨歌 performance booking may require a Chinese ID; check the official channels before travelling.
Visit planning
Allow: 2-3 hours (palace and pools); 4-5 hours with a Mount Li hike; add ~70 minutes for the evening performance
Physical load: moderate
Morning visit (pools and Xi'an Incident site) if combining with the Terracotta Warriors; otherwise an afternoon visit leading into the evening 长恨歌 performance.
Getting there
Metro Line 9 to Huaqingchi Station (华清池站), then ~5 minutes on foot to the entrance. From central Xi'an: ~60-80 minutes by metro.
From the Terracotta Warriors: Lintong bus 602/613, ~30-40 minutes; or taxi ~15-25 yuan, 10-15 minutes.
Tourist bus You 5 (306) from Xi'an Railway Station also serves Huaqing Palace.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair access: The palace grounds are mostly flat with ramps; Mount Li paths involve stairs and uphill walking.
Why this place matters
Huaqing Palace was a Tang imperial pleasure palace built on natural hot springs, famously associated with Emperor Xuanzong and his consort Yang Guifei. The current buildings are modern reconstructions on ancient foundations, but the spring pools date to the Tang and earlier. The site is also where the December 1936 Xi'an Incident took place, when Chiang Kai-shek was seized by Zhang Xueliang, forcing a united front against Japan. 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' (长恨歌) is a large outdoor dance-and-light show on the lake, based on Bai Juyi's Tang poem.
What to notice
- The ancient hot-spring pools — pebble-lined basins where Tang emperors bathed, with visible original stonework.
- The Xi'an Incident site — bullet marks on buildings and the room Chiang Kai-shek fled before climbing Mount Li.
- Mount Li (骊山) behind the palace — a cable car and walking paths give views over the Qin plain.
- Reconstructed Tang halls with period-style architecture, painted beams and lotus ponds.
- The lake stage where the 长恨歌 performance takes place, with Mount Li as its backdrop.
- Performance timing — the evening show (roughly Mar-Nov) needs a separate booking and sells out days ahead.