While visiting the historic city of Xian, tourists can plan day tours and excursions to places like Mt. Taibai National Forest Park, to experience the scenic beauty and natural abundance of the place. There are guided and self-guided tour packages available to the nearby attractions.
Some of the most popular places for day tours and excursions in and around Xian include the Hukou Waterfall, Mountain Hua, Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve of Shaanxi and Xian Qinling Wildlife Park.
Mt. Taibai, which means ‘great white’ was given this name because it remains snow-capped all year around. It borders the Zhouzhi County of Xian, along with Meixian County and Taibai County of Baoji City and is 3,767 metres high. It is the tallest peak in the Qinling Mountain Range. July and August is considered the best time to explore Mt. Taibai.
The area is full of valleys and mountain passes, along with the old maple trees, arduous peaks, flowing mountain streams, ancient temples, alpine lakes and the sea of clouds. Ping’an Temple, which is located at an altitude of 2,290 meters, is considered as the best place to experience the cloud sea.
Some of the most prominent alpine lakes in the mountain include the Erye Lake, Daye Lake, Yuhuang Pool, Sanye Lake and Mingxing Pool. The smoke and fog floating above the water, along with the glimmering light of waves, provide a picturesque view.
The Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve of Shaanxi on the other hand is a nature reserve, which was established in 1987 to rescue injured and sick animals from the forest and protect their species from becoming extinct.
This nature reserve is situated in the Zhouzhi County, which lies in the foothills of the Qinling Mountain Range. Towards its west is the Lao Xian Cheng Nature Reserve, while Xiao Wang Jian Forest Farm is towards its east.
It is spread over a total area of 56,393 hectares and is a home to animals like the golden monkeys, giant pandas, crested ibis, takins and brown-eared pheasants, which are considered as the indigenous species of China. The Lao Xian Cheng Nature Reserve and Xiao Wang Jian Forest Farm are also located near this place.
90% of the total area of the Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve is covered with forests and fine vegetation. The area has a mountainous terrain, which is high in the south and low in the north. This place experiences a short summer with moist and rainy climate and a long winter with the average temperature remaining around 7° Celsius. The annual precipitation in this area ranges between 600 and 1,100 mm.
The Qinling Wildlife Park is another popular location for a day tour from Xian. It lies on the northern foot of Mt. Qinling, which is at a distance of 28 km from the south of Xian City. The park is an all-inclusive garden site, which focuses on animal protection and popular science education. It also has sightseeing options.
The Qinling Wildlife Park was the first of its kind to be established in the north-western China region. At present it is a home to more than 300 species of animal. Visitors visit this place to see the different types of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles.
The park is divided into four regions namely, pedestrian region, vegetarian region, beasts of prey region and bird region. In the non-pedestrian regions there are sightseeing buses and battery carts available to explore the different regions.
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