Xian Drum Tower - Sister Building of Xian Bell Tower

There is a Chinese saying, “morning bell and evening drum”, which describes the ancient Chinese stroke the bell in the bell tower and beat the drum at the drum tower to announce the time of the day. As the sister building of Xian Bell Tower. Xian Drum tower is about 200 meters away from it, across the Bell and Drum Tower square.

Layout of Xian Drum Tower

This timber-brick drum tower was built in 1380 in the Ming dynasty, almost the same age as the Bell Tower, and both of them do not consist of any iron nails. It is about 34 meters (112 feet) high and 53 meters long (172 feet), covering an area of 1998.8 square meters, with two floor, mainly in red and yellow. The roof is covered with gray tiles with trimmed edges, and the foundation is with no other decorations.When night falls, the whole drum tower is magnificent and solemn. A spectacular panorama view of the Xian center is just underneath your feet.

Upon arrival, soon you will notice there are 24 drums in the north and south sides of the tower with traditional Chinese characters written on it, which are 24 solar terms of Chinese lunar calendar and used to guide the agricultural production and symbolizes good fortune for the coming years. The arrays of those drums are only for you to appreciate and prohibited to touch. In the front of the entrance, there is an huge drum standing erectly where many visitors are doing picture taking and trying to beat it with a reasonable fee.

Inside the drum tower, it is actually an exhibition hall now with various collections of ancient drums and drums of different nations, as well as some treasurable Chinese paintings, and some of the exhibits are older than 1000 years.

After visiting the drum tower museum, tourists can enjoy the fancy-dressed Tang dynasty show with drums beating performance. Since the convenient location, it is always recommended to visit Xian Drum Tower with the Bell Tower.

Though the Drum Tower is not used as the timer anymore. In the heart of Xian City, it tells its own histories by displaying the ancient culture relics and traditional Chinese art works as an exhibition hall. Some of these collections have the history of more than 1000 years and in the Drum Tower you can see all kinds of drums of different nations and from various dynasties inside and outside the building. Besides the exhibits, the drum tower itself is a priceless cultural and historical relics as the example of Chinese architecture.

Watch the Traditional Performance

There are traditional performances at Bell Tower and Drum Tower during the day time. Each performance lasts about 10-15 mins and the performance at drum tower is mainly about Tang dynasty styled dance show with Chinese drum beating. It is always 30mins earlier than the show of bell tower's.

▶ Performance at Drum Tower: 9:30 10:15 11:00 11:45 14:00 14:45 15:30 16:20

*Note: the info above is only for your reference. Please contact us to inquiry about the actual performing time in different season.

This iconic place is so beautiful in the evening when it was all lit up. It is a great people-watching place as all ages come to walk around the square, to take pictures, sit, relax and just hang out. You can also get to the towers, from which you can enjoy the panoramic nightscape of the whole city, modern and ancient, traditional and creative.

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▶ Address: Intersection of East Street and West Street in Beilin District of Xi'an City 西安市碑林区东大街和西大街交汇处

▶ Entrance Fee: CNY 30

Marking the geographical center of the ancient capital Xian and enduring more than 600 years, Xian Bell Tower is the iconic building, which was used to announce the time. At present, it has become an exhibition hall of the historic and cultural relics of Xian city and selected artworks of traditional Chinese painting, all of which tell the coming visitors about the story behind this ancient capital, Xian. Normally, there will be music played by ancient Chinese chime bells and the dance show featured in Tang dynasty style. The scenery here is especially lovely at night.>>Xian Bell Tower

▶ Address: No. 1 Huimin Street, West Street, Lianhu District, Xi'an City 西安市莲湖区西大街1号回民街街口

▶ Entrance Fee: Free

Right behind the Drum Tower, the Muslim Quarter in Xian downtown is actually a block consists of couples of streets for over 1,000 years old. It is very famous for its abundant delicious local Xian snacks and rich culture of ancient immigration. Diverse food, hospitable people, characteristic buildings in Ming and Qing dynasties, traditional mosques, make this block a must-go place for tourists from home and abroad. You can try the Featured Pita Bread Soaked in Lamb Soup, dumplings with spicy and soar soup, Chinese hamburger, and mutton kebab, etc. More than 300 sorts of food are selling here, which makes itself a fantastic site for numerous foodies.>>Learn More about Muslim Quarter

▶ Address: No. 30 Huajue Lane, Lianhu District, Xi'an City 西安市莲湖区化觉巷30号

▶ Entrance Fee: CNY 25

Northwest to the Drum Tower on Huajue lane and inside the Muslim quarter, the Great Mosque of Xian is the largest mosque in China. It was built in the early Ming Dynasty, housing more than 20 buildings and 5 courtyards, covering about 12,000 square meters. It was also called as Huajue Mosque, Great Eastern Mosque and Daxuexi Alley Mosque for its location. The mosque’s architecture is very unique in the whole world, featured with the traditional architecture form and Islamic functionality, and it is still used as a worshipping place for Muslim Hui people, opening from 8am to 7pm.

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Located right next to the Bell Tower, the Drum tower is easily accessible by bus and subway, and visitors usually get to the Bell Tower and then head to the Drum Tower. It is about 40km away from Xian Airport to the Drum Tower and there are direct shuttle bus leaving for Bell tower from the airport, and whole duration is about 1.5 hours. Xian Railway station is also located at downtown area, only 3km from the bell tower, and taking a taxi may cost about 15min to get there. If you get to Xian from Xian North Railway Station, you can take subway line 2 from the Railway station to Zhonglou Station (钟楼站), about 14km (40min by subway).

▶ Useful Link:Xian Airport to Xian Downtown

As the ancient capital city of China for 13 dynasties, ruled by 73 emperors, Xian has left massive cultural heritages and relics for you to explore. Within about two days, you can finish visiting the main sites, which include the incredible man-made wonder, the Terracotta Warriors, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, and the Muslim Quarter where you can get to try the local cuisines. Besides, biking around the Ancient City Wall and tracing back the history at Shaanxi History Museum and watching the Tang Dynasty Show, all of these activities are definitely unmissable for your stay in Xian. Now, it is available to have 72 hours Visa-Free Transit in Xian, and you can go for a history and culture tour or photography tour to explore all the stunning attractions in the city even without applying for a visa.

If you have more time, you can head to Luoyang, Hukou Waterfall, and the famous Mt. Huashan, which is about 120km away from the city area. Besides, you can start your silk road trip from the terminal Xian and travel along the route Marco Polo has visited, or you can regard Xian as your midway in China and start your trip from Beijing, Shanghai and even Lhasa to the west of Xian. China Discovery has designed many classic China tour packages including Xian for you. Let us customize one for you.>>Contact Us Now

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Travel with China Discovery

If you book a tour from China Discovery, our skilled driver and knowledgeable guide will pick you up at the airport or railway station and escort you to your hotels, restaurant, the pier and other tourist destinations. You won’t need to worry about the complicated transportation anymore and just focus on sightseeing.>>Contact us now