Traveling in China part V: The city of Xi'an, and explorations in the Muslim Quarter (original work)

After hanging out and recuperating for a day or two we started to think about our next destination. We eventually decided on the city of Xi'an, so we booked a hostel, packed our bags, grabbed our cameras and started making our way back to the train station. We said goodbye to Pingyao as we boarded the old night train again, and settled into our hot and smoky (people in China love to smoke on the train) upper bunks of the packed sleeper.

We arrived in the morning and the fresh air was a real treat after nearly suffocating on the train. Our first day in Xi'an was a time to relax and explore after settling in to our hostel. We had heard about the famous Muslim Quarter of the city, and everyone said that this was the best place to grab a bite to eat so naturally that is where we headed. We had a great time exploring the amazing food stands and markets in the area.

Around Xi'an

We had just arrived in Xi'an that morning, and passed this little gem on the way to our hostel, I couldn't resist, haha.

In front of the massive Xi'an bell tower. The tower was built in 1384 during the Ming dynasty and has remained ever since. It is one of the most famous bell towers in China, and is a truly grand building.

A close up of the bell tower.

The bell tower is most impressive at night.

Another beautiful tower close to the Muslim Quarter of the city.

Many people come and sit on this huge staircase leading down to a huge city square.

We loved the look of this alley.

It was so strange to see a McDonald's in Xi'an, we had to check it out. The McSpicy Chicken was good, but VERY McSpicy. There was also a Starbucks around the corner, hahaha.

More cool alleyways.

Wandering around the streets of Xi'an.

Sabrina enjoying some random treat she found as we wandered around.

They have an "interesting" way of developing infrastructure here.

Not sure what game it is they were playing, but these guys were pretty intense about it.

The delicious food and busy markets of the Muslim Quarter

Walking through the streets we eventually started to make our way to the busy Muslim Quarter of the city.

This father (grandfather?) was havin a blast with his little guy :)

Cooking up something delicious in the Muslim Quarter using a coal fired stove, very common in China.

Everything here smelled (and tasted) delicious!

These potatoes seemed to be a bit of specialty around here, they were delicious we came back, haha.

This batch was just about ready, making me hungry just looking at them.

Just takin a little nap.

Getting into the market area of the Muslim Quarter.

Inside one of the covered alley of the market.

The market street was crazy busy! Sabrina bought some shoes, I mostly enjoy just seeing all the different stuff.

The famous Great Mosque of Xi'an

One of the main attractions of the Xi'an Muslim Quarter is the famous Great Mosque. It is the oldest mosque in China and one of the most well known. One of the most unique features of this place is that it is completely Chinese in its architecture and design. The mosque is open to visitors and is in regular use by the Muslim population of the city.

Orange trees in one of the inner courtyards.

A green orange, haha.

Found some cats inside, they were pretty cute.

More cat pix plz, k tks!

Chillin so hard.

Roof detailing.

The mosque has a very unique wooden arch inside, the construction of this thing was crazy.

Heading to the prayer hall.

After touring around the busy Muslim quarter and filling up on the delicious street food we decided to head back to the hostel and take a much needed rest. We didn't stay long in Xi'an as we had a plan to go and visit a little farming town in the Yongshuo area called Yangdi village. We had found a place on Airbnb that looked really cool, and it was a dream of Sabrina's to see the famous karst mountains in that area. Before we would leave Xi'an though, we of course needed to see the famous Terracotta Warrior army. In the next post I'll be showing our trip to visit the Terracotta Warriors museum and excavation site.

Thanks so much for stopping by and as always if you like the post feel free to throw me an up vote, I really love em'!! Be sure to follow me @dexter-k on Steemit as well to see more of our travels around the world, as well as other new original content all the time!

Dexter