xian, china:

After spending five days in Beijing, we caught an extremely comfortable and efficient overnight train down to Xian. Xian marked the start our our Silk Road adventure, once being the capital of China and a massive trade destination. Today, Xian is most famous for the iconic Terracotta Warriors. I'll be sharing a few snaps from our visit the warriors tomorrow, but I firstly wanted to share photos  from our time spent at the night markets, which are located in the Muslim Quarter. (lots of food shots!)
China has a small but vibrant Muslim population (called the Hui), which was brought about by the traders on the Silk Road travelling from the Middle East and Central Asia. The further west we headed in China, the more prominent the Muslim culture became. It was really, really interesting to see the shift, and it's also a part of Chinese culture many people are unaware of. So keep an eye out on our photos in the next couple of days/weeks so you can see the change as we headed towards Central Asia.

Next: the Terracotta Warriors and then on to the Tibetan town of Xiahe.

cold, spicy noodles - very refreshing on a warm evening

lots of kebabs with all sorts of ingredients available

sweet potato cakes - very sweet

quail eggs

beef noodle soup with bread