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Student, senior & child discounts at Xi'an sights — the full table
Xi'an's big sights offer real discounts: students roughly half price at most attractions, seniors 65+ free at the Terracotta Army and most museums, children 6 and under free and ages 6–18 half price at the Terracotta Army. The limitation: it's physical ID at the gate, photos don't count, and some policies apply only to Chinese nationals. Here's the complete table.
The short version
- Student: ¥60 Terracotta Army, ¥27 City Wall, ¥60 Huaqing — full-time ID required.
- Seniors 65+: free at the Terracotta Army, Shaanxi History Museum and City Wall with passport/ID.
- Kids: free under 6 and under 1.2 m; ¥60 for ages 6–18 at the Terracotta Army.
- The gate checks the physical card — screenshots of IDs are refused.
- Discounts cut admission only; tours and transport bundles stay full price.
The headline table
Prices are per person, 2026, from the sights' own ticket policies. Asterisk = discount applies to Chinese nationals and, at most city sights, to internationals with the right documents — carry originals, not photos.
| Sight | Adult | Student | Senior 65+ | Children |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terracotta Army | ¥120 | ¥60 (full-time, undergrad or below) | Free (with ID) | 6 and under free; 6–18 half (¥60) |
| City Wall | ¥54 | ¥27 | Free (with ID) | Under 1.2 m free |
| Huaqing Palace | ¥120 | ¥60 | Free (with ID) | Under 1.2 m free |
| Shaanxi History Museum | Free (reservation) | Free | Free | Free — but a timed reservation is required for everyone |
| Big Wild Goose Pagoda | ¥50 (temple; pagoda climb separate: ¥30 peak / ¥20 off-peak) | ¥30 | Free (with ID) | Under 1.2 m free |
| Forest of Steles | ¥85 | ¥42 | Free (with ID) | Under 1.2 m free |
| Tang Paradise | ~¥120 | Half | Half or free | Under 1.2 m free |
The pattern: students pay roughly half, seniors 65+ are usually free, children under 1.2 m are free everywhere. Individual pages list each sight's exact policy — check before you queue.
The fine print that gets people
- Physical documents only. Photos of a student ID or passport are not accepted at the gate. Carry the originals.
- 'Student' means full-time, undergraduate or below. Postgrad, adult-education and part-time students generally don't qualify at the Terracotta Army.
- Nationality clauses. A few sights tie certain senior and child concessions to the Chinese national ID card. The Terracotta Army is not one of them — its brackets (children 6 and under free, 6–18 half price ¥60, seniors 65+ free with ID) apply to every visitor with valid documents.
- Discounts don't stack with tours. If you join a group tour, the package price usually ignores your student status — buy admission separately if you qualify and use a transport-only arrangement.
- Show-only tickets (e.g. the Song of Everlasting Sorrow) have their own pricing and generally no student concession.
Where the savings add up
For a student hitting the five big paid sights (Terracotta, Wall, Huaqing, Pagoda, Steles), the discounts save roughly ¥180–220 — about a day's budget on our backpacker estimate. For a family with two children aged 6–18, the Terracotta Army alone saves ¥120 on half-price tickets.
Two practical notes: buy tickets yourself on the official channels so the discount applies (see booking attractions), and carry your documents every day — the metro, museums and hotels all take passports anyway, so it's already in your pocket.
Questions, answered
Do students get discounts in Xi'an?
Yes — most major sights charge full-time students (undergraduate or below) roughly half price: Terracotta Army ¥60, City Wall ¥27, Huaqing Palace ¥60. Bring the physical student ID; photos aren't accepted at the gate.
Are seniors free in Xi'an?
Seniors 65+ are free at the Terracotta Army, City Wall, Shaanxi History Museum and most museums, and half or free elsewhere — with ID. Some policies officially apply to Chinese nationals, so carry your passport and be ready for gate discretion.
Are children free in Xi'an?
Children under 1.2 m are free almost everywhere. At the Terracotta Army, children 6 and under are free and ages 6–18 pay half price (¥60), with no nationality split.
Can I use a student discount on a tour?
Generally no — tour packages price everyone the same. If you qualify for a discount, buy admission yourself through the official channels and, if possible, join a transport-only arrangement for the day.
Do international students get discounts in Xi'an?
At most sights, yes — a valid international student ID with your passport usually gets the half-price admission at the gate, though some senior/child policies are nationality-restricted. It's at the gate's discretion; carry originals and ask.
Keep exploring
Visas & entry: do you need one?
Probably less paperwork than you fear — and two of the doors now have their own deep-dive packages: the 30-day visa-free entry (~50 countries) and the 240-hour transit (57 countries, including the US). The sections below are the router: work out which door is yours, then read its package.
The 240-hour visa-free transit, explained
Ten days in China without a visa, if you're just passing through — including Americans. The rules, the traps, and how to run it through Xi'an.
The 30-day visa-free entry: who gets in free
Around 50 countries can now enter China for up to 30 days with no visa at all — no transit logic, no onward-ticket games. Most of Europe, the UK, Canada, Australia and more. The US is not on the list.