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Summary: Muslim Knowledge Guide: Women in Islam, Judaism and Christianity Across the Muslim World is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: I have adjusted and shortened the order of the chapters. I am sharing this book not to attack followers of other religions. The content is objective, and the parts about Judaism and Christianity cite their own. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Women in Islam, Religious Comparison, Muslim Knowledge.

This article is an excerpt from a book by Canadian Muslim scholar Sherif Abdel Azeem.

The book is titled "

Women in Islam (Compared to Women in Judaism and Christianity)."

I have adjusted and shortened the order of the chapters. I am sharing this book not to attack followers of other religions. The content is objective, and the parts about Judaism and Christianity cite their own traditional scriptures, so there is no fabrication. Dr. Azeem wrote this book with a very humble and friendly attitude, and his citations are quite gentle.

I have always believed that Muslims should live among non-Muslims. The Quran allows Muslims to have friendly exchanges with non-Muslims. This helps us make comparisons and see our own strengths. If we only live among Muslims, many things become routine, just like air. We stop noticing them and forget to cherish them. Living with non-Muslims also promotes religious dialogue and encourages people to follow the right path, which is something the Quran allows us to do. "Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. "(16:125)



The content is a screenshot from Islamic Law (Sharia).

The law clearly states that Muslims cannot interfere with the lives of non-Muslims. This includes not pouring out their wine, not stopping them from eating pork, and certainly not tearing down their churches. As long as both sides follow their own principles, we can communicate with their wise people.

Today, most Jews, Christians, and even Muslims do not practice their religion exactly as written in their scriptures. They choose what to believe based on their own understanding. Therefore, comparing the individual actions of believers from different religions is not representative and cannot be done. However, we can study the scriptures of these religions to trace their roots and compare how they describe certain topics. This article selects the most controversial issue, the status of women, for comparison.

Women in Islam (Compared to Women in Judaism and Christianity)

The status of women in Jewish and Christian traditions is undoubtedly shocking when measured by the standards of the late 20th century. However, it must be viewed within its proper historical context. This means that any objective evaluation of the status of women in Jewish and Christian traditions must take into account the historical circumstances in which these traditions developed.

There is no doubt that the views of Jewish legal scholars and church fathers on women were influenced by the ideas common in the societies where they lived. The Bible itself was written by different authors in different eras. These authors could not help but be influenced by the values and lifestyles of the people around them. For example, the extreme bias against women in the Old Testament laws regarding adultery is hard for us to explain with our way of thinking. However, if we consider the fact that early Jewish tribes cared deeply about their lineage, they had an extreme desire to define themselves as distinct from the surrounding tribes. In this context, only the sexual misconduct of married women could threaten the desire they valued so much. Considering this, we can understand this bias. Similarly, the various condemnations of women by church fathers cannot be separated from the misogynistic Greco-Roman cultural background of their lives. Therefore, it is unfair to evaluate Jewish and Christian cultural heritage without considering the relevant historical background. In fact, correctly understanding the historical background of Judaism and Christianity is also extremely important for understanding the significance of Islam's contribution to world history and human civilization.

1. The Sin of Eve

When Allah condemned Adam's actions, he pushed all the blame onto Eve: 'The man said, The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.' (Old Testament, Genesis 3:12) Allah then said to Eve: 'I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.' 'Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.' He then said to Adam: 'Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you.' 'Through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.' (Old Testament, Genesis 3:16-17) In the Islamic faith, the story of how humans were first created is mentioned many times, such as: 'O Adam!' Dwell with your wife in Paradise, and eat from it wherever you wish. But do not approach this tree; otherwise, you will become among the wrongdoers. ' But Satan whispered to them to reveal that which was hidden of their private parts.

He said: 'Your Lord did not forbid you from this tree except that you might become angels or become among the immortals.' ' And he swore to them: 'I am indeed a sincere advisor to you both.' ' He misled them with deception. When they tasted the fruit of the tree, their private parts became apparent to them, and they began to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise. Their Lord called to them: 'Did I not forbid you from that tree?' Did I not tell you that Satan is a clear enemy to you both? ' They said: 'Our Lord!' We have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers. ' (Quran 7:19-23) If you look closely at these two stories, you will find a clear difference. Unlike the Bible, the Quran treats the mistake made by Adam and Hawa equally. There is no hint in the Quran that Hawa ate the forbidden fruit before Adam, and she never tempted, incited, or deceived him. Also, the pain of childbirth for Eve (Hawa) is not a punishment from Allah. According to the Quran, Allah never punishes one person for the mistakes of another. Adam and Eve both committed the same sin, then they both asked Allah for forgiveness, and Allah forgave them.

2. The inheritance of Eve

In the Bible, Eve is portrayed as a temptress, and this negative image has deeply influenced traditional Jewish and Christian views. They believe all women inherited the traits of their first mother: sinfulness and deceit. Therefore, women are seen as untrustworthy, morally inferior, and evil. Menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth are considered permanent punishments for women because of that sin. To better understand how this negative image of Eve affects all women, we need to look back at the accounts in some important Jewish and Christian scriptures.

First, let us look at an account from the ancient Bible: I found something more bitter than death: the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her. But the sinner is caught by her. The preacher says, look, among a thousand men, I found one upright man. But among all the women, I did not find one. I compared these things one by one to find the reason, and while my heart was still searching, I did not find it. (Old Testament, Ecclesiastes 7:26-28) In the Catholic Bible, we can read these sentences: Any wickedness is bearable, but not the wickedness of a woman... Any wickedness is small compared to the wickedness of a woman. (Ecclesiasticus 25:19, 26)

Jewish legal scholars list nine curses women suffer because they caused humanity to be expelled from paradise: a woman must endure nine curses and death throughout her life: menstrual bleeding, bleeding on her wedding night, the hardship of pregnancy, the pain of childbirth, the labor of raising children, covering her head as if in mourning, wearing earrings like a slave, having her testimony rejected in court, and finally, death. To this day, the daily morning prayer of Orthodox Jewish men includes this sentence: "Praise Allah, the King of the Universe, thank you for not creating me a woman." Jewish women, on the other hand, praise Allah in their morning prayer for "creating me according to your will."

Another dua found in many Jewish dua books says: "Praise Allah, who did not create me a non-Jew;" Praise Allah, who did not create me a woman; Praise Allah, who did not create me an ignorant person.

Let us hear what Saint Paul says: "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission." I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. (1 Timothy 2:11-14)

Saint Tertullian was even harsher than Saint Paul. When speaking to his "most beloved sisters" about faith, he said: "Do you know that each of you is Eve?" As long as the gender Allah ordained for you continues, the sin you committed will also continue. You are the gateway of the devil; You broke the seal of the forbidden tree. You were the first to disobey the command of Allah. You tempted Adam to sin—the devil originally did not dare to approach him. You destroyed the image of Allah—man—so easily. What is more, the death of the Son of Allah was also due to your rebellion.

Saint Augustine supported his predecessors. In a letter to a friend, he wrote: 'Whether wife or mother, they are no different as women; they are all the temptress Eve. We must be wary of any woman... I see no use for a woman to a man other than bearing children.'

Centuries later, Saint Thomas Aquinas still viewed women as a defect: 'Woman is defective and contemptible.' Man was created perfect, so his perfect attributes were able to continue. Woman was defective from the start, so her errors and defects will remain forever.

Finally, the famous reformer Martin Luther believed women were useless except for bearing as many children as possible: 'If they become exhausted or even die, it does not matter.' Let them die from childbirth; that is the task they came into this world for.

Because Eve existed as a temptress from the beginning, all women have been slandered time and time again. In short, in Jewish and Christian concepts, Eve and her female descendants have a sinful nature. Now, if we turn our attention to the Quran to see how it describes women, we will quickly find that the Islamic concept of women is fundamentally different from that of Judaism and Christianity.

Let us look at what the Quran says: 'Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so—for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.' (Quran 33:35) 'The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakat and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those—Allah will have mercy upon them.' Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise. (Quran 9:71) Their Lord answered them: I will never let the work of any worker among you go to waste, whether male or female—you are one from another. (Quran 3:195) Whoever does evil will be repaid with the same evil. Any man or woman who does good and believes will enter Paradise and receive endless provision. (Quran 40:40) Whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, I will surely give them a good life, and I will surely reward them for the best of what they have done. (Quran 16:97)

It is clear that the Quran makes no distinction when mentioning men and women. Allah created them to worship Him on earth, to do good deeds, and to avoid sin. Both men and women will be judged fairly by Allah. The Quran never says that women are a gateway for the devil or that they have a deceptive and seductive nature. The Quran also never says that men are created in the image of Allah. Both men and women are simply creations of Allah, nothing more.

According to the Quran, a woman's role on earth is not just to give birth; she is required to do as many good deeds as men. The Quran does not say that righteous women do not exist. Instead, it commands all believers to take pure women like the Virgin Maryam (Mary) and the wife of Pharaoh as role models: Allah sets the wife of Pharaoh as an example for those who believe. She said: My Lord! Build for me a house in Paradise near You. Save me from Pharaoh and his evil deeds. Save me from the unjust people, O Allah. Allah also sets an example for the believers in Maryam (Mary), the daughter of Imran. She guarded her chastity, so I breathed into her through My spirit. She believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and she was one of the obedient. (Quran 66:11-12)

3. The shameful daughter

In fact, the views on women in the Bible and the Quran are completely different from the moment a girl is born. The Bible states that the period of ritual impurity for a mother after giving birth to a girl is two weeks, which is twice as long as the seven days required after giving birth to a boy (Old Testament, Leviticus 12:2-5). The Catholic Bible explicitly states: 'A daughter is a loss to her father' (Sirach 22:3). In sharp contrast to this shocking statement, boys receive special praise: 'He who instructs his son will make his enemy jealous' (Sirach 30:3).

Jewish legal scholars urged Jews to have as many children as possible to strengthen their people. At the same time, they did not hide their clear preference for boys: 'Even the father of a bad boy is better than the father of a girl,' 'When a boy is born, everyone is happy... when a girl is born, everyone is sad,' and 'When a boy comes into the world, peace comes with him... when a girl comes, she brings nothing.'

A daughter is considered a painful burden and a source of shame for her father: 'Keep a strict watch on a headstrong daughter, lest she make you a laughingstock to your enemies, a byword in the city and the assembly of the people, and put you to shame in public.' (Sirach 42:11) 'Keep a strict watch on a shameless daughter, lest she find an opportunity and indulge herself.' Be careful not to yield to a shameless eye; otherwise, do not be surprised if she offends you. (Sirach 26:13-14) This view of daughters as a source of shame is very similar to the views of the ignorant Arabs who buried infant girls alive before the rise of Islam. The Quran strictly condemns this heinous act: 'When one of them is told that his wife has given birth to a daughter, his face darkens and he is full of complaints.' He hides from his clan because of this bad news, wondering if he should keep her in shame or bury her in the dirt. Or should he bury her alive in the ground? Truly, their judgment is evil. (Quran 16:58-59)

If the Quran had not repeatedly condemned this ugly crime (Quran 16:59, 43:17, 81:8-9), this behavior of the ancient Arabs might never have changed. the Quran treats sons and daughters equally without any difference. Unlike the Bible, the Quran considers the birth of a girl to be a gift and blessing from Allah, just like the birth of a boy. The Quran even mentions the gift of daughters first: "To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He creates what He wills; He gives to whom He wills female children; and He gives to whom He wills male children. " (Quran 42:49)

In the early days of Islam, to completely end the crime of burying baby girls alive, the Prophet Muhammad promised a great reward to those who were given daughters and raised them well: "Whoever raises daughters and treats them well, he will be protected from the punishment of Hellfire. (Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) "Whoever raises two girls until they reach adulthood, the distance between him and me on the Day of Resurrection will be like this; saying this, the Prophet held his fingers together. " (Sahih Muslim)

4. Education for women

The core foundation of Judaism is the Torah, or the Book of Law. However, according to the Jewish Talmud, women are exempt from studying the Torah. Some Jewish legal scholars claimed that it is better to burn the Torah than to let women touch it, and that whoever teaches his daughter the Torah is like teaching her lewdness and evil. St. Paul’s attitude in the New Testament was not enlightened either: Women should keep silent in the meetings, just as in all the churches of the saints. Because they are not allowed to speak. They must be submissive, just as the law says. If they want to learn anything, they can ask their husbands at home. Because it is shameful for women to speak in the meeting. (New Testament, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35)

Now, for the sake of fairness, let us ask: Does the Quran have a different view on this? The following story mentioned in the Quran can help us understand this. Khawla was a Muslim woman. Once, her husband Aws got angry and said to her: You are to me like the back of my mother. This was a way for Arabs in the pre-Islamic period to divorce their wives. The husband would cut off all marital relations and responsibilities, but the woman was not allowed to leave his house or marry anyone else. When Khawla heard this from her husband, she was extremely distressed. She went straight to the Prophet Muhammad to pour out her heart. The Prophet told her she should be patient, because there seemed to be no solution for such a matter. However, Khawla argued her case reasonably, trying to save this suspended marriage. Soon, verses from the Quran were revealed. Khawla’s appeal was granted, and Allah abolished this terrible custom. The 58th chapter of the Quran related to this is named Al-Mujadila, meaning 'The Pleading Woman': 'Allah has certainly heard the speech of the one who argues with you, [O Muhammad], concerning her husband and directs her complaint to Allah.' Allah hears your dialogue. Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing and All-Seeing. ' (Quran 58:1) In the Quran, women have the right to debate—even with the Prophet of Islam himself. No one has the right to order her to be silent. She is also not limited to only obtaining knowledge and religion from her husband.

5. Unclean women

Jewish laws and regulations are extremely restrictive and binding for women during their menstrual period. The Old Testament considers any menstruating woman to be unclean and defiled, and her impurity is even 'contagious.' Anyone or anything she touches becomes unclean until evening: 'When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.' Everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. Anyone who touches her bed shall be unclean until evening, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and remain unclean until evening. Anyone who touches any object on which she has sat shall be unclean until evening. ' (Old Testament, Leviticus 15:19-23)

Because of her 'contagiousness,' to avoid any possibility of contact with her, a menstruating woman is sometimes 'banished.' She is sent to a special room called the 'house of uncleanness' to spend her entire menstrual period. The Talmud even suggests that a menstruating woman is 'deadly,' even without any contact: 'Our rabbis taught: If a menstruating woman passes between two men, if it is at the beginning of her period, she will cause one of them to die;' If she is at the end of her period, she will cause a dispute between them. (Talmud b Pes. 111a)

What is more, if the husband of a menstruating woman is contaminated—even by the dust on her feet—he is forbidden from entering the synagogue. A rabbi cannot preach in the synagogue if his wife, daughter, or mother is menstruating. 10. It is no wonder that many Jewish women still call menstruation a "curse" today. In Islamic belief, a menstruating woman is never considered "contagiously unclean," nor is she "untouchable" or a "curse." She goes about her daily life as usual, with only one exception: married couples avoid sexual intercourse during menstruation. Other than that, any physical contact between husband and wife is allowed. During this time, a menstruating woman is exempt from certain religious duties, such as namaz and fasting.

6. Giving testimony

Another issue where the Quran and the Bible differ is the matter of women giving testimony. The Quran commands believers to have two men, or one man and two women, as witnesses when drawing up contracts for business transactions (see Quran 2:282). However, the Quran accepts the testimony of men and women equally in other situations. In fact, a woman's testimony can overturn a man's: if a man accuses his wife of adultery without other evidence, the Quran requires him to swear solemnly five times to prove his words are true. However, if his wife denies it and swears solemnly five times to prove her innocence, she is not found guilty, and the marriage is dissolved (Quran 24:6-11).

On the other hand, in early Jewish society, women were not allowed to give testimony. Jewish jurists listed nine curses women suffered after humans were expelled from Paradise, and one of them is the inability to provide testimony (see Chapter 2). In Israel today, women are not allowed to provide evidence in Jewish religious courts. Jewish jurists explain that this is because the Bible records that Sarah, the wife of Abraham (Ibrahim), told a lie (Old Testament, Genesis 18:9-16). Jewish jurists use this event as evidence that women are not qualified to testify. This story from the Bible is mentioned more than once in the Quran, yet the Quran does not record Sarah lying at all (Quran 11:69-74, 51:24-30). In Western Christian societies, both church law and civil law prohibited women from providing any testimony until the end of the nineteenth century. If a man accuses his wife of adultery, her testimony is not considered according to the Bible. The accused woman must undergo a harsh examination. To confirm her guilt or innocence, she faces many complex and humiliating rituals during this examination (Old Testament, Numbers 5:11-31). After the examination, if she is proven guilty, she will be sentenced to death. If she is proven innocent, her husband does not suffer any punishment for this.

At the same time, if a man marries a woman and then accuses her of not being a virgin, her testimony is not accepted. Her parents must bring evidence of her virginity before the elders of the town. If the parents cannot prove their daughter's innocence, the woman will be stoned to death at the door of her father's house. If her parents can prove her innocence, her husband only needs to pay a fine of one hundred shekels of silver and is never allowed to divorce her: If a man takes a wife, and after sleeping with her hates her, and makes up charges against her, giving her a bad name, and says, I took this woman, and when I slept with her, I did not find proof of her virginity. The woman's parents shall bring the proof of the woman's virginity to the elders of the city. The woman's father will say to the elders, I gave my daughter to this man as his wife, but he hates her and has made false accusations, saying, I did not find proof of your daughter's virginity. But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity. The parents will then spread the cloth out before the elders of the city. The elders of the city will take the man and punish him, and fine him one hundred shekels of silver to give to the woman's father, because he brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. The woman will remain his wife, and he may never divorce her for as long as he lives. But if this matter is true and the woman has no proof of her virginity, they will bring the woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. Because she committed a shameful act in Israel by acting promiscuously while in her father's house. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you. (Old Testament, Deuteronomy 22:13-21)

7. Adultery

Adultery is considered a crime by all religions. The Bible sentences men and women who commit adultery to death (Old Testament, Leviticus 20:10). Islam also punishes men and women who commit adultery equally (Quran 24:2). However, the Quran's definition of adultery is very different from the Bible's: according to the Quran, adultery refers to extramarital sexual relations involving a married man or a married woman. The Bible only defines extramarital sexual relations involving a married woman as adultery (Old Testament, Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22, Proverbs 6:20-7:27). If a man is found lying with a woman married to another man, both the man who lay with the woman and the woman must die. In this way, you must purge the evil from Israel. If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. (Old Testament, Deuteronomy 22:22) (Old Testament, Leviticus 20:10)

According to the definition in the Bible, if a married man sleeps with an unmarried woman, it is not considered a crime at all. The married man who has sex with an unmarried woman is not an adulterer, and the unmarried woman who has sex with him is not an adulteress. Adultery refers to a man—whether he is married or single—sleeping with a married woman. In this case, the man is considered an adulterer regardless of his marital status, and the woman is considered an adulteress. Simply put, adultery refers to improper sexual behavior involving a married woman. Extramarital behavior by a married man is not defined as a crime in the Bible.

Why is there this double standard of morality? According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, a wife is considered the private property of her husband, and adultery means an infringement on the husband's exclusive rights. As the husband's property, the wife has no right to infringe upon his rights. This means that if a man has sex with a married woman, he has infringed upon another man's property and is therefore punished. In Israel today, if a married man has an extramarital affair with an unmarried woman, the child born to them is considered legitimate. However, if a married woman has sex with another man—regardless of whether he is married—the child she has with that man is not only considered illegitimate, but as a bastard, is not allowed to marry any Jew, unless it is with an apostate or another bastard. This prohibition will continue for ten generations among their descendants until the stain of adultery gradually fades.

On the other hand, the Quran does not define any woman as a man's property. The Quran describes the relationship between husband and wife movingly: 'And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy.' Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought. ' (Quran 30:21) This is the concept of marriage in the Quran: love, mercy, and peace, without any ownership or double standards.

8. Vows

According to the Bible, a man must fulfill the vows he makes in the name of Allah and cannot break his word. However, a woman's vows are not her own to make. If she is unmarried, her vow must have her father's consent. If she is married, she must get her husband's consent. If a father or husband disagrees with his daughter's or wife's vow, all her vows become invalid: 'But if her father expresses disapproval on the day he hears about any of her vows or her pledges by which she bound herself, then none of her vows shall stand... Any vow or binding pledge she makes to deny herself, her husband may confirm or nullify.' ' (Old Testament, Numbers 30:2-15)

Why can a woman not decide for herself? The answer is simple: because before marriage she is her father's property, and after marriage she is owned by her husband. A father has absolute control over his daughter, and if he wants to, he can even sell her! Jewish legal scholars point out: 'A man can sell his daughter, but a woman cannot sell her daughter;' a man can betroth his daughter to others, but a woman has no right to betroth her daughter.'

Jewish legal writings also point out that marriage shifts the power of control from the father to the husband: Marriage makes a woman the sacred and inviolable property of her husband. Clearly, if a woman is considered someone's property, she cannot make any promises without the permission of her master. The instructions in the Bible regarding women's vows had a deep negative impact on Jewish and Christian women until the early twentieth century. In the Western Christian world, a married woman had no legal status, and none of her actions had legal value. Her husband had the right to veto any contract, sale, or transaction she made.

In the West, the greatest inheritor of this Judeo-Christian legacy, women could not enter into any treaties because they were effectively someone's property. Because of the biblical view that women belonged to their fathers or husbands, women in the Western world suffered nearly two thousand years of enslavement. In Islam, every Muslim—whether man or woman—is responsible for their own vows, and no one has the right to negate the vows of others. If a man or woman fails to fulfill a solemn vow, according to the Quran, he or she must pay a penalty: Allah will not hold you accountable for your unintentional oaths, but He will hold you accountable for your intentional oaths. The penalty for breaking an oath is to feed ten poor people with the average food you provide for your own family, or to clothe them, or to free a slave. Those who cannot afford to feed the poor or free a slave must fast for three days. This is the penalty for breaking your oaths after you have sworn them. You should keep your oaths. Allah thus explains His signs to you so that you may be grateful to Him. (Quran 5:89)

The companions of the Prophet Muhammad, both men and women, often came before him to swear their allegiance. Women, just like men, came to the Prophet on their own to take an oath: "O Prophet!" If believing women come to you to pledge that they will not associate anything with Allah, will not steal, will not commit adultery, will not kill their children, will not falsely claim that someone else's son is their husband's, and will not disobey your reasonable commands, then accept their pledge and ask Allah to forgive them. Allah is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. " (Quran 60:12) A man cannot take an oath on behalf of his daughter or wife, nor can he cancel the oath of any of his female relatives.

9. Headscarf

According to Dr. Menachem Brayer, a professor of biblical literature at Yeshiva University, Jewish law includes a custom where women cover their heads in public. Sometimes they even covered their faces, leaving only one eye visible. He quotes famous ancient Jewish legal scholars who said, "The daughters of Israel must not go out without their heads covered," and "A man who lets his wife's hair be seen by others is cursed... a woman who uses her hair as a decoration will bring poverty upon herself." If a married woman is present with her head uncovered, Jewish law forbids reciting blessings or dua in that space, because her hair is considered "nakedness."

Dr. Brayer also notes: "In the Tannaic era, a woman who failed to cover her head was considered immodest." She might be fined four hundred zuzim for this mistake. Dr. Brayer explains that a Jewish woman's headscarf was not just a sign of modesty; it was sometimes a symbol of status and luxury, representing the nobility and superiority of a high-ranking lady. At the same time, it represented a woman's inviolability, as she was considered the sacred private property of her husband. The headscarf signified a woman's self-respect and social standing. Women of lower social status often wore headscarves to try to give the impression of being noble. Since the headscarf was a sign of honor, it is easy to understand why ancient Jewish society forbade prostitutes from covering their hair. However, to look more respectable, prostitutes would often wear a special type of head covering. Jewish women in Europe kept the tradition of wearing head coverings until the 19th century. By then, their lives were mixed with a lot of the surrounding secular culture, and the outside pressures of European life forced many of them to stop wearing head coverings. Some Jewish women found that wigs were a more convenient way to cover their hair instead of a head covering. Today, most observant Jewish women no longer wear any head covering except when they are at the synagogue. But some of them, such as Hasidic women, still wear wigs.

What about Christian traditions? Everyone knows that Catholic nuns have covered their hair for hundreds of years. However, there is more to it than that. Saint Paul made some very interesting statements about head coverings in the New Testament: I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, man is the head of woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, because it is just like having her hair shaved off. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. If it is a shame for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, then she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman was created for man. For this reason, a woman should have a sign of authority on her head because of the angels. (New Testament, 1 Corinthians 11:3-10) Saint Paul's theory on women wearing headscarves is that man is the image and glory of Allah, while the headscarf symbolizes man's authority over woman—woman was created for man.

In his famous book The Veiling of Virgins, Tertullian wrote: "Young women, wear your headscarves when you go out on the street, wear them in church, wear them among strangers, and wear them among your brothers..." In today's Catholic canon law, there is a rule requiring women to cover their heads in church. Certain Christian denominations, such as the Amish and Mennonites, still have women wear headscarves today. The reason, as their church leaders say, is that "covering the head is a symbol of a woman's submission to man and to Allah," which follows the same logic as Saint Paul in the New Testament.

From the evidence above, it is clear that the headscarf was not invented by Islam. However, Islam does support wearing a headscarf. The Quran requires both male and female believers to lower their gaze and cover their private parts, and it requires female believers to extend their headscarves to cover their necks and chests: "Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that is purer for them... And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts, and not to display their adornment except what is naturally exposed, and let them draw their veils over their chests and not display their adornment..." (Quran 24:30, 31)

The Quran clearly states that the headscarf is essential for modest and proper dress. But why is modesty important? The Quran remains very clear: "O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers to draw their outer garments over their bodies. This is more likely to make them recognized and not be harassed. " (Quran 33:59)

10. Polygamy

Now, let us address the important issue of polygamy. Polygamy is an ancient practice in many human societies. The Bible never condemns polygamy. On the contrary, the Old Testament and the writings of Jewish legal scholars repeatedly prove the legality of polygamy. People say King Solomon had more than 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). At the same time, King David is also said to have had many wives and concubines (2 Samuel 5:13). The Old Testament contains many instructions on how a man should distribute property to the sons born to his different wives (Deuteronomy 21:15-17). The only restriction on polygamy is the prohibition against marrying two sisters at the same time (Leviticus 18:18).

The Talmud suggests not taking more than four wives. European Jews maintained the practice of polygamy until the 16th century. Eastern Jews maintained polygamy until they set foot on the land of Israel (Israeli civil law now prohibits polygamy). However, polygamy is still permitted under religious law, which stands above civil law.

So, what is the view of the New Testament? According to Father Eugene Hillman in his insightful book, polygamy should be reconsidered: "In the New Testament, there is no explicit command requiring monogamy, nor is there any explicit command prohibiting polygamy." Moreover, in the time of Jesus, polygamy was prevalent in Jewish society, yet Jesus never said anything against it. Father Hillman emphasized the fact that the Roman Church prohibited polygamy by following the customs of Greco-Roman culture (establishing one legal wife while tolerating illegal cohabitation and prostitution). He cited the words of Saint Augustine: "Now, in our time, in order to maintain Roman tradition, it is no longer permitted to take another wife."

Churches and Christians in Africa often remind their European brothers that the Roman Catholic ban on polygamy is just a cultural tradition, not a true Christian prohibition.

The Quran also allows polygamy, but not without limits: "If you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphans, then marry those that please you of other women, two or three or four;" "but if you fear that you will not be just, then marry only one." (Quran 4:3)

11. Mother

Many parts of the Old Testament command people to honor their parents and condemn those who disobey them. For example: "Everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death" (Old Testament, Leviticus 20:9) and "A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother." (Old Testament, Proverbs 15:20) However, in some places, only the father is mentioned, such as "A wise son hears his father's instruction" (Old Testament, Proverbs 13:1), while the mother is never mentioned alone. the great hardship a mother endures through pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing is never highlighted as a reason to thank or treat her with special favor. a father can inherit from his children, but a mother cannot. It is difficult to find verses in the New Testament that require people to respect their mothers. On the contrary, the New Testament gives the impression that honoring one's mother is an obstacle on the path to Allah. According to the New Testament, a person is not worthy of being a disciple of Christ unless they hate their own mother. Jesus said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." (New Testament, Luke 14:26)

Moreover, the image of Jesus portrayed in the New Testament is one who is indifferent, or even disrespectful, to his mother. For example, when he was preaching among the crowd, his mother came to call him, but he did not care and did not go out to see her: "Then Jesus' mother and brothers came, stood outside, and sent someone to call him. There were many people sitting around Jesus, and they told him, 'Look, your mother and your brothers are looking for you outside.' Jesus replied, 'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' He looked around at those sitting in a circle and said, 'Look, my mother and my brothers!' Whoever does the will of Allah is my brother, sister, and mother.' " (New Testament, Gospel of Mark 3:31-35)

Some might argue that Jesus did this to teach people that religious bonds are not weaker than family bonds. However, if that were the case, he could have taught his audience without showing such indifference toward his mother. When a woman in his audience blessed the mother who gave birth to and raised him, Jesus did not agree and again showed the same disrespectful attitude: "As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, 'Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.' Jesus said, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of Allah and obey it.' " (New Testament, Gospel of Luke 11:27-28) If a mother with the status of the Virgin Mary was treated so rudely by her son Jesus Christ—as described in the New Testament—then how could an ordinary Christian mother expect to be treated well by her ordinary Christian son?

In Islam, honor, respect, and reverence are uniquely linked to the title of 'mother'. The Quran places the importance of honoring parents second only to the worship of Allah: "Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to your parents. If one or both of them reach old age in your care, do not say to them, 'Ugh!' ' Do not scold them, but speak to them with polite words. You should serve them with humility and say, 'My Lord!' Have mercy on them both, just as they raised me when I was young. ” (Quran 17:23-24)

The Quran emphasizes the great role of the mother as the one who gives birth and nurtures in many places: “I have commanded people to be kind to their parents—his mother carried him through weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years—I said: ‘You should be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the final destination.” ” (Quran 31:14) Prophet Muhammad once movingly described the special status of mothers in Islam: “A man came to the Prophet and asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Who among the people should I treat with the most kindness? ’ The Prophet said: ‘Your mother.’ ’ The man said: ‘And then?’ ’ The Prophet replied: ‘Your mother.’ ’ The man asked again: ‘And then?’ ’ The Prophet replied: ‘Still your mother.’ ’ The man continued to ask: ‘And what about after that?’ ’ The Prophet replied: ‘Next is your father.’ ’ (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) One of the few Islamic maxims that Muslims still faithfully follow today is: be considerate to your mother. The honor that Muslim mothers receive from their children is exemplary. The sincere, warm relationship between Muslim mothers and their children, and the deep respect that Muslim men show their mothers, often surprise Westerners.

12. Divorce

The three major religions have very different views on divorce. Christianity completely hates divorce. The New Testament clearly supports the idea that marriage cannot be broken. Jesus said: "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery;" and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (New Testament, Matthew 5:32) This firm wish is clearly unrealistic. It asks for a society with a level of moral perfection that humans have never reached. When a couple realizes their marriage cannot be saved, a ban on divorce does not help them at all. Forcing a couple with serious problems to stay together against their will is neither effective nor reasonable. It is not surprising that the entire Christian world now has to allow divorce.

Judaism is the exact opposite. It even allows divorce for no reason at all. The Old Testament gives a husband the right to divorce his wife if he finds something he does not like about her: "If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house," and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. (Old Testament, Deuteronomy 24:1-4) These verses caused a lot of debate among Jewish scholars because they disagreed on the meaning of the words "indecent," "displeasing," and "dislikes." The Talmud records this disagreement: "The School of Shammai says a man cannot divorce his wife unless he finds her guilty of sexual immorality;" The School of Hillel says a man can divorce his wife even if she just breaks a plate." The jurist Akiba believed that a man could divorce his wife if he found a woman more beautiful than her. (Talmud, Gittin 90 a-b)

The New Testament follows the views of the School of Shammai, while Jewish law follows the views of the School of Hillel and the jurist Akiba. After the views of the School of Hillel became dominant, giving a husband the right to divorce his wife freely became an unbreakable tradition in Jewish law. The Old Testament not only gives a husband the right to divorce a wife who does not please him, it even considers it necessary to divorce a 'wicked woman': 'A wicked woman makes a man's spirit dejected, his face gloomy, and his heart wounded.' A husband's hands are weak and his knees are soft because his wife makes him miserable. Sin originated from a woman; because of her, we all must die. Do not leave a leak for water, not even a tiny one, and do not give a wicked woman any freedom. If she does not follow your instructions, you should cut her off from your side. (Sirach 25:31-36)

The Talmud records several behaviors of a wife that, if discovered by her husband, require him to divorce her: 'If she eats in the street, if she drinks water greedily in the street, or if she nurses her baby in the street, in any of these cases, the jurist Meir believes she must be divorced by her husband.' (Talmud, Git. 89 a) The Talmud also stipulates that a wife who has not given birth after ten years of marriage must be divorced: 'Our jurists teach us: if a man marries a wife and lives with her for ten years, and she still has not borne a child, he should divorce his wife.' (Talmud, Yeb. 64 a)

On the other hand, in Jewish law, a wife cannot initiate a divorce from her husband. She can only present sufficient reasons to a Jewish court and request the court's support. The reasons allowed for a woman to file for divorce are extremely limited, including her husband having physical defects or skin diseases, or her husband being unable to fulfill his marital duties. The court might support a wife's divorce petition, but it cannot dissolve the marriage because only the husband can write a letter of divorce to end it. The court can use persuasion, fines, detention, and excommunication to force a husband to write a letter of divorce for his wife. However, if a husband is particularly stubborn and refuses to give his wife a letter of divorce, he can keep her bound permanently, and no one can do anything about it.

Even worse, a husband can abandon his wife without giving her a letter of divorce, leaving her in a state of limbo where she is neither married nor divorced. In this situation, the husband can marry another woman, or even live with a single, unmarried woman and have children (who are considered legitimate under Jewish law). On the other hand, the abandoned wife cannot marry any other man because she is still legally a married woman. At the same time, she cannot live with another man because it would be considered adultery, and if she did so, her descendants for ten generations would be considered illegitimate. Women in this state of limbo are called agunah, which means a chained woman. 34 Today, there are about 1,000 to 1,500 agunah Jewish women in the United States, and as many as 16,000 in Israel. These women are blackmailed by their husbands and must pay them tens of thousands of dollars to get a letter of divorce.

Islamic rulings on divorce fall between those of Christianity and Judaism. In Islam, marriage is a sacred bond that should not be easily broken unless there are compelling reasons. When cracks appear in a marriage, both the husband and wife are taught to try their best to save and repair it. If all efforts fail, divorce is the last resort. Simply put, Islam allows divorce but tries to avoid it as much as possible.

Islam gives husbands the right to divorce their wives. However, unlike in Judaism, Islam also gives wives a right to divorce called khula, which allows them to end the marriage. If a husband divorces his wife, he cannot take back any dowry (mahr) he gave her, no matter how expensive it was: "If you want to replace one wife with another, and you have given one of them a great amount of gold, do not take any of it back." Would you take it back by slandering her and committing a clear sin? (Quran 4:20)

But if the wife chooses to end the marriage herself, she can return the dowry to her husband. Returning the dowry is a fair compensation for the husband, because he wanted to keep the marriage, but since she chose to end it, he must let her go. The Quran teaches Muslim men that they cannot take back any gifts given to their wives, unless the wife chooses to initiate the divorce: "It is not lawful for you to take back anything you have given them, unless both fear they cannot keep the limits set by Allah." If you fear they cannot keep the limits of Allah, then there is no sin if she gives something back to free herself. These are the limits of Allah, so do not cross them. (Quran 2:229) A woman came to the Prophet Muhammad and asked to end her marriage. She told the Prophet that she had no complaints about her husband's character or personality, but her only problem was that she no longer loved him and did not want to live with him anymore. The Prophet asked, "Will you return his garden (the dowry her husband gave her) to him?" She replied, "Yes." The Prophet then ordered her husband to take back the garden and accepted their divorce. (Sahih al-Bukhari)

In some cases, a Muslim woman may have to file for divorce for strong reasons, such as abuse by her husband, being abandoned without cause, or her husband failing to fulfill his marital duties. In these situations, a Muslim court will grant the divorce. In short, Islam gives Muslim women unmatched rights: she can end a marriage by returning her dowry, or she can seek a divorce through the courts. A Muslim woman will never be trapped by an abusive husband. Jewish women living in early Islamic society during the seventh century were drawn to these rights and often went to Muslim courts to ask for a ruling when seeking a divorce. However, Jewish legal scholars declared that divorces granted in Muslim courts were invalid. To stop this from happening, Jewish scholars gave Jewish women certain rights and treatment, trying to make Muslim courts less attractive to them.

Jewish women living in Christian countries did not get similar rights and treatment, because the divorce clauses in Roman law were not more attractive than those in Jewish law. Now, let us turn our attention to how Islam avoids divorce. The Prophet of Islam once warned believers: Of all lawful things, the one Allah hates most is divorce. (Sunan Abu Dawood)

A Muslim man cannot divorce his wife simply because he dislikes her. The Quran teaches Muslim men to treat their wives well, even if they do not like or even hate them: You should treat them well. If you dislike them, you should endure them, because perhaps you dislike a thing, and Allah has placed much good in that thing. (Quran 4:19)

Prophet Muhammad gave a similar instruction: A male believer should not dislike a female believer. If he dislikes her character, other aspects will make you like her. (Sahih Muslim) The Prophet also emphasized that the best Muslims are those who treat their wives well: The believer with the most perfect faith is the one with the best character; The best among you are those who treat their wives the best. (Jami at-Tirmidhi)

However, Islam is a realistic religion, and it recognizes that there are situations where a marriage may be on the verge of collapse. In such a state, kind words alone will not work. So, what should be done in this situation to save the marriage? The Quran provides some truly effective advice for couples facing marital problems caused by the misconduct of one partner. For husbands facing marital problems due to a wife's misconduct, the Quran gives four suggestions: As for those women whose stubbornness you fear, you may advise them, you may forsake them in bed, and you may strike them. If they obey you, then do not seek a way against them. Allah is indeed Exalted and Great. If you fear a breach between the two, then appoint an arbitrator from his family and an arbitrator from her family. If they both desire reconciliation, Allah will cause harmony between them. (Quran 4:34-35)

Try the first three suggestions first. If they are ineffective, then seek the intervention of both families. As mentioned in the text above, for a stubborn wife, striking her is a third, temporary measure that a husband may use as a last resort when he hopes to correct her wrong behavior (striking must not be heavy, and it is not permitted to strike the face or other sensitive areas). If this works, as the scripture says, the husband is not allowed to bully her in any way. If this does not work, the husband is not allowed to use the same method again, but should seek the final path, which is mediation by relatives.

Prophet Muhammad taught Muslim husbands that they must not use hitting as a method, except in extreme cases such as when a wife shows clear lewd behavior (not adultery). Even in such cases, it must only be a light tap. If the wife stops the lewd behavior, the husband is not allowed to cause her pain: If they show clear lewd behavior, you may sleep apart from them and hit them, but do not hit them hard. If they obey, you must not seek any way to make them suffer. (Jami at-Tirmidhi)

Beyond this, the Prophet of Islam forbids any unreasonable beating. Some Muslim women once complained to the Prophet that their husbands had hit them. Hearing this, the Prophet said firmly: Those who do this (hit their wives) are not the best among you (the Muslim community). (Sunan Abu Dawood) At the same time, the Prophet also pointed out: The best among you are those who treat their families well, and I am the best among you in treating my family. (Jami at-Tirmidhi)

The Prophet once advised a Muslim woman named Fatima bint Qais not to marry a certain man because he was known for hitting his wives. This woman narrated: I went to the Prophet and told him: Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan and Abu Jahm both want to marry me. The Prophet (advised) saying: Muawiyah is penniless, and Abu Jahm hits his wives. " (Sahih Muslim)

The Jewish Talmud mentions that hitting a wife can be a way to educate her. A husband does not have to limit hitting his wife to extreme cases like infidelity; he is allowed to hit her even if she simply refuses to do housework. he is not limited to light hitting; he can use methods like whipping or withholding food to force his wife to submit. For marital rifts caused by a husband's poor behavior, the Quran offers this advice: If a woman fears her husband's neglect or desertion, there is no sin on them if they reconcile. Reconciliation is better. (Quran 4:128)

In this situation, the wife is advised to seek reconciliation with her husband, whether or not family members get involved. It is clear that the Quran does not suggest the wife use the methods of sleeping apart from her husband or hitting him. The reason for this difference may be to protect the wife and prevent her from facing even stronger retaliation from a husband who is already in the wrong. If such violence occurs, it will only make the wife's situation and the marriage worse.

Some Muslim scholars suggest that a court can take these disciplinary measures against a husband on behalf of the wife. This means the court first admonishes the stubborn husband, then forbids him from sharing a bed with his wife, and finally administers a light physical correction. In summary, Islam provides Muslim couples with many effective suggestions to save troubled or failing marriages. If one spouse damages the marital relationship, the Quran requires the other to take effective measures to save this sacred bond whenever possible. If all measures ultimately fail, Islam allows both parties to divorce peacefully. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Halal Street Food China: Shaoyang Hunan Muslim Food, Xiang Cuisine and Local Mosques is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: — Hello, Travel —. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Shaoyang Halal Food, Xiang Cuisine, Muslim Travel.

— Hello, Travel —

Shaoyang is a city in Hunan with a large population of Hui Muslims. While Changde has more Hui Muslims, Shaoyang has a stronger religious community. Walking through the streets and alleys of Shaoyang, you see halal restaurants everywhere. Halal food is a major local specialty here. Shaoyang Hui-style rice noodles and wheat noodles (fenmian) are also quite famous in Hunan. These are just the rice noodles (mifen) and wheat noodles (miantiao) we often talk about, but they use the same soup base. Every city in Hunan has rice noodles, but the flavors vary slightly. Shaoyang rice noodles are unique, and the ones made by Hui Muslims are the most authentic.

This is my second visit to Shaoyang; the last time was in 2017. Both times, I stayed at the Ethnic Hotel (Minzu Binguan) owned by the Shaoyang South Mosque. The hotel is mosque property with basic facilities, and the room rate is less than 100 yuan per day. You can reach the main prayer hall just by going downstairs. The area is surrounded by halal restaurants, making transportation, dining, and shopping very convenient. A tip: if you arrive in Shaoyang by high-speed train, do not get off at Shaoyang North Station. You must get off at Shaoyang Station. When I first came to Shaoyang, I went to Shaoyang North Station and realized after arriving that it is an hour's drive from the city center. It is a very long journey and arguably the high-speed train station furthest from the city center in China.

Shaoyang currently has 23 open mosques. I only visited 7 of them. Here is the list of mosques in Shaoyang:

1. Shaoyang East Mosque

2. Shaoyang South Mosque

3. Shaoyang West Mosque

4. Shaoyang Sujiachong Mosque

5. Shaoyang Xuetangchong Mosque

6. Shaoyang Baihetan Mosque

7. Longhui County Taohuaping Mosque

8. Longhui County Ziyang Mosque

9. Longhui County Shanjie Hui Ethnic Township Ancient Mosque

10. Longhui County Shanjie Hui Ethnic Township East Mosque

11. Longhui County Shanjie Hui Ethnic Township South Mosque

12. West Mosque (Qingzhen Xisi) in Shanjie Hui Muslim Township, Longhui County

13. North Mosque (Qingzhen Beisi) in Shanjie Hui Muslim Township, Longhui County

14. Dashanchong Mosque in Beishan Town, Longhui County

15. Niejiaoting Mosque in Beishan Town, Longhui County

16. Luobai Mosque in Shanjie Hui Muslim Township, Longhui County

17. Shuijingtou Mosque in Shaodong County

18. Yangshandian Mosque in Shaodong County

19. Meitang Mosque in Shaodong County

20. Qingcao Mosque in Shaoyang County

21. Jiugongqiao Mosque in Shaoyang County

22. Yinxianqiao Mosque in Shaoyang County

23. Xiaqichong Mosque in Shaoyang County



Ethnic Hotel (Minzu Binguan)

When I first visited the Ethnic Hotel, I learned the young woman at the front desk was a Han Chinese Muslim. I wanted to visit her again this time, but I found out the hotel changed owners last year. It was a bit of a shame.



South Mosque (Qingzhen Nansi) in Shaoyang



The South Mosque was built in 1914 and is over a hundred years old. The main prayer hall has been renovated, so the main structure does not look new. What impressed me was the Nuhai boat built in the courtyard.





The nomination of the Halal Food Court at the Dama Food Center in Zhangjiajie caught my eye. Zhangjiajie is a famous scenic area in Hunan, and I must try the food there when I get the chance.











The Hui Muslim cemetery is right at the entrance of the Shaoyang South Mosque. The inscriptions on the tombstones show that most of the ancestors of the Hui Muslims in Shaoyang came from Nanjing and Beijing.



There are many small halal shops around the mosque selling pastries, rice noodles, wheat noodles, and some cooked snacks.







Five-kernel mooncake (wuren yuebing) bought from Sujing Hui Muslim Pastries.



There are many breakfast options in Shaoyang. This halal Hui Muslim restaurant across from the mosque sells rice noodles and wheat noodles. It is a traditional restaurant that has been operating locally for many years and has a good reputation.







Rice noodles with large beef slices.

Shaoyang rice noodles are thicker than those in Changsha and break more easily. The broth is very rich, topped with large slices of beef, which is a signature of Shaoyang noodle dishes. You can add as much green onion and cilantro as you like. This is the most authentic breakfast for Shaoyang locals. The taste is a little spicy, but I can handle it. If you don't want rice noodles, you can switch to wheat noodles. If you don't like spicy food, you can tell the owner to use less chili. The shop also has wontons. A snack cart outside sells steamed buns (baozi), deep-fried dough sticks (youtiao), and fried dough cakes (youbing). The fried dough cakes are sweet.



Beef wontons.



Shaoyang fried dough cakes are sweet.



Shaoyang East Mosque.

Shaoyang East Mosque is very close to the South Mosque and is within walking distance. It is located at Baoning First Lane in the Shuangqing District. The mosque was first built in the first year of the Hongwu reign (1368) and is the oldest mosque in Shaoyang. However, the original building collapsed, and the current structure is a new-style building.



A well-known scholar from this community was Ma Linyi, courtesy name Zhenwu. He was a provincial graduate (juren) in the Renyin year of the Guangxu reign (1902) and later studied in Japan. He served as the Minister of Education for the Republic of China government in the 12th and 13th years of the Republic (1923–1924). He wrote the book "Introduction to Islam" and once worked at Xiejin Middle School, a factory, and a girls' school in Shaoyang.





After visiting the two mosques in downtown Shaoyang, I contacted the local imam. I wanted to ask about the situation in Shanjie Hui Ethnic Township, which is under Shaoyang's jurisdiction, hoping to visit tomorrow. The imam said transportation to Shanjie is inconvenient, but he offered to drive us there himself. I am very grateful (shukr) for this, as it saved me a lot of trouble. We agreed to set off together for Shanjie Hui Ethnic Township after the Friday prayer (Jumu'ah).



Jiugongqiao Mosque

On the way to Shanjie, we passed through Jiugongqiao Town. Jiugongqiao Mosque is located in Sijiache Village, Jiugongqiao Town, Shaoyang County, Shaoyang City. Many Hui Muslims live in this village. The mosque was just completed and features a very local traditional style. It is the reddest mosque I have ever seen. Many locals even think it looks more like an ancestral hall than a mosque.









The main prayer hall is on the second floor. Since it was finished just last year, the smell of paint is still quite strong.



I have never seen an inscription like this on a plaque before: Love the Party, love the country, and love the faith. It is signed by Zhang Xiaolin, the president of the Shaoyang Islamic Association.







You can see the scenery in the distance from the second floor. At this time of year, Shaoyang is full of blooming rapeseed flowers.



Leaving Jiugongqiao Town, we drove to Qingcao Hui Muslim Village in Huangting Town, Shaoyang County. There is a Qingcao Mosque here. Almost all the villagers in this Hui Muslim village are Hui Muslims, and most of them have the surname Zhang.



On the village road leading to the mosque, we only saw some elderly people. After talking to them, we learned that the young people have all gone out to work. Some of the elders even greeted us with salaam.



Qingcao Mosque



It was first built in the tenth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. It was flooded in 1996 and rebuilt in 1998. The new mosque follows the architectural style of the Qing Dynasty.



The writing above says the villagers' ancestor was Commander Pu Luode, who was ordered to station troops in Baoqing (now Shaoyang City, Hunan) in the early Ming Dynasty. In the twelfth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, their ancestor Zhang Huihui moved from Baoqing to Qingcao Village.







I performed two rak'ahs of prayer in the mosque to celebrate. I was moved to find such a devout Hui Muslim village in Hunan. Feeling comforted, I heard from the villagers that the faith is even stronger in nearby Shanjie, so we headed to our next destination without delay.



Soon we arrived at the location of Taohuaping Mosque in Longhui County. Longhui County is a settlement for Hui Muslims in Shaoyang, and the local Hui Muslims have lived here for hundreds of years. Taohuaping Mosque is built in a busy downtown area, surrounded by all kinds of halal snack shops. More Hui Muslims here wear headscarves.





Taohuaping Mosque was first built during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty and rebuilt in 2017. The main part of the mosque is built in a traditional architectural style, blending in with the surrounding houses.















Qingzhen East Mosque in Shanjie Hui Muslim Township, Longhui County

Qingzhen East Mosque was first built in the fifth year of the Yongzheng reign (1727). The gate archway is carved with a relief of five dragons surrounding a holy symbol. The Shanjie East Mosque is built in a courtyard style. The couplet on the gate reads 'Share the responsibility for our country and our people' on the right, and 'Revive the moral order with those of the same continent and race' on the left. It was written by Ma Linyi, a Hui Muslim who served as the Minister of Education during the Republic of China.

















Shanjie Ancient Mosque in Longhui

The Ancient Mosque in Shanjie Hui Muslim Township, Longhui, was first built in 1444 during the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming Dynasty. It is the oldest mosque in Longhui County and is now a county-level cultural heritage site.











I am not sure where this piece of carpet was cut from.







After visiting several representative mosques in Shaoyang, we returned to the city center to continue our halal food tour. There is so much halal food to eat in Shaoyang. Besides the Hui Muslim noodle shops scattered along the streets, there are also some larger halal restaurants that specialize in Hunan cuisine. When I visited in 2017, I went to a large restaurant called Muslim Halal Building (Musilin Qingzhen Lou). Unfortunately, I learned this time that the restaurant has changed owners and is no longer halal.



Old photo of the Muslim Halal Building in Shaoyang

However, there are still many large halal restaurants to choose from in Shaoyang. The one introduced below, Yilanshun, is the largest halal restaurant in the city.



Yilanshun

Yilanshun belongs to the Yilanxuan Halal Catering Company. Yilanxuan owns three large halal restaurants. One of the other two branches is located at Zidong Mansion, and the other is near the train station.





The restaurant is on the third floor of an office building. The space inside is very spacious. to the main dining hall, there are many private rooms. Hui Muslims in Shaoyang usually choose this place first for wedding banquets.





They specialize in Hunan cuisine, using beef and lamb as the main ingredients, along with chicken, duck, and seafood.



I really did not know until I came to Shaoyang that in a place like Hunan where there are very few Muslims, there is actually such a successful large local halal catering brand.





Hunan cured beef (la niurou)

A specialty of Hunan is cured meat (larou), but since Han Chinese eat pork, Hui Muslims naturally make cured beef. Eating beef here is the best choice. Cured beef is actually not spicy; it is chewy and is an excellent dish to eat with rice.



Golden sand tofu dregs (jinsha doufuzha)

Golden sand tofu dregs (jinsha doufuzha) is the signature dish here. It is wrapped in an egg skin with a tofu-based powder inside, mixed with chili. It has a soft, sticky texture and tastes great.



Chopped chili fish head (duojiao yutou)

The famous Hunan dish chopped chili fish head (duojiao yutou) is listed on the menu as fifth-generation fish head. Since the fish head is huge, you can order half if you cannot finish it. It comes with glass noodles (fensi) on the side. This dish is quite spicy, but it suits the local Hunan taste. It is rare to find halal chopped chili fish head, so it is worth a try. Hunan portions are generally large, so order carefully.



Yilanxuan South Station Branch

I visited both branches. They are both large, the food tastes about the same, and the menus are identical. The only difference is that Yilanshun does not serve breakfast, while the other two Yilanxuan locations do.



The restaurant is busy at lunch and dinner, even on non-holidays. This shows the brand has a good local reputation and can represent halal dining in Shaoyang.





I chose classic Hunan dishes. This stir-fried yellow beef (xiaochao huangniurou) is a famous home-style Hunan dish. It is mixed with small millet peppers. Although it is very spicy, it is satisfying. I feel that if you come to Hunan and do not try the spice, you are missing out. After all, it is hard to find authentic halal Hunan food once you leave. I first ate at a Hunan halal restaurant in Kunming, but I never had the chance to try it again until now.



Jumping fish fillets (tiaotiao yupian)

Another major feature of Hunan cuisine is its variety of river fish, as Hunan has plenty of water and frequent flooding. This jumping fish fillet (tiaotiao yupian) is delicious. It tastes like boiled fish (shuizhu yu) but is not as numbing. You must eat Hunan food with plenty of rice because the spice makes you want more. I usually only eat one bowl of rice at home, but in Hunan, I can eat a whole bucket.



Chef's tossed glass noodles (chuniang lao fensi)

The dish is called chef's tossed glass noodles (chuniang lao fensi). Dry-tossed glass noodles are another staple of Hunan cuisine. It takes great skill to stir-fry the noodles so they are neither sticky nor hard, but just right.



If you want to experience authentic Shaoyang noodle shops, besides the ones near the halal South Mosque (nansi), you can also try the Hui Muslim canteen on the first floor of the You'a Shopping Mall. The shop is newly renovated and quite clean.





Old Su's noodles are also very famous in Shaoyang. There are many Hui Muslims with the surname Su in Shaoyang.



Strolling through the streets of Shaoyang, you do not need to worry about finding halal restaurants, and they all serve local flavors. Ramen shops are rare here. A friend from Guangzhou once jokingly told me that the benchmark for future halal dining should look to Shaoyang. After this trip, I believe that is true.





The best meal I had in Shaoyang was the home-cooked food the imam's wife made for me before I left. There was chicken, duck, beef, and rabbit. Life is not easy for imams in the south because the number of local Muslims is small, and their salary only covers basic needs. It is much harder to do religious work here than in other places, but the reward in the hereafter is great. May Allah have mercy on those who strive for His cause. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Travel Guide China 2026: Changde Taohuayuan, Uyghur Heritage and Hunan Halal Travel is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: — Hello, Travel —. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Changde Travel, Uyghur Heritage, Hunan Muslims.



— Hello, Travel —

I had long heard about a village in Taoyuan County, Changde, Hunan, made up of descendants of Uyghurs. During the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, General Haleshi led a troop of Hui Muslim soldiers to be stationed in Changde. Haleshi was a descendant of the governor of the Gaochang Kingdom. After the change of dynasties, he was granted the title of General of the South by the Ming emperor and given the surname Jian, which means to cut off the remnants of the Northern Yuan. These descendants of the Uyghurs stayed in Changde, married locals for generations, and formed a Uyghur village with unique Hunan characteristics.

Changde has four ethnic townships with Uyghur in their names:

Xujiaqiao Hui and Uyghur Ethnic Township;

Maojiatan Hui and Uyghur Ethnic Township;

Fengshu Uyghur and Hui Ethnic Township;

Qinglin Hui and Uyghur Ethnic Township;

In reality, only Fengshu Uyghur and Hui Ethnic Township has a large number of local Uyghurs. The other three are essentially Hui townships, each with a newly built mosque. Only Fengshu retains some historical sites and is worth visiting.

You can fly directly from Beijing Daxing Airport to Changde Taohuayuan Airport. We chose to stay in downtown Changde that night and decided to head to Fengshu Township in Taoyuan County the next day. Before going to Fengshu, we first visited the Changde Mosque.

Changde has eight mosques in total. The oldest is the Changde Ancient Mosque in the city center. It was first built during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, but the original building was destroyed and replaced by a new structure in 2004. The current imam of the Changde Ancient Mosque is a local from Changde. During the pandemic, all collective religious activities were suspended.







Qingzhen Diyi Chun is the name of a restaurant that no longer exists.



The mosque is the site of the Hui Muslim branch of the CPC Changde District Working Committee.



The mosque has four floors and a dome on top.



















The main prayer hall.







We saw two restaurants near the mosque. One was labeled Jian Family Islamic Restaurant, which I assumed was run by local Uyghurs. The other was called Islamic Restaurant, where the servers wore headscarves and it looked more halal, so we chose that one.





Locals usually eat rice noodles for breakfast. In Hunan, you have to try a bowl of authentic Hunan beef rice noodles (niurou fen). I was worried the spice would be too much, but this bowl wasn't that spicy. The broth was rich and the beef was tender. It was run by local Hui Muslims, so it was definitely the real deal. You can also pair your breakfast with fried dough snacks. They come in sweet and savory options and cost only 1 yuan each, which is a great deal.



It is over 30 kilometers from downtown Changde to Fengshu Township. You can take a bus or a taxi. The bus takes nearly two hours and requires transfers, so I suggest taking a taxi. You will get there in 40 minutes.



The mosque in Fengshu Village is easy to find. It is right next to the main road at the village entrance, and you can see the gate sign from far away.



The mosque in Fengshu Village was first built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered it built to honor the Jian father and son who died in battle. It was first called Zhennan Scripture Hall. In the fifth year of the Republic of China, it was renamed the Jianjiagang Ancient Mosque. According to the Jian Family Genealogy, the Qingzhen West Mosque was built in the 26th year of the Hongwu period and rebuilt in the late Qing Dynasty, when it was renamed the Jianjiagang Ancient Mosque. The famous historian Jian Bozan was born here in 1898 and attended the local Islamic primary school starting at age three.

Jian Bozan studied in the United States as a young man and later served as vice president of Peking University. He died by suicide during the Cultural Revolution at the age of 70. His descendants now live in Wuhan, and some of his relatives work as university teachers.

The mother of Taiwanese singer Angela Chang is a Uyghur from Taoyuan County, Changde, Hunan. Her name is Jiang Rouyi. Her original surname was Jian, but she changed it to Jiang because the surname was rare.



Inside the mosque is the tomb of Hale Bashi, known by his Chinese name Jian Bashi. He was a Gaochang Uyghur who died in 1388 while ordered to suppress a rebellion in Yunnan and Guizhou. He was buried in Huanglonggang, Changde by imperial decree, and his remains were moved to Group 5 of Huiwei New Village in Fengshu Township in 1956.





We met the imam at the mosque. He told us that the local religious situation is much better now. No one in the village eats pork, and funeral customs still follow Islamic traditions. During the Republic of China era, a plague killed many people. The imam was too busy to handle all the funerals, so some villagers hired Buddhist monks or Taoist priests to perform rituals. This upset some religious villagers, leading to conflict, and a group of people left the faith.

This is just a legend. I think the main reason was the broader environment. Hunan is a place where Han culture is very strong. Plus, the area was isolated, so Muslims had little contact with the outside world and were a minority. It makes sense that this kind of departure from the faith happened.







Looking at Huiwei Village from the roof of the mosque.



Local villagers come for namaz every day. On Fridays for Jumu'ah, about 20 or 30 people show up. They are all locals, mostly elderly.











After visiting the mosque, the imam recommended we go to the Huiwei Farmhouse Restaurant less than 200 meters away. It is a very large, six-story building with enough space in the courtyard to park several cars. As soon as we entered the courtyard, the owner greeted us with "Assalamu Alaikum." He is a local Uyghur and told us to call him Old Jian.







The writing above is in the Uyghur language. I asked a Uyghur friend about it, and it roughly means that every place has its own food and customs, and it speaks to ethnic unity.

The Hui and Uyghur villagers today look basically the same as the local Hunanese, though a small number still have some features from the Western Regions. When Lao Jian went to Xinjiang years ago, he could not speak Uyghur, so he went to the mosque of the Hui Muslims to perform namaz. Lao Jian told me that in Changde, people with the surname Jian are not necessarily Uyghur; some are Han Chinese.

Before the ethnic classification in the People's Republic of China, the term Uyghur did not exist in Hui-Wei Village; there was only a distinction between Hui and Han. After the ethnic classification, the Jian clan was identified as Uyghur, and they gradually built their own ethnic identity. Now, the Uyghurs in Hui-Wei New Village intermarry most often with the Hui Muslims, followed by the Han Chinese, so it is common locally for Hui, Uyghur, and Han families to be close and hard to tell apart.









The restaurant serves local Hunan flavors. Lao Jian recommended the ancestral palm-sized beef (bazhang niurou), which was delicious. The beef was chewy, flavorful, and unique, making it a great side for rice. When eating in Hunan, rice is served by the bucket. You scoop as much as you want, and you can have unlimited refills.







The complimentary local fermented bean curd (doufurui) and pickled vegetables were very spicy, which is exactly how I imagine Hunan spice.



Greens from their own vegetable garden.

After the meal, we asked Lao Jian for directions to the Peach Blossom Spring (Taohuayuan) scenic area. He said he was heading there anyway and offered to drive us. It is over 40 kilometers from Hui-Wei New Village to the Peach Blossom Spring scenic area, about a one-hour drive. On the way, we listened to Lao Jian talk about the changes in Hui-Wei New Village over the years.

Hui-Wei New Village was once a model of ethnic integration and attracted groups from everywhere. Uyghurs from Xinjiang used to visit often, and Lao Jian also visited Xinjiang and received a warm welcome. However, things have changed in recent years and fewer people come, for reasons you probably understand. The young people in the village now have a stronger sense of ethnic identity, and Lao Jian remains optimistic about the future.



We said goodbye to Lao Jian and entered the Peach Blossom Spring scenic area. It is a 5A-rated scenic spot with an entrance fee of 128 yuan per person. Villagers get in for free. After buying our tickets, we received a villager pass, which allows us to enter and exit the park freely for three days. Since the area is huge, I suggest staying inside the park for a day.





Peach Blossom Spring is the one described by Tao Yuanming. It has thousands of acres of peach forests, but they were closed during the pandemic.



The Humble Room (Loushi) described by Liu Yuxi.













There is no halal food inside the scenic area, so remember to bring your own snacks.

After staying in Changde for two days, we headed to our next stop, Shaoyang, Hunan. Shaoyang is the capital of halal food in Hunan, and I will share more details in my next post about my halal trip to Shaoyang. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Halal Restaurant Near Me Beijing: Beef Huoshao, Roast Beef and Local Muslim Food Map is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: — Hello, Travel —. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Beijing Halal Food, Beef Huoshao, Muslim Restaurants.



— Hello, Travel —

The Beijing Halal Food Map series has reached its 21st installment. Each post covers an average of 10 restaurants, bringing the total to over 200 halal spots in Beijing. If I haven't mentioned a restaurant, it is usually because I haven't eaten there. I only write about places I have personally visited. All photos and text are original, and you are free to repost them without asking for my permission. When it comes to matters of faith, the more people who benefit, the greater my reward in the afterlife. Therefore, copyright in this world is not important to me.

Also, a reminder to my fellow friends (dostis): after reading these guides, it is best to check major review websites to confirm if the restaurant is still open. Things change quickly now, and a place I mention today might close the next day.

1. Andingmen: Baodu Wang (Yang Daquan)



Baodu Wang has been renamed Yang Daquan on Dazhong Dianping. I am mentioning this shop because several unique restaurants near Andingmen are currently closed, including Annei Majia Steamed Dumplings (shaomai) and Lianshou Barbecue (kaochuan).



The shop is small, but there are private rooms on the second floor. The environment is decent overall. When we arrived, there were no other customers.



We ordered tripe (baodu) and nail-shaped meat pies (mending roubing). The tripe tasted average and was a bit tough to chew. The meat pie was likely leftover, so it lacked juice and the crust was a bit thick. I do not recommend it. If you want tripe, I suggest Laomenkuang Shuanrou; for meat pies, go to Baorui Mending Roubing Dian.



Address: No. 41 Andingmen Inner Street

2. Samarkand (Hamuerhan) Silk Road Cuisine



Samarkand is a high-end chain brand under the Western Mahua group. It currently has two locations in Beijing: this one at the Fengtai Headquarters Base and another at Maolinju. The restaurant is decorated in a Mediterranean style. to traditional western Chinese dishes, it also includes Mediterranean-style Western food, making it a fusion of Turkish and Xinjiang flavors.



The restaurant is positioned as high-end with attentive service. The ingredients are very carefully selected. I especially recommend the large meat skewers, which are tender and well-marinated. The restaurant also provides free fruit and snacks, and you can even make your own ice cream with unlimited self-service.



Rack-roasted meat (jiazi kaorou)



Oysters and scallops

Seafood dishes are a main specialty here. If you are with a large group, you can order a seafood platter.



Hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhua yangrou)

You can order single portions of the hand-grabbed lamb and beef short ribs. This is perfect for two people to share and try a piece of each.



Beef short ribs (niu xiaopai)

The cheese durian pita bread (pita bing) has a Turkish style. It is a very long piece with a strong durian scent.



Address: 1st Floor, Building 4, Zone 15, No. 188 South Fourth Ring Road, Fengtai District.

3. Helanshan Restaurant: Rotating Hot Pot



Helanshan Restaurant is on Nanheng West Street in the Niujie area. The first floor serves Northwest cuisine and also has a Yunnan bridge-crossing rice noodle (guoqiao mixian) shop. They recently opened a rotating hot pot on the second floor.



There are already several halal rotating hot pot spots in Beijing. The flavors are mostly the same, but this one in Niujie is relatively cheaper. You can choose from several soup bases, and you can mix your own dipping sauces.



Address: Opposite the Hui Muslim Kindergarten on Nanheng West Street, Niujie, second floor of Helanshan Restaurant.

4. Xinjiang Pamir Restaurant



Pamir Restaurant is a chain. They recently opened a new branch on the first floor of Chaoyangmen Shiguang. Since it is close to my workplace, I came to try it.



The shop has a promotion right now where you get free nut cake (qiegao) if you top up your account. It is a good deal. The restaurant looks clean and pretty, and the space is not crowded. However, the Xinjiang food is just average, making it a good spot for a work lunch.



The mixed noodles (banmian) and skewers are standard. The skewers are electric-grilled, so they are not as fragrant as charcoal-grilled ones, but the yogurt is quite good.



5. Little Lahore Indian and Pakistani Restaurant



This Pakistani restaurant is on the second floor of Building 6, Courtyard 2, Qingnian Xili, Qingnian Road, Chaoyang District. When I first mentioned it, they only did takeout and sold fast food like burgers and fries. After the pandemic, they renovated and now offer dine-in service. They serve traditional Indian and Pakistani cuisine and do not serve alcohol.



They have the minty crispy balls (pani puri) seen in the movie Dangal, butter naan, lamb leg biryani, and creamy chicken pasta.



Chicken biryani



Spinach cheese curry (palak paneer)



Pakistani grilled meat platter

6. Jinjia Laosan Restaurant



This Beijing-style stir-fry restaurant is next to the Songyuli Mosque in Panjiayuan. They have updated their traditional recipes to make the dishes more refined. The flavors are great and I recommend it.



Griddle-grilled meat (zhizi kaorou)

The kitchen grills the meat and brings it to your table. This method is called 'civilized eating' (wenchi). Another way is to stand up and grill the meat yourself while you eat, which is called 'martial eating' (wuchi).



Almond tofu (xingren doufu)

The outer shell is made of white chocolate, and the inside is almond tofu. This dish looks very tempting.



Beijing-style snack platter with six items

The six snacks are mustard-dressed cabbage (jimodun), shredded kelp, pork skin jelly, mashed fish, pickled cucumbers, and hawthorn.

7. Haibin Meat Pie



There is a Beijing-style meat pie (jingdong roubing) shop west of the Tongzhou Grand Mosque. Tongzhou is in the east of Beijing, so the meat pies made there are called Beijing-style meat pies. Tongzhou Mosque is a beautiful building with a traditional style and a long history. If you come here for namaz, you can grab a meal nearby. There are many halal restaurants in the area, and they all serve local flavors.



The meat pie (roubing) at Haibin's is decent, but I still prefer the one at Niujie Roubing Wan, where the crust is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.



8. Dajinggai Barbecue Company



This is the first Qiqihar-style halal barbecue restaurant in Beijing. The owner is from Beijing and his wife is from Qiqihar. The shop has only been open for a month. I heard the news and immediately brought over a dozen people to try it. Everyone agreed it was delicious and affordable, with an average cost of less than 100 yuan per person.



Barbecue restaurants usually serve cold noodles (lengmian) as a staple food, and the cold noodles here are a big hit with the ladies.



The large beef steaks are worth recommending. We ordered everything on the menu this time. One of our companions is a real Hui Muslim from Qiqihar, and they confirmed that everything from the dipping sauce to the meat is authentic.



Address: East side of Building 13, Wanhong West Street, Chaoyang District.

9. Didi Niuhuoxian Beef Baked Bun



This is a newly opened beef baked bun (huoshao) and rice noodle shop on the ground floor of SOHO Shangdu in Dongdaqiao. It is a unique creation that combines traditional Beijing iron-griddle barbecue (zhizi kaorou) with large baked buns.



The owner's logo design is quite creative. He is a Beijing local with a passion for halal food and hopes to promote traditional Beijing halal cuisine. The shop serves more than just iron-griddle barbecue in buns; they also have electric-grilled skewers and rice noodles.



There is a group-buying deal on Dazhong Dianping for 39.9 yuan. It is not expensive, and the flavor is relatively light.



To be continued. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Friendly China: Islamic Insurance, Takaful, Faith and Everyday Financial Choices is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: There is a recognized principle in Islamic jurisprudence: to declare something forbidden, one must provide evidence from the Quran or Hadith. Otherwise, one cannot easily label a lawful thing as forbidden, and whoever. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Islamic Insurance, Takaful, Muslim Finance.



Islamic finance books that can be sold publicly in mainland China.

There is a recognized principle in Islamic jurisprudence: to declare something forbidden, one must provide evidence from the Quran or Hadith. Otherwise, one cannot easily label a lawful thing as forbidden, and whoever judges incorrectly must bear the consequences.

Currently, scholars have three views on insurance. The first considers insurance haram (forbidden), the second considers it lawful, and the third is a middle ground, suggesting the insurance system needs reform to remove its unlawful parts.

Scholars who view insurance as unlawful argue that it contains elements of interest and gambling. They believe insurance involves interest because life insurance contracts promise a fixed payout at a set time, which carries the suspicion of interest. Health insurance contracts are uncertain about when a payout will occur, as it only happens if the client faces a loss, and this uncertainty carries the suspicion of gambling.

It is undeniable that interest and gambling are explicitly forbidden in the Quran. The Quran mentions the prohibition of interest four times: Surah Ar-Rum verse 39, Surah An-Nisa verse 161, Surah Al-Imran verses 130-132, and Surah Al-Baqarah verses 275-281.

Whatever you give for interest to increase within the wealth of people will not increase with Allah. But what you give in charity, desiring the countenance of Allah—those are the multipliers. (Surah Ar-Rum, verse 39)

The schools of jurisprudence have slight differences regarding interest. For example, regarding interest on debt, all four major schools agree that any loan that brings a benefit involves interest. However, Ibn Hazm mentions in his book Al-Muhalla that interest is not allowed in sales or deferred payments, except for six items: gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates, and salt. But for loans, interest is allowed for any commodity. The basis for this is a Hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah: The best among you is the one who is best in repayment. However, there are different opinions regarding this Hadith, as other Hadiths mention: Gold for gold, silver for silver.

Regarding the views of the four major schools of jurisprudence on interest, I will only cite their views on the exchange of goods that cannot be calculated, measured, or weighed:

1. Hanafi school: Profit is allowed in both spot transactions and deferred transactions.

2. Shafi'i school: Profit is allowed in both spot transactions and deferred transactions.

3. Maliki school: Deferred transactions are not allowed even without profit, but profit is allowed in spot transactions.

4. Hanbali school: Profit is allowed in both spot transactions and deferred transactions.

Imam Abu Hanifa, the founder of the Hanafi school, allowed Muslims to enter non-Muslim territories and trade based on interest. He also allowed Muslims to trade on a similar interest-based model with people who converted to Islam from non-Islamic countries. This means that for Muslims, receiving interest is illegal, but paying interest is not. However, the Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools all disagree with the Hanafi view.

I am quoting the views of scholars not to prove that interest is legal. On the contrary, I firmly believe that interest is

illegal, no matter what form it takes. I just find that in modern society, it is impossible for us to avoid getting the dust of interest on us. As long as we use banks in our daily lives, we will inevitably have a relationship with interest. Even the companies we work for pay our salaries through banks, and the company's operating income deposited in banks will inevitably generate interest. If we want to completely cut off interest, we can only isolate ourselves from the world.

Ibn Mas'ud narrated that the Prophet said: 'Before the Day of Judgment, interest will be widespread.' 'Signs of the End Times' by Yusuf al-Wabil. Al-Mundhiri considered the narrators of this hadith to be reliable.

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: 'A time will come when everyone will consume interest. Even if someone does not consume it, they will still be touched by the dust of interest.' 'Sunan Abu Dawood', Hadith 3331.

Such days have already arrived. The social pension insurance that the state mandates can be seen as an extension of interest, as we receive monthly payments after retirement. Who living in a city can avoid this? If we do not rely on pension insurance, how will we live when we get old? We can only rely on our children for support, but how can we guarantee our children's future lives? Besides, there are also elderly people who have no children.

Let's discuss another controversy in insurance: is buying insurance equivalent to gambling?

They ask you about the ruling on wine and gambling. Say: 'In both there is great sin, and some benefit for people, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit.' (Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 219)

Gambling is illegal in most countries, and Islam is no exception. Some scholars argue that gambling is forbidden because of uncertainty, but everyone knows gambling ruins families and encourages people to get something for nothing. People gamble to make a profit without putting in real work, which feeds human greed. This is the real reason Islam forbids it, not just because of uncertainty. Strictly speaking, gambling results are not truly uncertain; they are just too complex for the average person to predict, though they can be calculated with advanced technology.

Insurance contracts clearly state when a claim can be made and for how long the policy lasts. This provides a service of protection. Even if we do not know when a risk will happen, the protection is always there. It is like paying for a bodyguard who only steps in when you are in danger. Does the fact that we do not know when danger will strike mean hiring a bodyguard is the same as gambling?

Buying insurance does not make a person go bankrupt. Insurance companies usually do not accept applications for coverage that exceeds a person's assets. They check the applicant's qualifications first. This is fundamentally different from gambling, which allows anyone to participate without restrictions. It is very hard to make a profit from insurance. When a risk event happens, it usually comes with the cost of a person's health or life. Intentionally committing insurance fraud is illegal, which is another fundamental difference between insurance and gambling.

Think about the rules against alcohol. Islam forbids alcohol because getting drunk makes people lose their reason and affects things like namaz. This leads to the ruling that anything that intoxicates is forbidden. Things that cause intoxication include alcohol in food and other narcotics. Ancient people did not know about chemical alcohol. When the alcohol content in a drink reaches a certain level, it makes you drunk. But chemistry students know that almost all fruit contains alcohol, and the riper the fruit, the higher the content. It is almost impossible to strictly forbid any trace of alcohol in food. That is why international halal food standards allow for tiny amounts of alcohol. I have discussed this in my article about non-halal foods mentioned in the scriptures. Already written.

So, the uncertainty in insurance is like the tiny amount of alcohol in food. It is hard to avoid and does not need to be avoided. We face many uncertain things in life. Uncertainty is not wrong as long as it does not harm anyone.

I also want to live in a place that is entirely lawful and away from controversial things. But think about it: for an average family, if they do not buy insurance, what better way is there to help them get through a crisis when a risk occurs? Should they ask for charity (niyat) in person or use online crowdfunding? Both are forms of begging, which the Hadith repeatedly discourages. I have written an article about the scriptures regarding begging, which you can read in my piece about being a Muslim who never begs, just like the Kazakh people.

Finally, let us look at how Muslim insurance companies work. All Muslim insurance operators in Malaysia provide Muslim insurance services. If you buy a policy there, the contract requires you to pay a premium and also contribute a portion of money as a donation to help others hit by disaster. All premiums are put into a Muslim insurance fund. The company invests this money, and the profits go back into the fund. When the policy matures, the profits are distributed to the policyholders, and the insurance company deducts its fees to make a profit.



Screenshot from Islamic Banking and Financial Systems.

The way these Muslim insurance companies work is basically the same as the insurance companies in our country. The only difference is that Muslim insurance companies divide the premiums into different categories, and they do not invest in non-halal projects like alcohol. But from the customer's experience, both involve paying a premium to get protection. In this sense, the principle is the same for both types of insurance.



Capital flow of traditional insurance companies.

We can see that traditional insurance companies also split premiums into two parts after collecting them. One part is used as a reserve for emergencies, and the other is invested. The difference is that they are not Muslim insurance companies, so they are not restricted in where they can invest.

That is all I can think of for now regarding Islamic insurance. I hope my article helps clear up your questions. I am not trying to convince everyone. If you do not agree with insurance, you can just take responsibility for your own risks. Everyone should be responsible for their own actions. If you are interested in this, you can look at my previous posts about Islamic insurance and my career. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Friendly Beijing: Miyun Gubei Water Town, Halal Hotpot and Mosque Travel is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: Before New Year's Day, I received an invitation from AXA Insurance Group to visit Gubei Water Town in Miyun. Because I sold a lot of AXA insurance last year, they rewarded their top-performing brokers with a trip to. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Beijing Halal Travel, Gubei Water Town, Halal Hotpot.

Before New Year's Day, I received an invitation from AXA Insurance Group to visit Gubei Water Town in Miyun. Because I sold a lot of AXA insurance last year, they rewarded their top-performing brokers with a trip to thank our agency channel. It is not because of this reward trip that I recommend their insurance. In fact, I did not know about the reward trip when I first recommended AXA products. I recommend them because they are one of the nine global insurance giants considered too big to fail. With over 200 years of history, AXA provides excellent products and services for cancer medical insurance for the elderly and accident insurance. That is why I recommend them. We insurance brokers represent products from more than one insurance company. We do not stand for any single company. As long as a product is good enough, it makes it onto our recommendation list.



— Hello, Travel —

Miyun currently has three mosques. The first is Gubeikou Mosque. Its founding date is unknown, but stone tablets found in the courtyard record that it was rebuilt in the second year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty (1629). We can infer it was built before then. In the 42nd year of the Kangxi reign (1703), Ma Jinliang from Gansu, who served as the Gubeikou commander, renovated the mosque. Gubeikou Mosque is currently a Miyun district-level cultural relic protection unit.

The second is Beimujiayu Mosque, located in the Hui Muslim village of Mujiayu, south of the Miyun Reservoir. The original mosque was built on a mountain. According to the Miyun County Annals, Beimujiayu Mosque had 21 rooms. It was once seized by the Kuomintang's Volunteer Militia to use as a barracks and was later destroyed by artillery fire. In the past, this was the main road from Beijing to the Chengde Mountain Resort. Many Hui Muslims in the village have the surname Mu and have a tradition of practicing martial arts. Some people from the Mu family served as adjutants under Zhang Zuolin. Beimujiayu Mosque and Gubeikou Mosque are quite far from Gubei Water Town, so I have not visited them yet.

The third mosque is on Nange Street in Miyun County, called Chengguan Mosque. I passed by it on the way to Gubei Water Town. According to the Miyun County Annals, the mosque was built in the county seat in the eighth year of the Tongzhi reign (1869). After expansion, it covered 8 mu of land. It was rebuilt at a new site in 1986 with government funding, and in 2006, urban planning moved the mosque to the southeast.

Chengguan Mosque



The main gate of Chengguan Mosque is the largest among all mosques in Beijing. The gate uses a three-bay side-by-side hanging flower gate (chuihuamen) style.













Nange Street



This is the archway on Nange Street, but this is an old photo. The renovated archway no longer has a dome.

Nange Street, where Chengguan Mosque is located, is a halal food street. There are many different halal restaurants on the street. Besides some Beijing-style snacks, there is also seafood barbecue.









Gubei Light Hot Spring Resort Hotel



We were arranged to stay at the Gubei Light Hotel in Gubei Water Town. This is the largest hotel in the town. Besides hotels, Gubei Water Town has many high-quality guesthouses, but they are often fully booked during holidays, so remember to book in advance before you leave.



Hotel lobby



Breakfast restaurant





Swimming pool

Guests staying at the Gubei Light Hotel can use the hot springs for free, but both the hot springs and the swimming pool have capacity limits, so you need to book in advance.



We wandered around the ancient town together at night to enjoy the view. The nights in Miyun are very cold, so remember to wear a thick coat and warm shoes.







This Drum Tower is where the musical fountain opera is performed at night. After dark, there is a show where lights from a distance project a short play onto the outer wall of the tower, accompanied by a musical fountain. It is well worth seeing.

Enjoying the opera prelude



The Great Wall is on the mountain in the distance. You can take a cable car up to the Great Wall, which takes about three hours for a round trip.



Church on the top of the ancient town mountain

There are Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, and churches in the ancient town, but there is no mosque.





Tanghe Halal Restaurant



Staying in the ancient town makes dining very convenient, as there are two nice halal restaurants to choose from. This Tanghe Halal Restaurant specializes in local stir-fried dishes, including Gubei roasted lamb (gubei shaoyangrou) and various river seafood. The prices are affordable, with an average cost of no more than 100 yuan per person.







Guguan Hot Pot Restaurant



Guguan Hot Pot Restaurant is a Beijing-style shabu-shabu place where you can have individual hot pots or stir-fried dishes. The prices are also quite cheap, staying the same as in the city even though it is inside a tourist area.









Individual small hot pots are clean and hygienic.



Deep-fried crispy pork (zha xiaosu rou)



Australian beef and lamb platter

Gubei Water Town has plenty of fun things to do. There are all kinds of folk performances. We watched shadow puppetry, listened to Beijing-style drum storytelling (jingyun dagu), and saw a magic show in the square. There are also various exhibitions of collectibles. The town is right next to the Simatai Great Wall, so you can wake up early and hike the wall for exercise. They recently added an ice lantern show, too. If you cannot go home for the New Year, come to Gubei Water Town to experience these local traditions. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Friendly Guilin: Bai Chongxi Hometown, Historic Mosques and Guangxi Halal Travel is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: — Hello, Travel —. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Guilin Mosques, Bai Chongxi, Halal Travel.



— Hello, Travel —

To avoid the National Day travel rush, I chose to take my whole family to Guilin, Guangxi, right after the holiday ended. We spent 6 days there visiting the famous Two Rivers and Four Lakes, Elephant Trunk Hill, the Li River, the Ten-Mile Gallery, Huangluo Yao Village, the Longji Rice Terraces, and 9 mosques in Guilin and its surrounding villages. It was a deep dive into Guilin.

Mid-October is the most beautiful time in Guilin. The temperature is perfect, around 25 degrees Celsius during the day and 17 or 18 degrees at night, so a single layer of clothing is very comfortable. The rice terraces are also harvested in October, turning the mountainsides a spectacular golden yellow.



Longji Rice Terraces

Travel Tips



Transportation

If you visit a popular destination like Guilin during a holiday, I do not recommend driving yourself unless you can find good parking. During major holidays like National Day, every scenic spot is packed with people.

If you drive into a scenic area, you will likely wait in line for at least 3 hours. Between the time and energy spent touring, you will be exhausted, and driving back is very hard. My advice is to travel to the city on your own and then join a local one-day tour group.



Dining

See the details below.



Accommodation

There are many one-day tours in Guilin. You can book them at your hotel front desk or through travel platforms like Trip.com or Mafengwo. They are very cheap. I booked two one-day tours this time, and each cost less than 200 yuan per day. This included round-trip transportation and entrance tickets, but not group meals, which suited me perfectly since group meals are not halal.

For accommodation in Guilin, I recommend staying near the Xicheng Pedestrian Street in the city center. It is only a few dozen meters from the Chongshan Road Mosque, there are several halal restaurants nearby, and it is only 2 kilometers from the Guilin Railway Station.

1

Day 1 One-Day Tour



If you stay in downtown Guilin, you can take a boat at night to tour the 5A-rated Two Rivers and Four Lakes scenic area. The tickets are a bit expensive at 180 yuan per person, and night tickets cost even more, but the night view is more beautiful than the daytime.



Sun and Moon Twin Pagodas (Riyue Shuangta)

In the evening, you can walk around Zhengyang Road Pedestrian Street near the Sun and Moon Twin Pagodas Cultural Park, but there are no halal snacks on this street.

The most famous spot in Guilin is the Nine Horse Painting Mountain (Jiuma Huashan) scenic area on the Li River, which is well-known for being the background image on the 20-yuan note of the fifth series of renminbi. From downtown Guilin, you can take a tourist bus for about 1.5 hours to reach Yangshuo County where the scenic area is located. If you are traveling independently, I recommend staying in Yangshuo town, as it is very close to the surrounding scenic spots.

There is a halal restaurant in Yangshuo town called Muslim Restaurant (Musilin Fandian)

and its location is as follows.



In Xingping Ancient Town of Yangshuo County, there is also an Indian halal restaurant called Ganges (Henghe).



You can take a bamboo raft from the Xingping Ancient Town pier to tour the Li River. The boat ride takes about 30 minutes, and there are shuttle buses in the scenic area to take tourists back to the entrance after the boat trip.





A comparison of the Nine Horse Painting Mountain scenic area on the Li River with the renminbi background.

Guilin's landscape is a World Natural Heritage site and a classic example of Chinese mountain and water scenery. Successive national leaders have visited Guilin many times.

A small bamboo raft floats on the river.

To protect the Guilin landscape, the local government has set height limits for urban buildings, so you won't see any skyscrapers in the city.



The Thousand-Year-Old Banyan Tree (Qiannian Darongshu).

One of the highlights of the Ten-Mile Gallery (Shili Hualang) is the Big Banyan Tree scenic area. This is the hometown of Liu Sanjie and the filming location for the movie "Liu Sanjie." Yangshuo County hosts the "Impression Liu Sanjie" show. It is very impressive, though the ticket price is expensive at over 200 yuan, it is worth seeing.

From the Big Banyan Tree, you can drive 1 kilometer to reach Jinshui Cave to explore the karst landforms and take a mud bath. After leaving the cave, you can watch a Yao village song and dance performance. The show is great, and they invite audience members to join a mock Yao wedding ceremony. I was lucky enough to be chosen as the groom, pretended to enter the bridal chamber with a Yao girl, and was even asked for a 39 yuan bride price.



Jinshui Cave

These activities are all included in the Guilin one-day tour. There is no shopping involved. The only local Guilin specialties sold are offered by the tour guide while the bus is moving, so it does not delay the trip. The items are cheap, and you can choose whether to buy them.

2

Day 2 one-day tour

Because the first day's tour was a good experience, we immediately signed up for a second one-day tour. This trip followed a different route to see the famous Longji Rice Terraces.

The Longji Rice Terraces are divided into areas like the Jinkeng (Dazhai) Yao ethnic terrace viewing area and the Ping'an Zhuang ethnic terrace viewing area. We chose to visit the larger Jinkeng Yao ethnic terraces. The terraces are fields carved into the mountains by local villagers to grow rice. This rice is no longer sold to the public and is only for the villagers' daily consumption.



Longji Rice Terraces

You can take a cable car to the top of the terraces. A one-way ticket is 50 yuan, and a round-trip ticket is 100 yuan per person. If you walk up the mountain, it takes about 5 kilometers of mountain roads and three hours round-trip, but hiking allows you to see the scenery along the way.



Looking down at the terraces from the mountain top

Huangluo Yao Village is known as the world's number one long-hair village. The villagers still keep the tradition of growing their hair long. According to the locals, the village is a matriarchal society where women go out to work and men stay home to do housework. While we wandered around the village, we really did not seem to see any men, and all the villagers providing services were women.

Women in the long-hair village rarely cut their hair in their lives. They might cut it once before getting married, and they keep the hair they cut off coiled on their heads. After marriage, they basically never cut their hair again, so the older they get, the longer their hair becomes.



Villagers in the long-hair village perform hair combing

Locals say that although their hair is dark and shiny, they do not use any hair care products. At most, they wash their hair with rice water, and their hair quality is good mostly because of their genetics.

Long-haired girls' hair-washing performance

3

Cultural journey

After enjoying the natural scenery, we immediately started our cultural journey in Guilin. We learned that Qianjing Village, under Guilin's jurisdiction, is the hometown of Bai Chongxi. We drove from the city to the village, which is located in Caoping Hui Ethnic Township, about 50 kilometers away and a one-hour drive.

1. Qianjing Mosque



First built in the Qing Dynasty, the original mosque was destroyed. The current building was funded by Bai Chongxi in 1940. Bai Chongxi was born in this village and once returned here to pay respects to his ancestors. Qianjing is a village of Hui Muslims. Most villagers are Hui Muslims and all share the surname Bai. The imam told us that even outsiders who marry into the village must change their surname to Bai.



The mosque features a traditional wooden structure. It is worth noting that all nine mosques I visited in Guilin are built in this traditional style.



Although the villagers in Qianjing are Hui Muslims, People say they have been disconnected from the faith since the end of the Qing Dynasty. Today, very few elderly people there know the basic knowledge of Islam, and their daily habits are no different from other ethnic groups.

Even today, every household keeps ancestral tablets. Interestingly, they do not believe in Christianity or Buddhism; it seems ancestor worship is the only faith of the villagers.



Crossbeam of the prayer hall

On weekdays, almost no villagers come to pray, except for the imam and a few passing friends (dosti). However, about ten villagers, mostly elderly, attend Friday prayers (Jumu'ah).

Currently, only one person in the village, an elder over 90 years old, still maintains a halal diet. People say he is a descendant of a Guilin imam. He cooks for himself every day, and it is not easy for him to hold onto this practice today.



Qianjing Village was originally called Baijiazhuang. It was later renamed Zangjing Village because it sheltered Muslims who fled here during the Yuan Dynasty and brought the Quran with them. Later, it was renamed Qianjing Village.



Qianjing Mosque and the Bai Family Ancestral Hall are separated by only one wall. The ancestral hall also serves as an activity center for the elderly.

Bai Family Ancestral Hall



Bai Family Ancestral Hall and the Qianjing Village Hui Muslim Folk Culture Exhibition Hall



Bai family genealogy

The most famous Hui Muslim from Qianjing Village is Bai Chongxi. His ancestor was Bo Dulu Ding, a Semu person who came to China to serve as an official during the Yuan Dynasty. Bai Chongxi’s Islamic name was Umar. He served as a first-class general in the Nationalist Army and as the Minister of National Defense for the Republic of China. He passed away in Taipei in 1966 at the age of 74.



Portrait of Bai Chongxi.

There was a rumor that Bai Chongxi claimed to be Han Chinese and only followed Islam. I checked the source of this article and it is definitely taken out of context and completely false. For example, in the oral history book 'Interview Records of Mr. Bai Chongxi' from the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica in Taiwan, Bai Chongxi himself stated: 'But many of us are Han Chinese and not Hui, we just follow Islam, so how can we be called Hui Muslims?'

Many social media outlets interpreted this sentence as Bai Chongxi calling himself Han Chinese. I do not know how they could possibly read that meaning into it. When Bai Chongxi said 'many of us are Han Chinese,' he was not referring to himself. More authoritative evidence can be found in a China Daily interview with Bai Chongxi’s son, Bai Xianyong.



'Rebellion: The Genetic Code of Bai Chongxi and Bai Xianyong,' source: China Times.

From the interview transcript above, it is clear that Bai Xianyong explicitly stated his family is Hui, not Han.



'Rebellion: The Genetic Code of Bai Chongxi and Bai Xianyong,' source: China Times.

It is regrettable that Bai Xianyong admitted in the interview that he follows Buddhism. We do not need to criticize his choice, but the Bai family believes that rules they consider backward—such as forbidding women from education or requiring women to wear veils—are not authentic Islamic rules. This shows the Bai family does not have a deep understanding of Islam. Islam encourages women to receive an education, as seen in the Hadith passed down by the Prophet’s wives. When the Prophet was alive, he encouraged women to go to the mosque to learn, and his wives are role models for all female Muslims.

Bai Chongxi was not a devout Muslim like Ma Bufang. I caught a glimpse of the details regarding Bai Chongxi’s religious practice in the book 'Biography of Ma Bufang' by Fan Qianfeng.





Screenshot from 'Biography of Ma Bufang' by Fan Qianfeng.

Based on the two article screenshots, it is clear that Bai Chongxi only had an ethnic identity and was a cultural Muslim who took his religious duties lightly. It is understandable that his descendants lacked the proper understanding of Islam and eventually converted to other faiths. This shows how important family teaching and example are.

When I visited the Bai family ancestral hall, an imam (ahong) from Linxia was teaching the elders the Shahada (the declaration of faith). The elders were actually playing cards and watching TV while half-heartedly imitating the Arabic words 'There is no god but Allah.' This scene is hard to imagine in areas with strong religious practice. It was both funny and sad. The imam was helpless, but he felt it was good enough that the elders were willing to come to the mosque at all.

But what can be done? The villagers of Qianjing have been away from the faith for too long. Returning to the path of Allah is extremely difficult, especially in a village with such deep-rooted traditional folk beliefs. One can imagine how much hardship the imam has faced.



Old men at the Bai family ancestral hall are playing cards and watching television.

When the imam learned I was visiting specifically to see mosques, he happily invited us to visit the largest remaining mosque in the Guilin area, the Liutang Mosque. A Han Chinese Muslim from Ningxia joined us. He has over ten years of teaching experience and is now at retirement age. His only hobby is traveling to visit mosques. He stays at each mosque for three to five days and says he has already visited over a thousand of them.

2. Liutang Town Mosque



Our group rode in the imam's car and arrived at the Liutang Town Mosque, located under the jurisdiction of Guilin, after about half an hour. The mosque was first built during the Kangxi and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, when the Beiping Chengda Normal School moved south to Guilin, it established its first affiliated experimental primary school at this mosque in early 1939.



Liutang Mosque covers an area of 3.7 mu and has a building area of 1,700 square meters. It is a cultural relic protection unit at the Guilin municipal level.





On both sides of the front hall are the inscriptions 'Xian Xie' (guard against evil) and 'Cun Cheng' (maintain sincerity), which come from the I Ching (Book of Changes), Qian hexagram: 'Guard against evil and maintain one's sincerity.'



Ancient water well

Liutang Mosque now has a resident imam from Linxia. However, the religious practice in Liutang Town is on the verge of disappearing. The local Hui Muslims have long been assimilated into Han culture, and there are no halal restaurants nearby. After a brief chat with the imam on the second floor, we learned that Shanwei Village, where the former residence of Bai Chongxi is located, is not far away.



Looking down at the main prayer hall from the second floor





Former residence of Bai Chongxi

Our Han Muslim friend from Ningxia decided to stay in Liutang for a few days. After getting him settled, we continued to follow the imam to the nearby Shanwei Village to visit the former residence of Bai Chongxi.



Shanwei Village

The scenery in Shanwei Village is still very beautiful. Bai Chongxi's former residence is at the foot of the mountain, and you have to walk to get there.



Bai Chongxi's former residence was built in 1928. It has been emptied out, so there is not much to see inside.







Interior of Bai Chongxi's former residence

A mosque was built next to the former residence, but because the person in charge at the time only received 500,000 yuan, the construction stopped halfway when he passed away. No one followed up on it, so it has become an unfinished project.

3. Shanwei Village Mosque



Shanwei Village Mosque

The Shanwei Village Mosque is abandoned. It will likely be hard to rebuild unless the Hui Muslims in Shanwei Village return to their faith.



Food near the former residence of Bai Chongxi

4. Jiucun Village Mosque



Shanwei Village and the neighboring Jiucun Village are both Hui Muslim villages. Most villagers are Hui Muslims, though they have other surnames besides Bai. The imam told me the situation for Hui Muslims here is better than in Qianjing Village. The Hui Muslims here do not eat pork or dog meat, and they do not drink alcohol openly in the village. The meat eaten in the village is all slaughtered by the imam. On the road, we even met an old grandmother who greeted us with salaam.

The original Jiucun Village Mosque was built during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty. The current building was rebuilt in 2004 and was named a cultural relic protection unit of Lingui County in 2013.



Jiucun Village is a natural village under the jurisdiction of the Shanwei Village Residents' Committee and has 44 households.



The mosque has three halls and three bays, measuring 24.8 meters wide and 44.15 meters deep.







After visiting Shanwei Village and Jiucun Village, we said goodbye to the imam and returned to Guilin city. The next day, we went to visit the Maping Mosque inside the Seven Star Park scenic area in Guilin.

5. Maping Mosque



Maping Mosque was first built during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. Later, due to the expansion of Guilin Seven Star Park, the mosque was included within the park. It is now also the location of the Guilin Hui Muslim Nursing Home. If you are a Hui Muslim or wearing a white cap, you can enter for free. Otherwise, you must buy a 55-yuan ticket. Just show your ID card at the park entrance.



During the War of Resistance, the Guilin Hui Muslims formed a War Service Group to promote the war effort to the public. Their most prominent work was carrying out cave education, providing wartime education for people hiding from Japanese planes in Seven Star Cave.



The earliest Hui Muslim to travel to Guilin, the Northern Song Dynasty master calligrapher and painter Mi Fu, left stone carvings including "Poem for Chen Guilin, and a Letter to Old Historian Shuai," "Preface to the Poem for Shaoyan," and "Mi Fu and Cheng Jie's Exchange Poems" in the Longyin Cave exhibition area of the Guihai Stele Forest Museum.



Maping Mosque is connected to the Guilin Hui Muslim Nursing Home and can be accessed through the halal restaurant next door.











Sharia snacks



Sharia snacks

The halal snack shop next to Maping Mosque has been run by the imam's family for years. They chose the name Shariya to emphasize that their ingredients are halal. We came here for dinner at night. Since the park was already closed, tourists were not allowed in. However, if you say you are a Hui Muslim going to the mosque, they will let you in. Just do not say you are going there to eat, or the security guard will lie and tell you there is no restaurant inside, which is very annoying.



Price list

You definitely have to try the Guilin rice noodles (guilin mifen). This is arguably the only place in Guilin where you can find reliable halal rice noodles, and they make them very authentically.



Behind the kitchen is a nursing home for Hui Muslims, where the elderly were eating dinner.



The stir-fried noodles (chaomian) smell delicious.



Beef dumplings (niurou shuijiao) are delicate little dumplings that you can eat in one bite.



Guilin rice noodles come in stir-fried and soup versions. The stir-fried noodles are a bit sticky and not as good as the ones with soup, but local people in Guilin think the stir-fried version is more traditional. You can add as many pickled long beans as you like to your noodles.

I was satisfied just to have a bowl of reliable rice noodles in Guilin. Later, the imam of Daxu Mosque invited us to Daxu Ancient Town to visit the mosque, which we could not find on the map at the time. It is visible on maps now because I helped the imam add the address to Baidu and Amap.

6. Daxu Mosque



Daxu Mosque was first built during the Qianlong reign. The wood is moldy, and it is currently being renovated. The mosque is located at No. 69 Shengchanxia Street in Daxu Ancient Town. Daxu is a historic town where many local Hui Muslims still live, though the state of the faith is not very optimistic, with only about ten people attending Friday prayers (Jumu'ah).







You can see that the wood in the attic is very old. In 1933, during the Republic of China era, Imam Li Meibin started a night school for children to study scripture at the mosque, which later became a primary school for Hui Muslims that accepted both Hui and Han students.







The imam warmly invited us to eat at the mosque again, and we felt very grateful (shukr). We learned from the imam that the mosque is being renovated, but funds are limited. They only receive a few tens of thousands of yuan from the government each year for basic repairs. After the meal, we stayed for a while before the imam walked us to the entrance of the ancient town. We said goodbye to him and promised to meet again, Insha'Allah.



There are no halal restaurants in Daxu Ancient Town. I only saw some scripture plaques hanging in front of private homes. Since I already knew there are actually quite a few Hui Muslims in Guilin, just without much religious practice, I was no longer surprised.

7. Chongshan Mosque



Chongshan Mosque was first built in 1734, the 12th year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty. It is a protected cultural site in Guilin. The family of Bai Chongxi's father-in-law provided significant funding to build this mosque. Without their support, the state of the faith in Guilin today might be like in Fujian, where only a few ruins remain to show the glory left by our ancestors.



You can still see a few local Guilin people coming to the Chongshan Mosque for namaz every day.





8. Women's Mosque



Chongshan Women's Mosque is the only one left in Guilin. I performed the sunset prayer (maghrib) here and learned that the person calling the adhan is a Hui Muslim from Shaoyang, Hunan. Men are also allowed to enter the women's mosque to pray.





9. Xixiang Mosque



The last mosque I visited in Guilin was Xixiang Mosque. It is currently being renovated. The main structure is finished, and only the interior decoration is left.



Xixiang Mosque was first built during the Guangxu reign and was later rebuilt with donations from Bai Chongxi's wife, Ma Peizhang, and the children of Ma Rongxi. This mosque sits right next to the Guilin Catholic Church, which shows religious harmony. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Mosque Near Me in China: Beautiful Mosques from Beijing to Sanya and Hong Kong is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: This is my hand-picked collection of mosques I have visited across China. I used photos and short descriptions to introduce them. I chose these mosques because they represent their regions well, such as those designated. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on China Mosques, Mosque Travel, Muslim Heritage.

This is my hand-picked collection of mosques I have visited across China. I used photos and short descriptions to introduce them. I chose these mosques because they represent their regions well, such as those designated as national cultural heritage sites or those that showcase traditional architectural styles. Two years ago, I wrote a map of Chinese mosques that received a lot of attention from friends (dosti). This article updates, trims, and adds to that old post with significant changes.

So far, I have visited over 400 mosques. The ones in this post make up only one-tenth of those I have seen. If you think the mosque in your hometown is more beautiful, please leave me a message. I will visit them one by one when I have time, insha'Allah.

— Hello, Travel —

Beijing: Niujie Mosque



I have counted 78 existing mosques in Beijing. Among them, Niujie Mosque is the oldest, largest, and highest-ranked cultural heritage site in the city. It was first built during the Northern Song Dynasty by a scholar named Nasruddin who served in the Liao Dynasty. It has a history of over a thousand years and was named a national key cultural heritage site in 1988.















Beijing: Yongshou Mosque



Located on Sanlihe in the Yuetan sub-district of Xicheng District, Yongshou Mosque was first built in the 33rd year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty. There was once a Hui Muslim cemetery within the mosque grounds, but it was moved in the 1950s. The scholar Wang Daiyu was once buried here, and now only a stone tablet recording his life remains.







Beijing: Tongzhou Mosque



Tongzhou Mosque was first built during the Yanyou era of the Yuan Dynasty. In the 21st year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, the abandoned site of the Tongzhou Left Guard was added to expand it. Side halls were added in the 47th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty, and classrooms were added in the 20th year of the Daoguang reign.





Tianjin: Jinjiayao Mosque



Jinjiayao Mosque was first built in the second year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1574) and is one of the oldest mosques in Tianjin.

It is known as the number one mosque in Tianjin.





Tianjin: Great Mosque of Tianjin



The Great Mosque of Tianjin is one of China's famous mosques. It is located in the Hongqiao District of Tianjin and covers an area of 5,000 square meters. It is generally believed to have been founded in the early years of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).







Hebei: Cangzhou

North Great Mosque



This mosque was first built at the end of the Jianwen era of the Ming Dynasty (1420). Many imams from Shaanxi, Gansu, North China, and Inner Mongolia completed their studies and received their certificates at the North Mosque of Cangzhou.





Cangzhou City, Hebei Province

Botou Mosque



Botou Mosque in Cangzhou was first built in the second year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty (1404) and is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. Inside the main prayer hall, there is a large minbar (minbailou) donated by a Tianjin duosi, which is valued at 260,000 yuan.







Langfang, Hebei

Beiwu Mosque, Dachang Hui Autonomous County



It was first built during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1573–1619) and is one of the key mosques in Hebei Province.





Baoding City, Hebei Province

Dingzhou Mosque



Dingzhou Mosque was first built in the eighth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1348). The mosque houses a stone tablet from the Zhizheng era titled 'Record of Rebuilding the Mosque,' which is the earliest record to link the term 'Huihui' with Islam, the earliest to use the four-character translation for 'Muhammad' (originally translated as Mahema), and the earliest to pioneer the integration of Confucianism with Islam. It is now a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.





Taiyuan, Shanxi

Ancient Mosque



This mosque was built during the Zhenyuan era of the Tang Dynasty (785–804) and rebuilt during the Jing era of the Song Dynasty (1034–1038). A stone tablet inside the mosque records its renovation during the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty.





Datong, Shanxi

Great Mosque



Datong Mosque is located on Jiulou Lane in Datong. According to the History of Yuan (Yuan Shi), the mosque was first built in 1324. Most of the current structures date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. A stone tablet titled Imperial Edict to Build the Mosque, re-erected in the seventh year of the Qianlong reign (1742), claims the mosque was founded in the second year of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang dynasty (628), though this may be a false attribution.









Hohhot, Inner Mongolia

Great Mosque



It was built in the thirty-second year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1693). According to the Tablet Record of the North and South Lecture Halls of the Mosque, it has been established for many years since the Qing dynasty took power. It was quite simple when first built. It was renovated in the fifty-fourth year of the Qianlong reign (1789).





Ordos, Inner Mongolia

Dongsheng Mosque



This is the only mosque in Dongsheng District. It was completed in 1990 with a main building area of 375 square meters and 45 square meters of auxiliary facilities.











Chifeng, Inner Mongolia



Chifeng North Great Mosque is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. Built in the fourth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty (1739), it was modeled after the style of the South Great Mosque of Fengtian (now the South Mosque of Shenyang). There are 26 mosques in the Chifeng area, and this is the only one with national protection status.







Xi'an, Shaanxi

Huajue Lane Great Mosque



The exact founding date of this mosque is unknown, but it dates back to at least the Ming Dynasty. It was renovated and expanded in the 25th year of the Hongwu reign (1392) and was known as Qingxiuzhuan. In the 30th year of the Qianlong reign (1765), the local Muslim community raised funds to renovate it again, and it was named the mosque (qingzhensi).







Hanzhong, Shaanxi

Luling Mosque, Xixiang County



Luling Mosque in Xixiang County, Hanzhong, was built in the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It is 330 years old and is one of the three holy sites of the Qadiriyya (Gaderenye) gongbei menhuan. It is an important place where the founder Qi Jingyi practiced, preached, and passed away. It is as famous as the Great Gongbei in Linxia, Gansu, and the Baba Mosque in Langzhong, Sichuan. The designers were professors from Tongji University and professors Kunihiro and George from Japan.







Zhengzhou, Henan

Beida Mosque



It started in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties and houses two Ming Dynasty incense burners (xuandelu). China has four districts named after Hui Muslims, and

Henan has three of them, including the Guancheng Hui District in Zhengzhou.







Kaifeng City, Henan Province

Zhuxian Town Mosque



The Zhuxian Town Mosque in Kaifeng was built during the Ming Dynasty. It is the largest mosque in Kaifeng and is now a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level. The mosque contains stone tablets with Arabic inscriptions recording the Guxing sect. Starting in the early Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the appearance of Guxing tablets in places like Kaifeng, Henan, was directly related to Ma Laichi coming to Henan to lecture. The main reason was to address the scriptural views of the new sect in Henan, which was influenced by both She Yunshen and Ma Laichi.







Jiyuan, Henan

Xiajie Mosque



This mosque was first built in the 35th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty by the Yuan family of Hui Muslims. Their ancestors moved here from Chunshu Hutong near Qianmen during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties to escape war, and they built the Xiajie Mosque.







Mengzhou City, Henan Province

Shangpo Village, Upper Mosque (Shangsi)



First built in the 24th year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1819 AD), Shangpo Village has 11 mosques, including 6 for men and 5 for women. The Upper Mosque in Shangpo is the liveliest mosque I have ever visited, with children playing everywhere inside.







Qinyang City, Henan Province

North Great Mosque (Beidasi)



The North Great Mosque in Qinyang was built during the Yuan Dynasty and is now a major historical and cultural site under state protection. It is a classic wooden structure made of precious materials. It includes a women's mosque and a martial arts school, covering a total area of over 3,300 square meters. Qinyang is a home of martial arts, and the Hui Muslim style of Chaquan boxing is very popular here.





Tongxin, Ningxia

Great Mosque



The Tongxin Great Mosque was first built in the early Ming Dynasty on the site of a collapsed Lama mosque and has a history of about 600 years. It was renovated three times during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In 1936, when the Red Army marched west, they established the Shaan-Gan-Ning Province Yuhai County Hui Muslim Autonomous Government here.







Lanzhou, Gansu

Nanguan Great Mosque



According to local historical records and stone tablets kept at the mosque, the Nanguan Great Mosque has been one of the six most famous mosques in Lanzhou since the Ming and Qing dynasties, with construction starting during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1398).





Tianshui, Gansu

Houjie Mosque



The Houjie Mosque in Tianshui is a major historical and cultural site under national protection. It was first built during the Yuan Dynasty as a wooden structure. The Arabic stone inscriptions kept inside the mosque are the earliest ones discovered in Gansu.



Zhangjiachuan, Gansu

Zhaochuan Mosque



Located at the foot of Xuanhuagang Mountain in Zhangjiachuan, Zhaochuan Mosque was completed on October 30, 2017. Zhaochuan is a place name, located in Zhaochuan Village, Zhaochuan Town, Zhangjiachuan County.





Longnan, Gansu

Wudu Grand Mosque



Based on the stone tablets and documents kept in the mosque, it was first built during the Chenghua or Jiajing periods of the mid-Ming Dynasty. It has been rebuilt eight times, merging the original front and back mosques into one on the same site.





Xining, Qinghai

Dongguan Grand Mosque



The mosque was founded in the early Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). It was damaged many times throughout history but was constantly repaired. The current building was rebuilt in 1913, renovated and expanded in 1946, and repaired again in 1979.





Xunhua, Qinghai

Jiezi Mosque



Jiezi Mosque in Xunhua is the second largest mosque in Qinghai. First built in the Ming Dynasty, it is a provincial-level cultural heritage site. It houses hand-copied Qurans from the early Salar people. In the square, there are the tombs of two Salar sages named Ahamang and Galamang, who moved from Samarkand in Central Asia to Qinghai during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.







Haidong, Qinghai

Hongshuiquan Mosque



Hongshuiquan Mosque in Hongshuiquan Hui Muslim Township, Haidong City, was built during the Ming Dynasty and is a seventh-batch Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. The mosque uses a brick-and-wood structure and blends architectural styles from Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. The main hall roof features a treasure vase (baoping), and the interior is decorated with the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism along with many carvings representing folk good fortune. The umbrella-like canopy structure (tianluosan) on the roof of the rear hall is unique to mosques in the Qinghai region, and you can also find this design at Kangjia Mosque in Jianzha and Heyin Mosque in Guide.







Xunhua, Qinghai

Zanbuhu Mosque (Hongguang Mosque)



Hongguang Village was originally called Zanbuhu. It was renamed Hongguang Village in 1987 to honor the martyrs of the Western Route Army. Hongguang Mosque is the only mosque in the country built by the Red Army. Between 1939 and 1946, Ma Bufang forced over 400 captured soldiers from the Red Western Route Army to work as laborers and brought them to what is now Hongguang Village in Xunhua County. While building the mosque, the Red Army soldiers carved patterns like the red five-pointed star, sickle, axe, the character 'gong' (for worker), and collar badges into the decorative bricks while they were firing them.







Chengdu, Sichuan

Upper Mosque (Qingzhen Shangsi)



The Upper Mosque is also called Tuqiao Mosque. It consists of two parts, an upper mosque and a lower mosque, and was first built in the 56th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1791).









Chengdu, Sichuan

Imperial City Mosque (Huangcheng Mosque)



The mosque gets its name because it is located near the ruins of a historical imperial palace. It was first built in the 16th century. The mosque was severely damaged by war in 1917. Although it was rebuilt shortly after, limited funds meant the original site area of over 6,600 square meters was reduced to just over 5,000 square meters. Even so, it remains the largest mosque in Sichuan Province.









Nanchong, Sichuan

Baba Mosque in Langzhong



The Baba Mosque in Langzhong was built after the 29th-generation descendant of the Prophet, Khwaja Abdullah, passed away while preaching in Sichuan during the Kangxi reign. His student Qi Jingyi and the Northern Sichuan military commander Ma Ziyun built the shrine (gongbei) under the order of the Kangxi Emperor to honor him and thank him for curing the Emperor's serious illness. Qi Jingyi was the founding master of the Qadiriyya order. He established the mosque's complete rules and a system for rotating imams to guard it. He also created the generational naming system to continue the Qadiriyya tradition. The Qadiriyya order has three major holy sites: the Great Shrine (gongbei) in Hezhou, Gansu; Luling Mosque in Xixiang, Shaanxi; and the Baba Mosque in Langzhong, Sichuan. The Baba Mosque is the first among these three.





Urumqi, Xinjiang

Shaanxi Mosque



First built during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, it was later rebuilt with funds raised by Hui Muslims who moved here from Shaanxi. It is the largest mosque for Hui Muslims in Urumqi and serves as the headquarters for the Urumqi Islamic Association.





Urumqi, Xinjiang

Tatar Mosque



This is a Central Asian-style mosque built in 1897 with donations from the Tatar people. In 1919, a local company called Dehe Foreign Firm funded its reconstruction, so it is also known as the Foreign Firm Mosque (Yanghang Dasi).



Turpan, Xinjiang

Sugong Pagoda Mosque



Completed in 1778, it was funded by the Turpan Prince Emin Khoja during the Qing Dynasty and built by his son, Suleiman. That is why it is named Sugong Pagoda.





Shenyang, Liaoning

South Mosque



First built in 1627, it is the most influential mosque in Northeast China. According to the Tie Family Genealogy: 'Our ancestor Tie Kui performed military service in the early Qing Dynasty, reaching the rank of Cavalry Commandant and General. He was devoted to the faith and, with his prominent status, donated his own wealth to build the South Mosque in the Hui Muslim community of Xiaoxiguan, expanding the site to its current scale.'







Changchun, Jilin

Changtong Road Mosque



Founded in 1824, it is the largest mosque in Jilin Province, covering an area of over 16,000 square meters.





Harbin, Heilongjiang

Acheng Mosque



Acheng Mosque is the oldest mosque in the Harbin area, built during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1777). This mosque looks very similar to the Niujie Mosque; the Arabic calligraphy on the main hall's beams and pillars and the plaque on Datianjun Road are both similar to those at Niujie.







Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province

Bukui Mosque



Bukui Mosque was built in the 23rd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1684). It predates the founding of Qiqihar city, leading to the saying, 'First there was the mosque, then there was Bukui city.' The East Mosque was built first for the Gedimu tradition, and later the West Mosque was built for the Jahriyya menhuan. Together, the east and west mosques are called Bukui Mosque.







Jinan, Shandong

North Great Mosque



Located on Yongchang Street in the Shizhong District of Jinan, it is a municipal-level cultural heritage site. The mosque was first built during the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty and underwent several renovations during the Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Guangxu reigns of the Qing Dynasty, as well as during the Republic of China era. It now covers 8.1 mu with a building area of 2,252 square meters.







Qingzhou, Shandong

Zhenjiao Mosque



According to the stone inscriptions inside the mosque, 'The Hui mosque was established in the 6th year of the Dade reign of the Great Yuan Dynasty (1302 AD) by the descendants of Bayan.' It covers over 6,000 square meters with a building area of over 2,000 square meters.









Jining City, Shandong Province

Jining East Mosque



Jining East Mosque sits by the Grand Canal, so it is called the River-Side East Mosque (Shunhe Qingzhen Dongdasi). It was first built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty and is a major historical site under national protection. Chang Zhimei, a famous master of Islamic scripture and founder of the Shandong school, once wrote books and biographies here.







Linqing City, Shandong Province

Halal

East Mosque



Linqing East Mosque was first built during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty and is a major historical site under national protection. Linqing is full of halal restaurants, but there are only two mosques. The other is the North Mosque. The two mosques are two hundred meters apart, and the North Mosque is also a major historical site under national protection.





Nanjing, Jiangsu

Jingjue Mosque



It was first built in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (1388 AD) and later rebuilt by Zheng He. It is currently the largest mosque in the Nanjing area.





Yangzhou, Jiangsu

Xianhe Mosque



It was first built in the first year of the Deyou period of the Song Dynasty by Pu Hadin, a descendant of the Prophet. The building looks like a crane, and it is one of the four great ancient mosques in the Jiangnan region.









Zhenjiang, Jiangsu

Shanxiang Mosque



According to the Zhenjiang Prefecture Records revised during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, it was first built in the second year of the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty (628 AD), but this cannot be verified. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the mosque was used as a shelter. The mosque was once a center for printing Islamic scriptures in Chinese. It printed more than 20 types of woodblock-printed Chinese classics, including The Philosophy of Islam (Tianfang Xingli), The Rites of Islam (Tianfang Dianli), The True Interpretation of the Orthodox Religion (Zhengjiao Zhenquan), and The Essential Collection of the Four Classics (Sidian Yaohui).





Shouxian, Anhui Province

Mosque



The Shouxian Mosque in Huainan, Anhui, was first built during the Tianqi era of the Ming Dynasty (1621-1627). It is now a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. The famous imam Wang Jingzhai taught here for two months during the Republic of China era. He left for Taiwan after being invited to help revitalize the Muslim community there and because he could no longer tolerate harassment from the Eighth Route Army.





Anqing City, Anhui Province

Mosque



The Nanguan Mosque in Anqing, Anhui, was built by Ma Yi, a second-rank regional military commander during the Ming Dynasty. It is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. In 1381, Ming Dynasty General Ma Jucheng led Hui Muslim soldiers to garrison Anqing and established the Anqing Garrison, which has a longer history than the Tianjin Garrison. The first mosque in Tianjin, the Jinjiayao Mosque, was also founded by Hui Muslim boatmen from Anqing. To this day, many Hui Muslims in Tianjin still say their ancestral home is Anqing Prefecture.





Jiaxing, Zhejiang

Mosque



First built in the Ming Dynasty, the Jianzhen Mosque in Jiaxing has a stone tablet record. The writer of the inscription, Jiaxing Prefect Che Daren, and the calligrapher, local resident Ma Mengzhen (who served as a deputy director for compiling national history and has a biography in the History of Ming), were both Muslim officials.







Hangzhou, Zhejiang

Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si)



This mosque was first built in the Tang Dynasty, destroyed in the Song Dynasty, and rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty. It is one of the four great ancient mosques in the Jiangnan region. The roof of the main hall features three octagonal spire-topped structures dating back to the Song Dynasty. One of them is carved with verses from the Quran, a relic said to date back to the second year of the Jingtai era of the Ming Dynasty. The stone scripture platform and the stone pillar bases inside the Phoenix Mosque have also been verified by cultural heritage authorities as relics from the Song Dynasty.





Ningbo, Zhejiang

Yuehu Mosque



Built in the 38th year of the Kangxi reign, this is currently the only mosque in Ningbo and serves as the headquarters for the Ningbo Islamic Association.







Lishui, Zhejiang

Mosque



Lishui Mosque was first built in the 12th year of the Guangxu reign (1886) and was funded by the religious leader Ma Huanzhang. Records show that in the mid-Qing Dynasty, Hui Muslims with the surnames Ma and Yuan moved from Shaanxi to Lishui, and the Lishui county magistrate was also a Hui Muslim from Yunnan. Lishui Mosque was built right across from the local government office at that time and covers about 5 mu of land. Before 1958, an imam from Shandong named Li Yuliang managed religious affairs at the mosque, but religious activities stopped after that. However, several elderly women including Jin Maizi, Yuan Aiwu, Ma Xiuzi, and Grandma Wu continued to practice their faith.





Songjiang Mosque, Shanghai



Shanghai Songjiang Mosque is the oldest mosque in the Shanghai area. It was first built during the Yuan Dynasty (1341-1367). It contains a cemetery for Hui Muslims, where a Yuan Dynasty Songjiang official known as a Darughachi is buried. The main prayer hall (yaodian) features a style that blends Chinese and Arabic architecture, similar to the mosques in Dingzhou, Dongsi, Hangzhou Phoenix, and Shanghai Songjiang.







Quanzhou, Fujian

Qingjing Mosque



First built in 1009, this is the oldest existing mosque in China with an Arabic architectural style and is one of the four great ancient mosques in the Jiangnan region.









Shaoyang, Hunan

South Mosque



Built in 1914, Shaoyang is a city in Hunan Province with a relatively large Muslim population, and there are two mosques in the urban area.







Guiyang, Guizhou

Mosque



This is the only mosque in Guiyang, built in the second year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1724). The great imam Wang Jingzhai once taught here, and after he passed away, he was buried in the Muslim cemetery on the outskirts of the city.







Najiaying, Yunnan

Gucheng Mosque



The Gucheng Mosque is located in Najiaying Village, Nagu Hui Muslim Township, Tonghai County. It was first built in 1370, the third year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, when Nasulu and his son settled in Najiaying.





Shadian, Yunnan

Great Mosque



The Shadian Grand Mosque was first built in 1684, the twenty-third year of the Kangxi reign. It has a long history and covers a total area of 21,000 square meters. The current building was started in 2005, and its architectural style is similar to mosques in Southeast Asia.







Xishuangbanna, Yunnan

Mansaihui Mosque



Xishuangbanna has two Hui-Dai villages, one called Manluanhui and the other Mansaihui. The Hui-Dai are Dai people who practice Islam and speak the Dai language. I came here to see the legendary bamboo-style mosque. After arriving, I was told that the bamboo mosque existed in the early days, but because it was not practical, it has been rebuilt into a brick and tile building. This Mansaihui Mosque was built in 1985, and you can see Dai script inside.







Guilin, Guangxi

Liutang Mosque



The mosque in Liutang Village, Guilin, is the largest existing mosque in the city. It was first built during the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns of the Qing Dynasty. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, when the Beiping Chengda Normal School moved south to Guilin, it established its first affiliated experimental primary school at this mosque in early 1939. There are currently 9 mosques in Guilin.







Lhasa, Tibet

Great Mosque



Lhasa has five mosques. The Lhasa Great Mosque was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and is the largest mosque in the city. The imam at the mosque is a Tibetan Hui Muslim. Many Tibetan Hui Muslims live in the old city of Lhasa. Their ancestors came from Kashmir. They speak Tibetan and look just like other Tibetans today, but their ID cards list them as Hui Muslims, and they practice Islam.











Shigatse, Tibet

Mosque



Built in 1343, it was funded by Arabs, Indians, and Chinese people. The mosque's architectural style shows clear Tibetan influences.









Guangzhou, Guangdong

Huaisheng Mosque



The exact date of its founding is unknown, but it was destroyed in 1343 during the third year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty. Also known as the Light Tower Mosque (Guangta Si), it is one of the four great ancient mosques in the Jiangnan region.





Shenzhen, Guangdong

Mosque



Shenzhen Mosque was completed in 2016. The main building has five floors, with a prayer hall on every level and a restaurant on the first floor. You can reach the floors by elevator.





Muslim Cemetery, Macau

Mosque



Built on June 27, 1973, it was funded by Mrs. Halima Bisheik. The mosque does not have a full-time imam, so an imam from Hong Kong comes to lead the Friday prayers (Jumu'ah) each week.









Kowloon, Hong Kong

Kowloon Mosque



Hong Kong has five mosques, with the first built in 1896. The Kowloon Mosque is the largest, and a Pakistani imam teaches religious classes there.





Sanya, Hainan

Huixin Village South Mosque



The South Mosque is in the center of Huixin Village in the Tianya District of Sanya. It was the first mosque in ancient Yazhou, with its original site dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty. It was severely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, rebuilt in 1978, and renovated in December 2016. I was lucky to attend the completion ceremony in January 2017. The ceremony was held on a Friday, and the Sanya imam gave a sermon (wa'ez) in the Huihui language. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Travel Guide China 2026: Changsha Han-Hui Village, Mosque Life and Hunan Heritage is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: — Hello, Travel —. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Changsha Muslims, Hunan Heritage, Mosque Travel.



— Hello, Travel —



I have been to Changsha twice, once for work and once for personal reasons. On these two trips, I visited the only two mosques in the city. One is the Changsha Mosque, which is well-known to local Muslims in the city center. The other is less known, the Han-Hui Ethnic Village Mosque in the suburbs.



Han-Hui Ethnic Village

Han-Hui Village is in the northern suburbs of Changsha. The name dates back to the early days of the People's Republic of China. The Hui Muslims here have a history of over 100 years. The village has a total population of over 1,400, with Hui Muslims making up one-third. Han-Hui Village covers 2.8 square kilometers. The village is home to a Buddhist Tielu Mosque, a mosque, and a Taoist mosque, where three religions coexist.



Han-Hui Village road sign



Han-Hui Village signpost



The golden-roofed building in the distance is the mosque. In 2009, Yusuf Zhang Weidong, chairman of the Juzhou Donglaixing Halal Restaurant, donated the funds to build it. Unfortunately, the mosque has never been open since it was completed.



I looked through the crack in the door and saw only weeds covering the ground.



I asked the villagers and learned that the village committee might have the key, so I went to their office.



Unfortunately, no one was on duty at the village committee that day, and the building was completely empty.



I found a staff phone directory on the bulletin board and saw a phone number for someone with the surname Lan. I thought they must be a Hui Muslim and would be easy to talk to, so I called. The voice on the other end was not friendly. I said I was a Hui Muslim from Beijing and wanted to visit the mosque, but the person named Lan was firm: the mosque is not open now and will not be open in the future. Then they hung up.

I was not surprised by this result, because if the villagers still had Iman, they would not let the mosque grow over with weeds, while the local Earth God Mosque is quite busy with visitors.



Earth God Temple

Since I could not enter the mosque, I walked around the village. In the Han-Hui Village Ethnic Square, there is a stone tablet recording the history of the Hui Muslims in the village.



Establishment of Han-Hui Village

Islam first arrived in Hunan in the second year of the Deyou era of the Song Dynasty (1276), according to information released by the Hunan Provincial Religious Affairs Bureau. Hui Muslims including Ali Han, Wuerma, Lamadan (Kanmalading), Sademishi, Saliman, Bolantai, Qulie, Luoli, Ma Mousha, Alilan, Mahemu, and Macheng came to Hunan one after another to serve as officials. During the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Hui Muslim soldiers moved to Hunan and settled down. Ming Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang granted titles to a group of Muslim generals who entered Hunan for military service, such as Puluode (given the surname Zhang), Sutong, Haimengshi, Caineng, Halebashi (given the surname Jian), and Madecheng. They settled in Baoqing and Changde.



According to stone inscriptions, defeated Hui Muslim soldiers settled here during the Ming and Qing dynasties. They were mainly from the Ma and Lan families, along with the Zhang, Ou, and Ha families. The Ma family of Hui Muslims moved from Wanping County, Hebei Province, to the area around Wuxi Bridge and Yanjia Laowu during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty.



The ancestors of the Lan family of Hui Muslims were from Wanping, Beijing. One ancestor became a son-in-law of the Ma family after winning a martial arts competition to find a husband, and he settled down in Changsha.



The stone inscriptions in the village also record the story of the first Hui Muslim doctor named Ma to settle in Hanhui Village. Legend has it that he once treated a descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang.



The statues decorating the ethnic culture square now seem to be just symbols or window dressing, lacking real substance.

Niubenwei Hui Muslim Restaurant



Niubenwei Restaurant

Before I arrived, I found a Hui Muslim restaurant in the village on Dazhong Dianping that featured local Changsha Hui Muslim specialties. I thought I had found a treasure, but after learning about the current state of faith in Hanhui Village, I did not dare to try it.



I sat in the shop for a while and chatted with the staff. The staff said they do not use lard. Changsha people love using lard for cooking, even for stir-frying vegetables, but this place does not use it. Niubenwei is the only restaurant in the village, and many Changsha residents come here on weekends specifically to eat beef. The staff called namaz 'praying' and said no one here goes to the mosque to pray, so I did not ask anything else.



Looking at the small text on the wall describing the Islamic method of slaughter, I only felt regret. It would be great to have a restaurant serving authentic traditional Changsha dishes, but unfortunately, there are none in Changsha, and Niubenwei is not reliable.



It is impossible to find a restaurant with local characteristics in Changsha now, but you can eat Shaoyang Hui Muslim rice noodles. Shaoyang is a prefecture-level city in Hunan, not far from Changsha and accessible by high-speed rail. I once visited two mosques in the city of Shaoyang. The center of the faith in Hunan is in Shaoyang, and my impression of Shaoyang is that there are Hui Muslim noodle shops everywhere in the streets and alleys.

Shaoyang Hui Muslim rice noodles



Shaoyang rice noodles in Changsha

This shop is on Xiangzhang Road in Changsha. The staff are Hui Muslims from Shaoyang. The difference between Shaoyang rice noodles (shaoyang fen) and Changsha rice noodles (changsha fen) is that Shaoyang noodles are round, while Changsha noodles can be flat. Both are equally spicy. This rice noodle shop on Xiangzhang Road has special snacks, but they only sell them after autumn because Changsha summers are very hot and the food spoils easily.



Price list



Shaoyang rice noodles (shaoyang mifen)



Tofu pudding (douhua)

Besides this special rice noodle shop, Changsha mostly has hand-pulled noodle shops (lamian guan) and Xinjiang restaurants. When I visited Changsha before, I saw many Uyghurs doing business and running shops here. This time, I found that many of those Xinjiang restaurants have closed.

Changsha Mosque



Changsha Mosque is located at No. 115 Sanxing Street in the West District of Changsha. It was first built in 1711 during the 50th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty. The original mosque was destroyed in the 1938 Changsha 'Wenxi' fire, and the current building was rebuilt in 1992.



The mosque has three floors and covers a total area of 5.92 mu. The main prayer hall is on the third floor.



There are very few local Muslims in Changsha. Most Hui Muslims in Hunan live in Shaoyang (40,000), Changde (60,000), and Yiyang (12,000). They have established six ethnic minority townships: Shanjie Hui Ethnic Township in Longhui County, Fengshu Uyghur-Hui Ethnic Township and Qinglin Uyghur-Hui Ethnic Township in Taoyuan County, Zhabu Hui Ethnic Township in Taojiang County, and Maojiatan Uyghur-Hui Ethnic Township and Xujiaqiao Uyghur-Hui Ethnic Township in Dingcheng District. More than 10,000 descendants of Uyghurs still live in Taoyuan County, Changde City, though they have been mostly assimilated into Han culture.



To maintain national unity, suppress rebellions in the south, and consolidate his rule, Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Hale Bashi, a descendant of Hale and the then-commander of Yanjing, as Grand Commander. He led his troops south into the Xiangchu region. Because Hale Bashi was successful in eliminating hostile forces, Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang promoted him to General of Southern Pacification and National Stability and added the title of Crown Prince's Guardian. He was granted the surname 'Jian' and his name 'Bashi' was changed to 'Bashi' (using a different character). He was ordered to guard the Hubei, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou regions. Jian Bashi stationed his troops in Fengshu, Taoyuan, and set up a base camp called the 'Hale Banner Camp' (Ha Qi Ying). This is the origin of the Uyghurs in Hunan.



It is rumored that Taiwanese singer Angela Chang has Uyghur ancestry. I checked the records and found that her maternal grandfather was originally from Taoyuan County, Hunan. Her mother, Jiang Rouyi, originally had the surname 'Jian' before changing it to Jiang. So, Angela Chang actually has Hunan Uyghur ancestry, which is quite different from the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Best Halal Restaurant Beijing: Local Hui Muslim BBQ, Hotpot, Shawarma and Desserts is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: — Hello, Travel —. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Beijing Halal Food, Halal Restaurants, Hui Muslim Food.



— Hello, Travel —

The Beijing Halal Food Map series has reached its 20th installment. Each issue introduces an average of 10 restaurants, bringing the total to over 200 places I have personally visited and tasted. I started writing this public account in 2016, and it has been four years now. Many restaurants I wrote about earlier have closed, but fortunately, the Beijing halal dining market keeps growing. The variety and number of halal restaurants are generally on the rise. Beijing is the capital after all, and it leads the country in every way.

Also, a reminder to my fellow friends (dostis): after reading these guides, it is best to check major review websites to confirm if the restaurant is still open. Things change quickly now, and a place I mention today might close the next day.

1

Japanese-style: Equator Yakiniku (Chidao Shaorou)



I went to Tianjin last weekend just to eat Japanese food because there are no halal Japanese restaurants left in Beijing. The original halal Japanese spots in Changying, Hecai Shidang and Hefeng no Utage, have changed owners. The Hui Muslim shareholder of Hefeng no Utage withdrew their investment, but the halal sign is still up, so its halal status is in doubt.

The good news is that a new Japanese-style barbecue restaurant called Equator Yakiniku (Chidao Shaorou) has opened in Changying. It is run by the nephew of the Changying Three Brothers. I went to try it on its first day of trial operation, and overall, it is quite good. The restaurant's decor is very upscale.



The restaurant has two floors, and the space between tables is wide. They specialize in Wagyu beef barbecue, which you grill yourself, and they also serve traditional Japanese dishes.





Wagyu beef platter with marbling (xuehua heniu sanpin)

Equator's Wagyu comes from Shandong. Wagyu breeds are mainly divided into: Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Shorthorn, and Japanese Polled. Among them, Japanese Black has the most even fat distribution and the highest nutritional value, making it top-tier Wagyu. Equator Yakiniku uses Japanese Black Wagyu.



Beef rib fingers (niulitia)



California sushi roll (jiazhou sushijuan)



Matcha ice cream (mocha bingqilin)



You can dip the grilled meat in three types of sauces—two wet and one dry—or eat it plain. It is fresh, juicy, and chewy.



Wasabi octopus (jiemo zhangyu)



5A marbled beef (5A shuangjiang niurou)

This is the signature dish at Chidao, frost-marbled beef (shuangjiang niurou), priced at 2.5 yuan per gram, which equals 1,250 yuan for 500 grams. If you have the budget, come and try it. During the new store promotion, everything is 12% off, making the average cost about 200 yuan per person.

2

Sichuan Style: Changying Bearded Skewer Shop (Dahuzi Chuanchuanxiang)



There are already four halal skewer shops in Beijing. I have written about Yinmadeng Skewers and Xiaojungan Skewers before. Dahuzi is the third one. I have not visited the fourth one yet and do not know how it is, so I will not mention it for now.



Besides skewers, they also have Sichuan pepper beef and spicy stir-fried beef, which are all dishes I want to eat.





The skewers are very cheap, so a group of people can eat without spending much. You can choose a split-pot (yuanyang guo) for the soup base, which is not too spicy, and they also serve barbecue.



3

Western Style: Ji'anzhai Bookstore



Ji'anzhai is located in Yangzhumei Alley near Qianmen. It is a bookstore that also serves coffee and simple Western meals. Before the liberation, the site was Wang Huihui's dog-skin plaster shop. The store still displays some old photos. The current owner is a Hui Muslim from Niujie, and the shop has been open for 18 years.







From the second floor, you can look down at the street view of the Qianmen alleys. It is very relaxing to sit here in the afternoon, soaking up the sun, drinking coffee, and reading.



The owner says the desserts they sell are sourced from Hui Muslims across the street, ensuring they are halal.



Honey pomelo fruit tea



Crab roe noodles (xiehuang mian)

This is the first time I have seen crab roe noodles with such a generous portion of crab roe; it completely covers the noodles. The price of the crab roe noodles changes with the season, and it is currently 150 yuan per serving. Although it is expensive, it is satisfying to eat, and just eating the crab roe is enough.



Curry chicken rice

The chicken in the curry chicken rice is well-made with a charred aroma. This dish really suits my taste. I heard the beef rice in the shop is also good. Overall, the flavors of the dishes really won me over, and it is worth a try.

4

Northwest Style: Liangtaoxuan Halal Hezhou Noodle Restaurant



Liangtaoxuan is well-known among the Linxia community in Beijing. The shop prohibits smoking and alcohol, and it offers charity noodles (aixin lamian) for people in need to eat for free.







Noodles made with faith taste different. The staff is very welcoming. I recommend that fellow Northwest friends (dosti) who miss the taste of home come and try it. It is best to leave a bowl of charity noodles for someone else before you go.

5

Beijing Style: Chaishi Flavor House



Chaishi Beef Noodle is a famous old brand in Beijing, known for its beef noodles. The broth is said to have been simmering since 1920, making it a true century-old broth.



I am glad that such a famous old shop now provides great service. Someone greets you at the door, the space is roomy, and staff pours tea after you sit down. You order by scanning a code and wait for the food to be served, making for a comfortable dining experience.



There are three locations in Beijing now. The Ganjia Kou branch is the main store, and I recommend coming there for noodles.



Accordion cucumber (suoyi huanggua)

The accordion cucumber is the shop's signature cold dish. It is crunchy and topped with sesame paste (majiang). I recommend trying it.



Small bowl of beef (xiaowan niurou)

If you only order a bowl of beef noodle soup at Chaishi, it does not come with beef. You need to order a small bowl of beef separately. The noodles are hand-rolled (shouganmian), chewy, and the broth is rich. Pairing them with a bowl of soft, flavorful stewed beef is a treat. For Beijingers, a real beef noodle bowl must have big chunks of beef.



6

Beijing Style: Jufuyun Lamb Spine Hot Pot



This is a newly opened lamb spine hot pot (yangxiezi huoguo) shop on Guangwai Hongju Street that also sells various snacks and barbecue.



The Wang's takeout window at the entrance sells a variety of traditional Beijing-style snacks.



The lamb spine hot pot (yangxiezi) and side dishes taste standard and are quite affordable.





7

New Style Yipin Stewed Beef Hot Pot



This hot pot restaurant uses soup bases to cook meat. It opened in September and is located in Xisi.



The environment is nice, with small partitions so diners do not disturb each other.



It serves individual pots, which is clean and hygienic, and everyone can choose their own soup base.





The menu focuses on beef, but also has lamb. The quality is fresh, the price is a bit high, and the average cost is over 150 yuan per person.



8

Xinjiang Amanbayi Big Plate Chicken



I accidentally found this Xinjiang big plate chicken (dapanji) shop in the Chaoyangmen subway underground commercial street. The big plate chicken with noodles is excellent.



The small shop only has four or five tables and reportedly just moved here. Friends interested in naan bread (nang) cuisine can come and try it.



9

Beijing Style Xiangyixing Old Beijing Copper Pot Shabu-Shabu



This shop has been open for 17 years. The owner is from Dezhou, Shandong, and is a fellow townsman of the owner of Yayi Liji. Business is good, with a constant stream of customers every day, and the barbecue is very popular.





Beef noodles



Shandong boiled dumplings (shuijiao)

This is my favorite kind of dumpling. They have thin skins and big fillings, and they are small and delicate. Many hot pot restaurants are even more reliable at making these snacks than the specialty shops.

10

Middle Eastern falafel wrap



There is a shawarma wrap stall on the basement floor of the Tongying Center in Sanlitun where you can dine in or get takeout.



Shawarma is a very popular Middle Eastern food. You can fill it with various ingredients and eat it wrapped in flatbread.



Imported halal ingredients





You can also choose hummus. Dipping toasted flatbread into hummus is my favorite Middle Eastern dish.



11

Western-style pastries: Halime Bakery

I have probably tried almost every halal dessert shop in Beijing, but I never found one I really liked in terms of taste or appearance until I tried the desserts at Halime Bakery. I can say these are the best-tasting and best-looking halal desserts I have had in North China. The baker at Halime is Salar, and she studied design in Malaysia, so she has a unique sense of aesthetics. Halime Bakery also uses high-quality imported ingredients, such as flour from Japan, cream from New Zealand, and French butter. The following photos are real shots of Halime's work.



Cream cake





Room-temperature cookies can be mailed.



Various breads, including Japanese-style raw toast, salt croissants, low-fat bagels, whole wheat bread, sweet bread, and more. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Friendly Yunnan: Ruili Mosque, Myanmar Muslims and Real Halal Street Food is presented here as a clear English travel account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: Ruili is a small border town on the border between Yunnan and Myanmar, but it is the largest inland port and jewelry trading center in southwest my country. Most people here are engaged in jade and other. The article keeps the original place names, food details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Ruili Mosque, Myanmar Muslims, Halal Street.



Ruili is a small border town on the border between Yunnan and Myanmar, but it is the largest inland port and jewelry trading center in southwest my country. Most people here are engaged in jade and other jewelry trading activities. It is the only border trade zone in China that implements special management according to the "internal customs and external customs" model. The so-called internal and external customs means that within the territory of our country, the customs has set up a special area, and the incoming and outgoing goods are equivalent to imports and exports.

Although buying things in the duty-free shops in Ruili is much cheaper than in the mainland airport duty-free shops, buying jade is also cheap, and even gas is a few yuan cheaper than in the mainland, but these are not what attract me. What interests me is that there are many Burmese Muslims living here, including Rohingyas.

Because Ruili is located on the border of Yunnan, the most preferred way to start from Kunming is by plane. The flight time is one hour. The round-trip air ticket from Kunming to Ruili is about 500 yuan, which is about the same as the price I paid to fly from Kunming to Xishuangbanna a few years ago.

From Kunming to Ruili, you can only choose to fly from Kunming to Mangshi Airport first. Mangshi is the capital of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. It is about an hour's drive from Ruili. There is a taxi from the airport to Ruili, and the price is 70 yuan per person.



China Ruili Port

Due to the impact of the epidemic, the three ports in Ruili have been temporarily closed. Passing through here is Myanmar, which is usually busy and bustling with traffic.



The people's lifestyle in Ruili's private houses is very similar to that in Myanmar. Some people are Burmese, but they have settled in Ruili for a long time, and it is difficult to tell them apart from the appearance.



Main Street

There is a famous scenic spot in Ruili called Yizhai Liangguang. It is close to Myanmar. Many streets are divided into two with a guardrail in the middle. You can see the life of the Burmese people on the opposite side.



Chinese and Burmese translation

The stone slabs paved on the road are engraved with some common translations between Burmese and Chinese.



Two wells in one village

The other end of this well leads to Myanmar, and the Burmese people on the opposite side can use long poles to draw water from this well.



One of the local snacks is raw mango. This kind of mango is not yet ripe and tastes sour and tastes like eating green apple. Ruili people eat raw mango dipped in condiments such as chili pepper.



Bloody BMW

I met a young man from Inner Mongolia who raised horses in the mountains of Ruili. He raised horses purely because he loved horses. He sold all his belongings and came to Ruili to settle down with his two beloved BMWs because of the good water and grass here. I heard him say that sweat-blooded BMWs are not called sweat-blooded BMWs because they sweat red, but because they have made great contributions to their owners in history and paid a bloody price, so they are called sweat-blooded BMWs.



Delong Jewelry Trading City

Ruili’s jewelry trading market is considered the largest in the southwest. It mainly sells jade jewelry and the prices are unimaginably low. Almost every stall sells goods live on Douyin. Before the epidemic, it was possible to make a lot of money every day. However, due to the epidemic, the China-Myanmar port has been closed, and business has been difficult recently.



Ruili’s Maldives

There is a place in Ruili called the Maldives. When I arrived, I saw this river. There were many people picnicking on the bank. I don’t know why they called it the Maldives, but People say this is a place where locals often go on vacation.



The shrimps caught in the river are quite big, and there are swarms of fish and shrimps in the river here.



Fish caught in the river.



passion fruit tree

The first time I saw fresh passion fruit on the roadside, I thought it was a tomato from a distance. When the green fruit was opened, there were yellow seeds inside, which tasted sour.

The fireflies I caught in the garden at night emitted very bright light, so I released them immediately after recording the video.



Take a walk on the bank of the border river between China and Myanmar. Myanmar is on the other side of the river, and there are guards guarding the bank.



Ruili Christian Church

Ruili Christian Church is not far from the new site of the current mosque.



Ramen restaurant with 786 logo

South Asian Muslims habitually use 786 to express the meaning of halal. It comes from the sentence (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) 'bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm in the name of Allah, the most merciful and merciful'. According to the Arabic counting method, each letter represents a number. The numbers represented by all the letters in this sentence add up to 786.



786’s strong noodles



Halal flavor garden

This is the first restaurant I ate at when I arrived in Ruili in the morning. It is a non-alcoholic rice noodle shop located on Ruijiang Road.



The highlight is the Burmese prompts in the store, which immediately made me feel the fun of the border.



I really like eating fragrant vegetables like mint, so I grabbed a lot of them and put them in rice noodles.



Ma Yun Muslim Hotel

It's not a restaurant opened by Ma in Hangzhou, but a restaurant with Yunnan specialties opened by Ma in Yunnan.



It says Ma Yun Halal Restaurant on the outside, but the sign inside is still Tengchong Halal Restaurant. Tengchong is also a place name in Yunnan, a tourist city with pleasant scenery. The restaurant is located on Ruihong Road.



Copper Ladle Beef

I came here to eat the Tonglao Beef. I have known about the Tonglao Hotpot, one of Yunnan's special delicacies, since I was in Beijing. After eating it this time, I was very satisfied. You can choose the amount of beef and it can be paired with many fresh vegetables and fungi.



This season in Yunnan is when a large number of fungi are on the market, with many varieties and delicious tastes.



A dipping sauce for copper ladle hot pot.



Tengrui Muslim Hotel

As soon as you look at the name, you can tell that it is a restaurant opened by the Muslims from Tengchong in Ruili, because there are very few Muslims in Ruili, and most of the residents here have immigrated from surrounding areas.



I ate wild bitter melon here, which looks like the one on the left in the picture above. It tastes a bit bitter, similar to bitter melon, but has a crisper texture.



Yunnan's specialty white-cut chicken can be served with dipping water as a cold dish.



The picture above is fried pine buns, which are fruits grown on pine trees. They are all wild ingredients and have a crispy texture. I like them very much.



Weishan Halal Restaurant

This old restaurant has been operating in Ruili for more than 20 years. Many friends who have been to Ruili have eaten here. I think the food in this restaurant is the best among several Yunnan-style restaurants. It is located on Ruijiang Road.



Weishan is a Yi and Hui Autonomous County below Dali. The local Hui Muslims are famous for their delicious cooking.



The dried beef in oil is a special dish that I must eat when I come to Yunnan. The dried beef is chewy and goes very well with rice.



Lemon fish is also one of the signature features. The fish meat is tender and has no fishy smell.



Boiled okra, this is the largest okra I have ever eaten, crisp and delicious.



Huiliguo snack bar

I have basically been around Ruili city with my friends. This is one of the only restaurants opened by Burmese Muslims. I have seen a post about Ruili Burmese Muslim Street written by Douban Wang. This time I learned that this street no longer exists because the original old mosque was moved to an open space near the highway entrance. Once the mosque was moved, Dosti who was doing small business around the mosque also followed. There are no restaurants in the old Main Street now.



Huiliguo Snack Bar is a restaurant run entirely by Burmese people. No Chinese is spoken in the store, and the waiters and diners are all Burmese at first sight.



We couldn't communicate in words, but we could make gestures with our hands. The clerk was a young man who looked at us and smiled silly. I pointed at the dishes on the display, and he understood what I wanted to eat.



The staple food is curry chicken and beef, as well as fish and eggs, and the drink is Burmese coffee.



The taste is a bit spicy, but you can still try it for a fresh taste.



After dinner, we asked the boy to pay the bill. They only accepted cash here, and WeChat was not available. We took out all the money in our pockets and slapped it on the table for the boy to look at and take. In the end, he took away 35 yuan, and the price was still very cheap.



Hindu Hot Spring Hotel Muslim Buffet Restaurant

It is recommended to stay here. There is a Muslim buffet restaurant on the first floor of Xingdu Hot Spring Hotel, which is available from breakfast. There is also a halal hotel in Ruili called Lahar, where you can also stay.



Breakfast is 15 yuan, lunch and dinner are 25 yuan, and the restaurant has Yunnan-style and northwest-style dishes to choose from.



If you want rice noodles and noodles for breakfast, just ask the window chef.



Since I had eaten rice noodles for breakfast in Yunnan for many days in a row, this time I had other choices and wanted to change my taste.



Ruili Hui Service Station

The Ruili City Hui Service Station is where the new mosque is now located. The new mosque is much larger than the old mosque. You can find it by searching the police courtyard community on the map. It is about three kilometers away from the old mosque. The imam in the mosque received me. The imam is from Zhangjiachuan, Gansu Province. He married a daughter-in-law from Yunnan and settled in Ruili.



It is understood that there can be 3,000 people attending the Ruili Mosque ceremony, and more than 2,000 of them are Burmese Muslims who hold border immigration certificates. At each ceremony, the Ruili imam will first speak waltz in Chinese, and then the Burmese imam will speak it again in Burmese. Each person takes 15 minutes.



My friend is doing business in Ruili and often interacts with Burmese Muslims. He has a very good impression of the Burmese people and thinks they are relatively reliable.



I believe you can only see the signboards in Chinese, Burmese and Arabic languages ​​only in Ruili.



The new mosque is divided into two floors and is much more spacious than the original old mosque. However, due to the epidemic, only a few local Muslims come to worship in the mosque, and most Myanmar Muslims are not allowed to enter.



The new mosque covers a total area of ​​17 acres, and the surrounding open space has not yet been planned. I believe that after the epidemic, this place will prosper and a new Lao-Myanmar food street will be re-formed. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Best Halal Restaurant Beijing 2020: Muslim Food Survivors and Local Hui Dining is presented here as a clear English travel account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: In 2018, I published an article "A Comprehensive Collection of Specialty Halal Food in Imperial City", which introduced the types of halal restaurants in Beijing. The main purpose was to highlight the. The article keeps the original place names, food details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Beijing Halal Food, Muslim Restaurants, Hui Dining.

In 2018, I published an article "A Comprehensive Collection of Specialty Halal Food in Imperial City", which introduced the types of halal restaurants in Beijing. The main purpose was to highlight the diversity of halal food in Imperial City, and received a lot of feedback.

Two years later, and due to the epidemic, Beijing's catering industry has suffered a major blow. Many restaurants have been unable to operate and were forced to close. However, at the same time, some halal restaurants with new flavors have been opened one after another, so the content of the post needs to be updated.

As usual, this article selects the restaurants of each cuisine that I think are worth visiting, covering local Chinese cuisines and foreign halal restaurants. In order to control the length, only one of the most representative restaurants of each cuisine is selected for the list. The pictures and texts are original and the ranking is in no particular order.

I will make a special statement if the restaurant does not sell alcohol, otherwise it is a restaurant that does.

1.

Wagas potato chips (Lanzhou specialty)



Wangusi Potato Chips at Shimao Gongsan B1 in Sanlitun is a Lanzhou snack bar that has a variety of common snacks in Lanzhou.



This is Lanzhou Crystal Cake, made of glutinous rice, much like a zongzi, with jujubes wrapped inside.



This is noodle soup. Noodle soup is called a bowl of food in Qinghai, and it is also called naonao. It contains jelly, radish, potatoes and beef. It is usually served to the imam and guests after the wedding recitation ceremony in Qinghai.



This bowl of Dongxiang noodles is my favorite staple food. The noodles are made with a northwest flavor. I recommend it with five stars.



This is their signature potato slices. The spicy pepper on top is from the northwest. It is mainly seasoning and not spicy, but it is not as delicious as expected. I still prefer to eat this Dongxiang handmade noodle slice.

Address: B1, Shimao International Center, Gongti North Road

2.

Ali Restaurant



There are several Ningxia-style halal restaurants in Beijing that are good, such as Ningxia Building, Yinchuan Beijing Office Restaurant, Ningweixiayu

, but my favorite and the one where I eat the most is Ali Restaurant, because Ali Restaurant not only makes delicious food, but also has a good environment and a unique decoration style.



The owner of Ali Restaurant is from Jingyuan in southern Ningxia. Anyone who knows Jingyuan knows that the yellow beef in Jingyuan is particularly delicious. Southern Ningxia is also a place where beef is eaten more than mutton. You can also order Jingyuan steamed chicken here, which is one of the characteristics of Jingyuan Farmhouse.



Tan Sheep is hand-caught. The beef and mutton ingredients in the store come from Ningxia. Ningxia's Tan Sheep has always been well received.



Spicy stir-fried yellow beef. Central Ningxia eats more mutton, while southern Ningxia eats more beef. When you come to Ali Restaurant, you must try the yellow beef from Jingyuan.

Address: Beijing

No. 58, Jiaotong University East Road

3.

Taoran Garden Hotel·Baoyue Building



Baoyuelou is a theme restaurant launched by Beijing Taoran Garden Hotel to commemorate the love story of Emperor Qianlong and Concubine Xiang. It specializes in halal Cantonese cuisine, fusion cuisine, and Beijing cuisine.

In the 22nd year of Qianlong's reign, the Qing government put down the Hezhuo rebellion, and Xiangfei's family was recruited into Beijing. Qianlong built the Huihuiying Mosque at Xinhuamen for Xiangfei. In the 23rd year of Qianlong's reign, he built Baoyue Tower for Xiangfei. Qianlong specially prepared Hui cooks for Xiangfei.



The Baoyuelou restaurant is very large, with private rooms that can accommodate 30 people for dinner.

The waiters in the restaurant are Korean girls in uniforms. They are all professionally trained foreign-related personnel. They have distinctive looks, fluent Chinese, and considerate service, so much so that I didn't realize they were Koreans at first.

The waiter didn't understand me until I asked for some special snacks. When I asked, I found out that they were not Chinese. The North Korean girl also said that there were no Muslims in North Korea. In fact, as far as I know, there is a mosque in Pyongyang, North Korea. Maybe the North Korean girl didn't know.



The menu is thick, with a rich variety of dishes, mainly Cantonese cuisine and palace cuisine. The price is relatively expensive, with per capita consumption of about 150 yuan.

But the food tastes great, with both color, flavor and flavor, which is worthy of the price.

address:

Taoran Garden Hotel, No. 19 Taiping Street, close to the east gate of Taoranting Park.

4.

Xiaolou Hotel



Xiaolou Hotel is the largest time-honored halal restaurant in Tongzhou.

The characteristics of Xiaolou Restaurant are quite obvious, and it is best at cooking grilled catfish, which has not been seen in other restaurants in Beijing. There are also camel meat and venison to try. Next door to the Xiaolou Hotel is the Tongzhou Mosque, where you can hold your wedding ceremony if you are in Tongzhou.



I tried the roasted catfish and steamed dumplings. I had eaten catfish when I was a kid, but I always had a bad impression. I thought it had a strong earthy smell. This time I ate the roasted catfish in the small building without the earthy smell, and I saw that the guests at the next table also came here specially to eat the roasted catfish.



The steamed dumplings were very delicious, but a bit small. The waiter said they were sold in two trays. I thought I wouldn't be able to eat them, but they were actually about the same size as ordinary dumplings.

Address: No. 12, Xinhua Street, Tongzhou District

5.

Qingcheng Hotel



I found an Inner Mongolian-style restaurant in Changping that has been operating for many years. The owner is from Hohhot, which means the green city in Mongolian.

Because the eastern part of Inner Mongolia also belongs to Manchuria, the food style is similar. Here you can eat Inner Mongolia shaomai and sweet and sour pot dumplings.



The wall is hung with a banner presented by the Changping Mosque. There is also an authentic Hohhot restaurant in Beijing called Anne Majia Shaomai Restaurant.

, although the boss is also a Hui from Hohhot, I think the taste is not very authentic. If you want to eat delicious shaomai, I suggest you go to Huayunlou Shaomai Restaurant in Changping.

Or Yixing and Shaomai Restaurant in Daxing District



Halal Guobao Pork is not easy to eat in Beijing. I miss this bite all the time after leaving Northeast China.



There are also pot stickers here, which are traditional snacks from Inner Mongolia.



Oatmeal wowo is a home-cooked noodle dish from Inner Mongolia, which needs to be dipped in the mutton soup on the side.

address:

No. 14, Donghuan Road, Changping District

6.

Khan Baba Pakistani Restaurant



Khan Baba is a very famous Pakistani chain restaurant. There were two original restaurants in Beijing. The Sanlitun store has been closed, and now only the Wudaokou one remains.



Khan Baba does not sell alcohol

Batie is very reliable in this regard, and Khan Baba’s cooking is also delicious. Their freshly baked naan bread is particularly satisfying when dipped in curry chicken.



There are many halal Indian and Pakistani restaurants in Beijing, but I heard that some of them have questionable ingredients, but you can rest assured that Khan Baba’s ingredients are delicious. There is a buffet here at noon, and there are especially many foreigners who come to break their fast in the evening of Ramadan.

address:

2nd floor, north side of Jixin Building, Wudaokou

7.

Hong Yun Lou Hong Kong style tea meal



Hongyunlou was originally a halal Beijing cuisine restaurant in Tuanjie Lake. Recently, a new style halal restaurant opened in Zizhuang, Nanlou, which serves both Beijing cuisine and Hong Kong-style tea meals.



After looking at their menu, I wanted to try a lot of Cantonese tea snacks, so I made an appointment with 10 friends to have a dinner party.



Shrimp Wonton Noodles



Steamed steak with pickled vegetables



Hong Kong Style Shrimp Dumplings



Leek and shrimp rice rolls



We basically ordered all the signature Cantonese tea meals in the store, and there was no one that was too bad, and the preparations were very particular.

I have previously recommended a Nanpai Muslim noodle restaurant called Shangzi Street next to the Nanxiapo Mosque.

, sells southern noodles like Guangzhou Bamboo Noodles, but later changed its style and switched to selling haggis soup and siu mai. The taste has also changed, so now this is the only restaurant in Beijing that serves traditional Cantonese cuisine.

Address: Exit C from Zizhuang, South Building of Metro Line 7, walk 100 meters, inside Kuche Town.

8.

Huaxi

Reform and Clearing

Real hot pot



The original Yilao Baiwei dipping hotpot in Changying has changed its sign, and the boss is still the same team. Now they are making a new style hotpot, and the recipes are slightly different from the original.



This store has a nice environment, with two floors and private rooms. The waiters are quite polite and will greet customers proactively. The snacks are self-service, with a complete range, suitable for people of all tastes. There are also unlimited fruits and snacks available.



You can choose a small pot for single person, which is more hygienic. I tried mushroom pot and VC tomato nutritious pot, and I could also order braised beef brisket and some snacks.



Seeing Baoding's famous snack Beef Cake on the menu, I asked the boss and he was indeed from Hebei.

Address: No. 13B, Changying National Homeland

9.

special wealth

Burger



Tefucker Burger is an American chain brand. It has two branches in Beijing, one in Liangmaqiao and the other in Financial Street. The Financial Street branch is the same Irish sandwich shop. There is no alcohol here.



The ingredients are Australian halal meat, and the store hangs a halal certification certificate.



Chicken and beef are all halal meat. Buy eight burgers and get one free. If you collect eight consumption records, you can exchange for a burger.



The fries are available in thick and thin styles, and the burgers are available in one, two, or three layers of beef, plus cheese. The Fook Burger is the best burger I've ever had.



Note that the opening hours of Financial Street are short, only open until 8pm, closed on Saturdays and Sundays, and the Liangmahe store has longer opening hours.



The chicken salad sold at the Irish sandwich shop next door is very large.

Address: B1, Building B, Financial Street Center, Xicheng District.

10

Biteapitta Jewish Restaurant



The owner of this store is a Middle Eastern Jew, but the ingredients are halal. There is a halal certification certificate on the boss's desk. There is only one restaurant in Beijing that uses kosher certified ingredients on Jiangtai Road, but it is currently only open to Jews and is no longer open to the public.



There are many Hebrew books in the store, and the diners are mainly foreigners.



Bata bread is very soft, and eating it with hummus is a traditional way of eating in the Middle East.



The dishes are carefully prepared and delicious, and the per capita consumption is about 100 yuan.

Address: 2nd floor, Tongli Building, Sanlitun North Street

1

1.

ASHRAF Arabic Restaurant



There is a Palestinian Arab restaurant near the Shunyi International Exhibition Center. There are now two Palestinian restaurants in Beijing. The other one is called AL Safir Arab Restaurant in Liangmaqiao.

, neither store sells alcohol.

But this Ashraf is probably the best Arabic restaurant I have ever eaten in Beijing, but it is far away from the city. The business license shows that the owner's name is Aseraf, which is the name of the restaurant, and the average consumption per person is 70 yuan.



Most of the diners are foreigners, and most of the residents in the nearby community are foreigners.



The adzuki bean soup is rich in flavor.



Kaipusai Chicken Rice, the chicken is fragrant and rotten, and the rice has a moderate texture. It is the signature of this restaurant.

Address: Next to Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot in Rongxiang Plaza, Shunyi, it cannot be found on the map.

12. Xifentang Xinjiang Rice Noodles



A very exquisite Xinjiang rice noodle shop. In recent years, I have discovered that many Xinjiang restaurants have fashionable names and decoration styles, full of creativity, and will whet your appetite.



There are many halal rice noodle shops in Beijing now, such as Ah Zhen Rice Noodles

, has opened several branches now, but I am more accustomed to eating the noodles from Xifentang, and I don’t think they are particularly spicy.

Xifentang is a chain store with four branches located in Chaowai, Fengke, Wangjing and Shangdi.

Address: Building 0189B, Chaowai SOHOD, No. 6 B, Chaowai Street

13. FIRESIDE (French Halal)



There is a fashionable halal restaurant called Rongshi in Building E of Tianjie World City. It serves French food and other Western food. It is said to be cooked by a Michelin chef. The business is booming and the environment is elegant. It is suitable for dates and dinner parties. However, the price is slightly expensive, with per capita consumption of about 200 yuan.



There is a halal reminder at the door, and there is also a halal sign in the store.



The Australian beef roasted with squid ink and green onions looks like an ink painting. The black stuff on top is the squid ink, which is edible. The Australian beef is really delicious, tender and juicy.



Foie gras Italian rice. Foie gras is a common and precious ingredient in French cuisine. It has a tender texture and melts in your mouth.



There are also roasted clams with tiger prawns, asparagus, and duck with whole grains and glutinous rice. The taste is hard to say. They are relatively niche tastes. Eat these to feel fresh.

Address: 1st Floor, Building E, No. 9 Jinhui Road

14. The hotpot is called spicy hotpot



The name of the halal spicy hotpot restaurant near Gaomi Store in Daxing District says it is the first halal hotpot in Beijing, but as far as I know, at least before 2014, the halal canteen of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications sold halal spicy hotpot.



Next to it is the Starlight Film and Television Base. The environment is pretty good, relatively spacious, and the incense pot tastes good.

Address: No. 107, Unit 3, Building 1, No. 39 Chunhe Road, Daxing District

15. Guhuai Street Mawu Hu Spicy Soup Pan-fried Buns



There are hot and spicy soup and noodle restaurants everywhere in Henan, and most of them are halal. However, it is not easy to eat halal hot and spicy soup in Beijing. This time I can finally satisfy my appetite.

Guhuai Street Mawu Hu Spicy Soup is a well-known brand in Xuchang, and the taste of this store is also very authentic.



The fried buns are crispy on the outside and filled with beef filling.



Hu spicy soup is slightly spicy, and there are chunks of beef in it. Currently, Guhuai Street has opened three branches in Beijing. And the restaurants in Beijing where you can eat halal Henan spicy soup and braised noodles include Jingchang Liangji Braised Noodles and Xu Yiwan Braised Noodles.

Address: Phase II, Shibao Street, Zhongguancun, Haidian District

16. Hu Ji Original Beef Soup



A beef soup shop run by Huainan Muslims in Anhui Province. This shop has been open for more than five years and has a similar style to Huai'an.

The taste is stronger. One beef soup can be paired with two special sesame cakes. The sesame cakes have chopped green onions and cost only 2 yuan each. A bowl of beef soup costs 18. You can add noodles or rice noodles. The sesame cakes are crispy.

The store is decorated with Hui style characteristics, clean and tidy, and the service is attentive.



I often order their takeout set, which includes a beef soup with a sesame seed pancake and a bottle of Wahaha AD calcium milk.



You can choose to add rice noodles or noodles to the beef soup.

Address: 1st Floor, Shuangtian Building, No. 30, North Third Ring West Road

17. Hailie Yunnan Halal Restaurant



Hailie Yunnan Restaurant does not sell alcohol

, the environment and taste are all good. I tried Zhaotong potato chicken, crispy beef, black goat milk cake, beef rice noodles, and passion lemon juice. They all tasted delicious and are suitable for dates. The average consumption per person is 60 yuan.



Existing Yunnan restaurants in Beijing include Dian Xinyuan and Yingfeng in Yizhuang.

Yunnan Grilled Bait Nuggets and Ayi Dian Chang Halal Yunnan Dishes

, Hailie is the most authentic and halal, and is worth recommending.



Black goat breast fan

Address: First Floor, World Financial Center

18. Xi’an Jia San Baozi



It is the Beijing branch of Xi'an's time-honored Jia San Guan Tang Baozi. It has been operating in Beijing for more than ten years. Various Xi'an halal snacks are sold inside, including steamed buns, barbecue, steamed beef, etc.



When filling soup dumplings, you need to take a small bite first, drink the soup, and then eat the dumplings.



I prefer eating this stew. Xi’an delicacies in Beijing include old Xi’an restaurants

and Lao Yang’s family in Xi’an

Restaurants, and the newly opened Huifang Snack City in Bai Rong

, but in terms of taste, I prefer Jia San.

Address: No. 1, Baiyunguan Street, Xicheng District

19. Eating noodles in Drum Tower



I discovered an internet celebrity restaurant on Dianping. I initially thought it was a misclassification by Dianping because the restaurant did not have an obvious halal label. Later, I found out through reviews that this restaurant was a halal restaurant.

The boss is a Hui from Beijing, and is the wife of the lead singer of the band Mi San Dao. She lives in Niujie Xili, and the halal mark is in a particularly inconspicuous place in the store. It is a Western-style rock music restaurant.



The name of the menu is more unique, a grilled chicken leg, but the name is Badahammer.



The name is Gold Medal Bolognese Noodles. When I serve it, it looks like fried noodles.

Address: No. 25, Donggong Street, Gulou East Street

20. Chengji Shanxian Sheep Soup Restaurant



I didn’t expect to be able to drink delicious mutton soup in Beijing. Shan County is the name of a place in Shandong and is famous for its mutton soup.



Oil and salt sesame cakes are hollow inside and are used to soak in mutton soup and eat beef with soy sauce.



The soup is milky white in color, a natural color made from sheep bones.

Address: Sanzhong Lane (near Xingfeng Street), Daxing District, about 525 meters away from Huangcun West Street Station

21. Suzhou Muslim Restaurant



Many friends thought this restaurant was a Suzhou-style halal restaurant when they saw the name. In fact, it is not. This restaurant is located in the Suzhou community near Beijing Station. It is an authentic old Beijing restaurant.



Every time someone asks me where to buy authentic old Beijing noodles in Beijing, I will recommend this restaurant. I also love the noodles in this store. If I take the bus from Beijing Station on a business trip, I will go here for a bowl of noodles.

Address: No. 36, Suzhou Hutong, Dongcheng District

22. Oliya Halal Bakery



This is a mid-to-high-end halal pastry shop. There are very few halal pastry shops in Beijing. to Olia, there is also Changying’s Mai Lianshi.



A variety of exquisite desserts are made with cream imported from New Zealand. Niujie Halal Supermarket also has a counter and sells a variety of Western fast food, such as pizza, hot dogs, and burgers.

Address: No. 06, Building 56, Changying National Homeland, Changying Middle Road, Chaoyang District

23. Take care of Halal Korean charcoal barbecue



This restaurant was originally described as Korean BBQ, but due to the THAAD incident, the business was affected, so the boss removed the word "Korean". After all, the boss is from Changying and has nothing to do with Korea.

Go up the stairs to the second floor, and there is a unique cave inside. The entire building was bought by the boss himself, and the next door was rented to the three Chang Ying brothers.



There are waiters helping you grill the meat throughout the process, so you don’t have to do it yourself. You can also eat egg custard and cheese from the grill.



There are halal miso soup, bibimbap, and cold noodles. This restaurant is my favorite barbecue restaurant. I have to have a meal here every once in a while.

There is also a Korean halal barbecue restaurant in Shunyi called Flame Space

, the taste is not as good as taking care of it in person.

Address: Next to the Yunding Billiards Club opposite the south gate of Minzujiayuan Community, Changying Middle Road (west side of Minzu Primary School)

24. Shandong silly thick pancakes



The name "Si Da Chou" may come from the fact that the guy who makes pancakes looks relatively honest.

The pancakes from Shandong are completely different from those in Beijing. They taste crisper, but the store can also make traditional pancakes from Beijing, and later added a lot of flavors.



This store was originally located in Jiaozi Hutong. Later, due to the demolition of the wall and the construction of holes, it was moved to the vegetable market in Input Hutong. Several new flavors were added, but I still like the classic version the best.

Address: Enter the entrance of the Hutong Muslim Market

25. KAVKAZ Caucasus Russian style restaurant



There is a Caucasian-style restaurant on Chaoyang Shenlu Street. There used to be an Azerbaijani restaurant called Buckley next door with a similar style, but it closed. Another halal Russian-style restaurant NAIL also closed. It is not easy for this restaurant to survive today.



Russia's famous dish, red cabbage soup, is drunk before the main meal as an appetizer.



Azerbaijani dumplings. Historically, people in the Caucasus have been eating dumplings for a long time. The dumplings they make are much smaller.



Azerbaijani soup dumplings, maybe because the boss is Azerbaijani, so most of the waiters in the store are Azerbaijani, and their Chinese is not very good, but their Chinese skills have improved in recent years.

Address: East of Shenlu Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing

26. Iranian Food



It used to be called Persepolis, but now it is renamed Iranian Cuisine. The cooking style has not changed. It is a relatively high-end halal Iranian restaurant.



I have been here many times. There is a buffet at noon, and I have eaten their saffron rice and barbecue.

Address: No. 1-3, Tuanjie Lake Workers Stadium North Road, Chaoyang District

27. Alameen Lebanese Restaurant



The only Lebanese food restaurant in Beijing. Middle Eastern restaurants in Beijing are all called Arabic restaurants, but the flavor is slightly different. The owner is Lebanese, married to a wife from Xianghe, and has settled in Beijing. The restaurant is located next to the German Embassy in Sanlitun. 10% off on all events during Ramadan.



Lebanese grilled lamb chops, among Middle Eastern cuisines, excluding Turkish cuisine, is the most exquisite Lebanese cuisine and is a model of combining East and West.



The very popular Mexican chicken burrito is made by wrapping chicken in a tortilla.

Address: Next to the German Embassy in Sanlitun

28. Moon Tower Shenyang Muslim Old Restaurant



Moon House is a new halal restaurant opened by the Shenyang Hui Muslims in Beijing. You can enjoy authentic Shenyang-style pot roast pork and siu mai.



The beef siu mai tastes basically the same as what I had in Shenyang, and it gets good reviews.



The sweet and sour Guobao Pork is also from Shenyang. I hope that one day I can eat the salty Guobao Pork in Beijing.



The famous Northeastern dish is chicken stewed with mushrooms. The store also has Northeastern specialty barbecue, seafood, river fresh food, etc. The overall level is excellent.

Address: Building 44-2, Heng7tiao, Songjiazhuang

29. Desert Rose Turkish Restaurant



Due to the impact of the epidemic, the Dardaniel restaurant on Shenlu Street has closed. The only large-scale Turkish restaurants in Beijing are Desert Rose and a Turkish fast food restaurant called Doner.

Fortunately, the quality of Desert Rose is not much worse than that of Dardanelle, and it is also a non-alcoholic restaurant.



Türkiye BBQ set with fries and rice.



Türkiye pizza, similar to pizza, except that the pizza is round, is my favorite Turkish staple food.



Pan-fried salmon, I used to eat salmon a lot in Dardanelle, the taste is the same.



Spaghetti, Turkish cuisine is closer to Western food, so spaghetti is also delicious.

Address: Shenlu Street, Chaoyang District

30. Qingxiangge Dalian Seafood



A halal restaurant chain in Beijing that specializes in Dalian seafood. It has been in business for more than ten years. It has stores in Fuchengmen, Dongdaqiao, and Jiande Bridge, as well as takeout windows.



Scallops with garlic vermicelli, as well as various oysters and mackerel dumplings are a bit expensive but taste good.



Address: Next to Dongdaqiao Subway Station, Chaoyang District

31. Hongbin Building



Although Hongbin Building was moved from Tianjin to Beijing at the request of Premier Zhou, more than half a century later, Hongbin Building is now completely localized and is one of the representative brands of halal catering in Beijing. It is known as the first halal building in Beijing.



Someone asked me to recommend which halal roast duck is delicious in Beijing. If you don’t care about the budget, I would recommend the roast duck in Hongbinlou, and of course the cheaper Dashuntang.

Roast duck, Chuxianglou’s new creative cuisine

Roast duck with caviar.



Hongbin Building is known as "river seafood, whole sheep banquet", where you can eat all kinds of seafood and whole sheep banquet.

Address: 2nd Floor, United Building, Building 1, No. 20 Chaoyangmenwai Street

32. Tang Ma Xiaojun Liver Skewers Hot Pot



This is the second حلال Chuanchuan hot pot restaurant in Beijing, the first one is Yin Ma Steng

, the advantage of this restaurant is that it makes delicious snacks.



You can pick up the skewers and pay with your signature after you finish eating. Sichuan hot pot is quite spicy, so you can also choose Yuanyang hot pot here.



When eating Sichuan hot pot, remember to use sesame oil and garlic paste as dipping sauce. The sesame oil and garlic paste can cool down the food without being too salty. This is the Sichuan way of eating.



Ice powder is a must-have for hot pot. It can relieve the spiciness. It tastes like jelly and is very refreshing.



Brown sugar glutinous rice cake is also one of the common desserts in Sichuan hot pot restaurants. One bite of spicy oil skewers and one bite of brown sugar glutinous rice cake will fully stimulate your taste buds.



Fennel twists, this is the first time I tasted this. I was amazed by the taste. It can be sold as a snack on its own.



The short crispy pork is also in line with my taste. It is crispy and delicious. The snacks in this skewers shop are really delicious.

Address: B1, First Phase Outlets, Fangshan District

33. Jubaoyuan Shabu-Shabu Pork



There are so many copper pot charcoal shabu-shabu restaurants in Beijing. I have eaten here and there, but my favorite is Jubaoyuan.

Because Jubaoyuan not only has good meat quality, but also the toppings, side dishes, sour plum soup, and sesame cakes that go with the hot-boiled meat are all delicious. The only drawback is the long queue time.



The queuing problem has eased during the epidemic, but the takeout window on the first floor of Jubaoyuan still has long queues every day, even during the Spring Festival.

Now Jubaoyuan has four or five branches. They are all directly operated and do not accept franchises. The taste is not much different. The Niujie store is the most popular.



Jubaoyuan’s signature biscuits are basically liked by everyone who has eaten them. Many people come to Jubaoyuan just to eat these biscuits. In the past, the purchase limit of sesame biscuits per person during peak hours was three, but now you can buy them as you like and take them away.

Address: Niujie Xili, Xicheng District

34. White Diamond Xinjiang Food



There are a lot of Xinjiang restaurants in Beijing now, and the overall quality is good. There are a few brands that stand out. My favorite is White Diamond Food.

Bai Diamond does not sell alcohol, but the owner is from southern Xinjiang. Most of the people who come to eat in the store are from Xinjiang. The grilled naan here is freshly baked, and the soaked milk is particularly fragrant. In the summer, they also sell homemade ice cream.



Whether it's noodles or rice, it's delicious. There's also barbecue and pigeon soup, which is very exciting.



There are very few Xinjiang restaurants in Beijing now that are purely run by Uyghur brothers, and they are so authentic that my Xinjiang friends also said they are delicious.

Address: Walk 500 meters northeast from Exit B of Shilihe Metro, Chaoyang District

35. Hansanshi beef soup



A new beef soup shop with Baoding characteristics has opened on the third floor of the Capital Outlet in Changyang Town, Fangshan. This shop is a sub-brand co-founded by Yiqingzhai, a time-honored brand in Laishui, and Han Lei, the famous singer. Han Lei was the same Han Lei who sang the theme song "Borrow from Heaven for Another Five Hundred Years" during the Kangxi Dynasty.



Yiqingzhai started in 1979. The founder Fu Zhenzhong opened the first local halal restaurant in Laishui, Baoding. Han Sanshi comes from the name of the singer Han Lei. It is the first catering project of Han Lei's company. Han Lei is Mongolian and a native of Hohhot.



Beef soup, beef noodles, and beef cakes are the signatures of this shop. Since Yiqingzhai is famous for making beef soup, you can use this beef soup to make noodles and cakes.



When drinking beef soup, you should pair it with their chubby biscuits, which are very fragrant. The chubby biscuits taste like bread, and when mixed with beef, they taste almost like hamburgers.

Address: First, Changyang Town, Fangshan

Outlet

Sri Lanka

Three layers 3-E05

The outbreak of this epidemic has indeed caused a heavy blow to Beijing's catering industry, but there is also good news...

Recently, the dostis of my Muslim insurance brokerage team and I have frequently broken fast on Shenlu Street, and unexpectedly discovered that a new store was being renovated...



This is the "Rumi's Secret" pictured above. Rumi is the world-famous Sufi master Rumi. This is an international chain brand with 97 branches in the Middle East and Europe. It has been launched in Beijing and will expand to other cities in the future. The Beijing store will open on June 1. We are very much looking forward to the surprises this restaurant can bring us.

This seems to be a good sign, indicating that the halal catering market in Beijing will continue to flourish... view all