A couple of days in Xian

Have spent the last couple of days just wandering around inside the city walls but mostly concentrating on the Muslim quarter, Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Great Mosque and of course the wall itself. The city inside the walls is pretty relaxed by China standards, with wide footpaths and roads and everything within comfortable walking distance. It's the sort of place that you could easily race around and see most of the major ticket item sights in a two day package if time was limited but I find much more enjoyment just having the time to sit and observe the people as thjey go about their daily lives. I went up onto the city walls, entry 40 Yuan and rented a bike 20 Yuan for 100 minutes with a 200 Yuan deposit. Having the bike lets you explore more of the towers along the wall but 100 minutes gave me just enough time to do about half of the wall. It's not just the wall, it's all of the activities going on between the wall and the moat, table tennis tables in the hundreds, kite flying, musical renditions, taichi, dancing, badminton, and exercise stations. This weekend is a holiday long weekend so the city is full to bursting with university students and other visitors, everyone is in great spirits with easy laughter and smiling faces everwhere. I stayed on the wall for about five hours, I wanted to be there for dusk and to see the lights come on along the the wall and on the guard towers and it was well worth it, as the afternoon wore on the crowds thinned considerably with the departure of the tour buses.
Came back to the hostel at 2030 to find it also full of university students, some the worse for wear having celebrated with Beijiu (Chinese rice spirits) a little too much. Morning revealed not all of it had managed to stay down with soiled bed linen and mattress outside airing.
The Great Mosque for some reason escaped the ravages of the cultural revolution and is a true treasure of Chinese antiquity. This is a MUST SEE when you visit Xian, it's very peaceful withing the mosque grounds and a very easy place to spend and hour or two.