Right beside the Drum Tower, it is the Muslim Quarter. The Muslim Quarter features a mix of Chinese and Islamic cultures where small alleyways have been turned into marketplaces. This place is a myriad of interesting handicraft shops, muslim restaurants and vendors and narrow streets where you can spend much much time walking and walking.

It definitely worths an entire evening or afternoon to stroll around. The afternoon visit is good, you can see the Great Mosque first, and choose some street vendor or nice muslim restaurant for dinner after spending your energies walking.

At Muslim quarter, many of the most atmospheric streets are along little alleyways, and this is an area for just wandering around. The street food here is good, as with all Muslim areas, and along with the vast array of tourist goods on sale, there are a lot of interesting ordinary shops and stalls. Kids play on the streets, people sit outdoors for much of the summer, living their lives out in the open, and there is the constant smell of cooking food, vegetables and "life". This is a busy, noisy, friendly place.  A leisurely stroll along the stretch of road at Muslim Quarter will the highlight today.

The staple food of Xian, is often Muslim influenced, so that meat dishes are generally of mutton and beef, rather than pork and chicken, varieties. Muslim restaurants and food stalls are to be found on nearly every street. The most common of these dishes would have to be the cheap and easy to make YangRouPaomo, and restaurants serving this soupy delight are plentiful. Also popular, especially for breakfast is RouJiamo. A slightly more interesting, and hearty, Muslim delight is the Roast Whole Lamb.

The evening visit of Muslim Quarter with some Muslim friends in bargaining for songkok purchase will be a good experience.

The history of Muslim Quarter
Xian used to be the starting point of the Silk Road. This road linked Constantinople with China. The journey used to take more than two years. Horses, camels and carriages brought precious goods from one part of the world to the other. But it was not only material things that were transported; culture, religion and languages were also brought to China from what is Turkey today.

Two of the world's leading religions arrived in China along the Silk Route, Buddhism and Islam. Islam became particularly popular in the city of Xian. Islam as a religious order was founded in the early part of the 7th century A.D. and was introduced to China in the mid-600s. At that time, Arabian merchants and travelers came to the northwest of China by way of Persia and Afghanistan, to establish diplomatic, trade, and military contacts with China. At the same time, another route saw a group of sea voyagers find their way through Bangladesh Bay and the Malacca Strait to Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and other Chinese cities, where many of them settled and married local women who gave birth to babies that became the first generation of Chinese Muslems.

After many muslim citizens arrived in Xian, Xian has become an important center of Islamic learning, many of the muslims were settled in this city.  Among the enlisted, many were businessmen; some were smiths and officials. They were called the Hui ethnic now in China.

Tours to Muslim Quarter