First stop this morning was The Great Mosque of Xian which is near the Xian Drum Tower – traditionally Chinese cities had large bell towers and drum towers to let the townspeople known when to start work. Bells in the morning. Drums signalled the day’s work was done.
The mosque was nothing like I was expecting as it looked nothing like a traditional Middle Eastern mosque at all. It is the oldest mosques in Asia, built in 742AD during the Tang Dynasty – however, the majority of the existing Great Mosque was constructed during the Ming Dynasty and further expanded in the Qing Dynasty.
It is a popular tourist site of Xian, and is still used by Chinese Muslims as a place of worship, so I was expecting headscarves and shoes off and imams and minarets. But unlike most mosques in Middle Eastern or Arab countries, the Great Mosque of Xian is completely Chinese in its construction and architectural style. Except for some Arabic lettering and decorations, the mosque has no domes or traditional-style minarets, and no headscarf requirement or shoes off. It was more an outdoor courtyard surrounded by buildings. 
The prater hall section of the mosque; and the building for cleansing before prayer:
After this we had a chance to visit the markets in the Muslim Quarter. We noticed a distinct change of produce and items for sale here compared to other markets. Lots of date, figs, walnuts, dried persimmon and pomegranate. Also lots of knock-off handbags etc, toys and pashmina. 
After the markets it was over to the Xian City wall to have a look around – but with loads of steps and a flight to catch this afternoon, I decided to give it a miss. We had seen quite a bit of the wall on our night your last night and after a month on the go, a couple of hours to rest was much appreciate. 
We got to Xian airport around 3:30pm and then had one of the worst flight / airport experiences I’ve ever seen. Bad enough to get its own post… stay tuned.