Brief Introduction : The Muslim Quarter in Xi'an is one of the most well-known parts of the city ,which is  famous for food,culture and snacks. It has a history of more than 1000 years. The north courtyard gate( beiyuan men) area where the Hui muslim quarter is located, used to be the official district in Qing dynasty(1644-1911). Due to the Yamen office of shaanxi governor was bulit in the north of the drum tower, so it’s named as the north courtyard. At the end of 1990s, some Hui muslim people started to rent houses and operate restaurants in this street. The local government of Lianhua district  transformed this part to the catering street, and then the north courtyard gate became Hui muslim street.,

As one of the representatives of Xi 'an Style,Hui muslim quarter is the general name of a number of streets in the Hui people's block. It is composed of several streets such as beiguangji street,beiyuanmen , xiyangsi market, dapiyuan, huajue lane and sagujinqiao, which are all close to  the bell and drum towers. So far over 60,000 Hui muslims are living around this area. Many of the streets in the block have strong Islamic style combined with halal food market, ethnic shopping center ,mosques and Muslim living areas .

Huifang flavor street on the north of the drum tower, is one popular street in the Hui muslim quarter, which is about 500 meters long from north to south. The street is paved by blue stones and lined by green trees. On the  both sides of the road are the buildings with the same color imitated from the Ming and Qing dynasties, or catering, or utensils,which are all run by the Hui people, with a strong halal characteristics. Around the historic district  there are 10 mosques indifferent ages and sizes, of which the most famous is the grand mosque in the Huajue alley. Walking in the blocks, you will see many commercial outlets with the integration of Chinese traditional architectural style and Muslim architectural style, ethnic costumes, handicrafts, halal food, restaurants and Muslim snack bars. So it is really a good place to walk, do some shopping and have local flavors. Visitors to Xi’an will consider it as a whirlwind lesson in bartering and delicious street foods. Especially in the late afternoon,a lot of people will be here.

Just Examples for local flavors:

1, Rou jia mo(Chinese hamburger): Rou means meat in Chinese, Jia means sandwiching,and Mo means Chinese bread. It has a history of more than 2500 years. Rou jia mo was listed in the fifth batch of intangible cultural heritage in shaanxi province in 2016. Firstly stew the meat in the cooking liquor by secret method. Then cut the stewed meat into mince with a little cooking liquor. In the end sandwich the minced meat (beef) with green pepper shreds into the crispy Chinese bread.

      

2, Biangbiang noodles(Biangbiang mian): also called belt noodle because the hand pulled noodles look as wide as a belt. When stretching the noodles on the wooden board,the sound sounds like ‘biangbiang’.

      

3, Mutton(beef) Soup with diced Chinese bread (Yangrou pomo in Chinese):The flavor started from 7^th century. The main raw material is well cooked mutton pieces, decilous soup, Chinese bread, starch noodles from potatoes or rice, woodear mushroom, with shreds of garlic sprout,shallots and coriander.

      

4, Xi’an mirror–shaped cake: It is the traditional snack in Xi’an. The cake is made of steamed glutinous rice, the shape of which looks like a mirror.Dipping a little sesame and sugar may be more delicious.

      

Admission fee: 0

Opening Time: 24hrs

Visiting Time Normally: 1-2 hrs

Better Seasons to Visit: April –October

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