Drum Tower of Xi'an

The Drum Tower stands a short walk northwest of the Bell Tower along West Street, built in 1380, several years before its counterpart, and historically paired with the Bell Tower to mark the rhythm of the old city's day: the Bell Tower's bell sounded at dawn, and the Drum Tower's drums sounded at dusk to signal the closing of the city gates and the start of curfew. The tower's timber structure, raised on a rectangular brick base with an arched passageway that traffic and pedestrians still pass through today, houses a large collection of drums on its upper level, including a massive central drum and dozens of smaller ones representing China's 24 solar terms, alongside a scheduled drumming performance held at intervals through the day. From the upper platform, views take in the Bell Tower to the southeast and, immediately to the north, the rooftops and minaret of the Muslim Quarter, whose main pedestrian entrance sits directly beneath the tower's northern side. The square in front of the tower, Drum Tower Square, is a popular evening gathering spot, especially lively after dark when the tower is lit and street performers and vendors fill the plaza. A visit to the tower itself, including the drum displays and platform, takes about 30 minutes to an hour, and is easily paired with a walk directly into the Muslim Quarter's Beiyuanmen and Huajue Alley food streets just to the north. Because the tower marks the transition point between the formal city-center squares and the dense, crowded lanes of the Muslim Quarter, the area around its base is busiest in the evening, when both locals and visitors converge for street food and the illuminated night views of both towers.