Maijishan and Immortal Cliff

The Maijishan Grottoes area is one the most impressive sites that you can visit in China, and it can be arranged as a day trip from Xi'an. Here's my guide for a low cost experience.

First of all you need to get to the city of Tianshui, which is about 90 minutes from Xi'an by fast train (here's my guide on how to book a train ticket in China).

Then you can either take a bus or a taxi. Bus number 34 leaves from Tiansui railway station, but you will most likely arrive at Tiansui SOUTH railway station. From here you can take bus number 60.

Taking the bus is an extremely cheap option (5 rmb) but also time consuming. I recommend you grab a DIDI and save some time in order to visit at least 2 sites in one day. The car will cost you less than 10 euros.

Beware! The number of visitors admitted to the grottoes every day is limited and tickets are sold only on the official channel a few day in advance.

Grab your tickets by entering "Maijishan" on your wechat and follow these steps, it's easy and really fast. You will need to enter your passport details and telephone number; you won't get a ticket or a qrcode so the easiest way to get into the tourist site is showing your telephone number to the guides.

The tickets include the transportation from the gate to the grottoes.

15 minutes away from the Maijishan Grottoes stands one the most impressive places I haver seen, the Immortal Cliff (known as Xianren Cliff).

You can just grab a car and buy your tickets at the gate, no need to preorder.

The Immortal Cliff is a huge area of temples built in caves, under cliffs and on peaks. You can easily spend 3 or 4 hours there, so be sure to be there around 2 or 3 in the afternoon to enjoy every single trail.

Despite being a huge religious site, we didn't find any vegan food in the area.

We booked a hotel with buffet breakfast and were able to eat something in the morning, and brought snacks with us.

In the evening we ordered some take out food with the Meituan program, as explained here.

I honestly recommend you spend less time in huge cities like Beijing and Shanghai in order to visit magical places like the Maijishan Grottoes and the Immortal Cliff