Green roofs
Three tiers.
xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0 · Windmemories — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jinxing Lai, Fangyuan Niu, Ke Wang, Jianxun Chen, Junling Qiu, Haobo Fan, Zhinan Hu — CC BY 4.0 · Daniel CULSAN — CC BY-SA 4.0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0 · H2v5o68z — CC0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0
Xi'an's best-known symbol, a massive brick-and-timber tower built in 1384 in the early Ming, standing at the heart of the old city where its four main streets meet, one of the grandest towers of its kind in China. It rises almost 40 m above a square base, with three tiers of curved green roofs; its bell was rung every morning to mark the start of the day, while the original Tang bell was moved to the Stele Forest Museum and a replica hangs in the tower. Its wooden balcony looks down the four streets running to the wall's gates, short performances of traditional bell music are held inside, and at night it is at its finest, lit in gold in the middle of the traffic circle. Tickets are about CNY 30, or CNY 50 combined with the Drum Tower, per visitor guides. Entry is through an underground passage, so don't try to cross the roundabout on foot.
Three tiers.
Short shows.
After dark.
Centre of old Xi'an
Muslim QuarterA historic quarter in the heart of old Xi'an, right behind the Drum Tower, home 2 minutes walk4.3
Great Mosque of Xi'anOne of China's largest and oldest historic mosques, at the eastern end of Xi'an'7 minutes walk4.5
Stele Forest MuseumA unique museum of inscribed stone tablets and sculpture, called the «Forest of 10 minutes walk4.3
Xi'an City WallOne of the oldest, largest and best-preserved Chinese city walls, built under th11 minutes walk4.7Through an underground passage from the metro or surrounding pavements, as it sits in a busy roundabout; the combo with the Drum Tower is CNY 50, per visitor guides.