Reposted from the web

Summary: This Langfang travel note visits Nanying Village near Beijing for an aqiqah feast, Hui Muslim lamb dishes, local restaurants, butcher shops, and Nanying Mosque.

On Sunday, I was invited to Nanying Village in Langfang, Hebei, to attend a feast for a friend's newborn. In our faith, this is called Aqiqah, a way to give thanks to Allah for the baby's arrival.

The entire street in Nanying Village is packed with restaurants and butcher shops run by Hui Muslims. We ate at Laowu Restaurant, right at the south entrance of the village. Our friend had a sheep slaughtered, and the restaurant prepared a full lamb feast for us. It included roasted lamb chops, braised lamb knuckle tendons (wogujin), stir-fried lamb offal with coriander (yanbao yangza), sesame lamb, and clear-boiled meatballs (qingcuan wanzi). Of course, we also had the fried dough (youxiang) that is essential for any religious feast. Their cooking was better than many places I have tried in Beijing, partly because they use freshly slaughtered lamb. The fresh lamb offal had no chili or Sichuan peppercorns, just a quick stir-fry with coriander stems. It is rare to taste such a clean, fresh flavor in lamb offal. The lamb knuckle tendons had a great texture; they were softer than regular hoof tendons but still had a nice chew. The sesame lamb was also very tender. Many Beijing restaurants make it tough, but this was the best I have ever had. The meatballs were firm and meaty, unlike some places in Beijing where they are full of starch and you can barely taste the meat. Freshly slaughtered lamb is perfect for clear-boiled meatballs. If you deep-fried them, you would lose that fresh flavor.

They have plenty of other dishes too. It takes less than an hour to drive here from Beijing via the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway. On the way back, you have to go through a checkpoint where they check your trunk, but we barely had to wait in line on Sunday afternoon.





























After the feast, we visited the Nanying Mosque. Nanying Mosque was first built during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty. Legend says it was built with donations from Hui Muslims with the surnames Qian, Ma, Zhang, and Dai, after the Qian and Ma brothers moved here from Zhuxian Town in Henan. The mosque was rebuilt during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty and was rebuilt again in 1998 to become the building we see today. The mosque is kept very neat and tidy, with bright windows and clean floors. Imam Qian, who serves at the mosque, is a local. He is young, capable, and very welcoming to us. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This eighth Beijing halal restaurant roundup covers Xinjiang, Hui Muslim, Palestinian, Pakistani, Turkish, and local Muslim-friendly food spots, with dishes and locations kept from the original guide.

Xinjiang Hui Muslim home-style cooking One Yellow Carrot (Yige Huangluobo), Liaoning Hui Muslim spicy hot pot (malatang), Hebei Daming Hui Muslim meat pie noodles (roubing yimian) Liaoyuan, Hebei Chengde Hui Muslim steamed dumplings (shaomai) Dongtucheng branch, Xilaishun Xisi branch, Longfu Mosque market, Heilongjiang Suihua Hui Muslim Ma's Muxiangyuan Baizhifang branch, Turpan Uyghur restaurant Tianshan, Niujie cafe Sanwanghu, and Heilongjiang Hui Muslim iron pot stew (tieguodun).

Xinjiang Hui Muslim home-style cooking One Yellow Carrot (Yige Huangluobo).

I wonder if any fellow friends (dosti) remember ten years ago in 2016, when there was a small shop in Beijing's Shifoying area called Two Spoons (Liangge Shaozi) run by two best friends from Changji. The head chefs were the sisters' mothers, and they made authentic Xinjiang Hui Muslim home-style food. Back then, I wanted to eat there every day. Their hand-pulled noodles (latiaozi) and meatball soup (wanzi tang) were the most authentic I had ever eaten in Beijing. Unfortunately, after the city started clearing out small shops that had broken through walls to create entrances, they were forced to close. Other Xinjiang Hui Muslim shops have opened in Beijing since, like the hand-pulled noodles (latiaozi) at Jianghu in Wangjing, which are very good. But for ten whole years, I never again tasted that specific home-cooked Xinjiang Hui Muslim flavor in Beijing.

A while ago, I heard that a new Xinjiang Hui Muslim family restaurant called One Yellow Carrot (Yige Huangluobo) opened in 798. It is also run by two Xinjiang sisters, with their mother as the head chef. I went to try it on the weekend. The place was packed, and we had to wait for a few tables to clear before we could get in. The service was great. The owner was very enthusiastic and introduced the dishes to every table.

We ordered tiger skin peppers (hupi lazi), cold starch noodles (liangpizi), meatball soup (wanzi tang), pearl meatballs (zhenzhu wanzi), and beef stew (niurou huicai). The best thing they make is the meatballs; they taste exactly like the ones made at home. The meatball soup (wanzi tang) was good overall, but the biggest problem was that the broth was too clear. At first, I suspected it was just plain water, but I asked the staff and they confirmed it was beef bone broth. I feel it hadn't been simmered long enough to bring out the flavor. Also, they only give you one steamed oil flower roll (youtazi) and you cannot buy them separately. While I understand that many Beijingers might not want to eat oil flower rolls (youtazi), there are people like us who grew up with Xinjiang flavors and feel that meatball soup (wanzi tang) must be paired with a few of them.

The cold starch noodles (liangpizi) were also quite good. The sauce is probably the best-seasoned one in Beijing. Anyone who has eaten the three cold dishes (sanliang) at a Hui Muslim place in Xinjiang would recognize that their sauce is very authentic. However, I still think a hot sauce has more flavor.

The pearl meatballs (zhenzhu wanzi) and beef stew (niurou huicai) were different from how we make them at home. Of course, I am used to the Hui Muslim style from the Saybagh District in Urumqi, and Hui Muslim cooking styles vary across Xinjiang. The pearl meatballs (zhenzhu wanzi) were a bit loose and fell apart as soon as I picked them up. I feel they should be firmer. The meatballs and beef in the beef stew (niurou huicai) were quite good, and the spicy pepper skins (lapi zi) were very authentic. They were extremely spicy, though, so friends (dosti) who cannot handle heat might struggle.

Overall, I am very happy that Beijing has another Xinjiang Hui Muslim family restaurant. I hope they continue to do well. Congratulations.



















Liaoning Hui Muslim spicy hot pot (malatang).

After work, I went to a spicy hot pot (malatang) shop run by a Liaoning Hui Muslim family at Chaowai SOHO. They have spicy hot pot (malatang), spicy mixed noodles (malaban), deep-fried skewers (zhachuan), mixed cold noodles (ban lengmian), and also sell seaweed rice rolls (zicai baofan). They mainly serve takeout for the office workers upstairs, and the dine-in area is very small.

The spicy hot pot (malatang) has that old-fashioned Northeast style with a thick sesame paste flavor. It is salty and sweet, which I really like. The deep-fried skewers (zhachuan) are sprinkled with a dry seasoning of cumin, sesame, and salt. The chicken and sausages were delicious, but the fried lotus root was a bit dry and hard. The mixed cold noodles have a good texture, but they are warm instead of cold, which I don't really like. I ended up packing the seaweed rice rolls (gimbap) to eat at the office the next day at noon.

















Hui Muslim meat pie (roubing) and braised noodles (yimian) at Liaoyuan in Daming, Hebei.















Hui Muslim steamed dumplings (shaomai) at the Dongtucheng branch in Chengde, Hebei.

After work, I went to the newly opened Chengde steamed dumpling restaurant, Dechengli, in Dongtucheng. Their Fengtai branch is larger and sells the eight big bowls (badawan) feast, while the Dongtucheng branch is smaller and focuses on steamed dumplings, steamed meat dumplings (zhengjiao), and the Chengde specialty almond tea (xingrench).

The shop is run by a Hui Muslim couple from Chengde. They steam the dumplings and brew the almond tea to order in an open, clean, and bright kitchen. I used a group-buying deal for steamed dumplings with a side of vegetarian radish ball soup. The steamer comes with eight dumplings; the skins are thin and the filling is firm, almost like a meatball. The vegetarian radish balls are also very good. The almond tea is six yuan for a big bowl. It has a very rich almond flavor and tastes great.













Xilaisun Xisi branch.

A new Xilaisun opened at the entrance of Xisi Sixth Alley, so I finally don't have to run to the Hepingmen branch every time. However, the Xisi branch is quite small and has fewer dishes. The staff said if you want to eat dishes from the main store, you can call one day in advance to order.

We ordered the classic Ma Lianliang duck, roasted lamb (shaoyangrou), stir-stir-fried meat slices with fresh mushrooms, diced chicken with cashews, mixed wild mountain vegetables, and sesame paste sugar flatbread (majiang tangbing). We also ordered an extra portion of lotus leaf buns (heyebing). Ma Lianliang duck is my favorite. I think it tastes better than Beijing roast duck, and the leavened lotus leaf buns are much better than the thin pancakes served with roast duck. Their roasted lamb skin is a bit hard, but the flavor is very fragrant, and it tastes great tucked inside a lotus leaf bun. The diced chicken with cashews is a little salty, but very fresh. The mixed wild mountain vegetables are not salty and are fine to eat on their own. The stir-stir-fried meat slices with mushrooms are delicious and go well with both rice and lotus leaf buns. The children really like the sesame paste sugar flatbread.

In short, Xilaisun has always been a Beijing restaurant I highly recommend. If you are in the north and have a small group, like a few friends or a family of three, I recommend coming here. Friends in the south should still go to the Hepingmen branch for a wider variety of dishes.



















Longfusi Market.

I went to the market at Longfu Mosque before the Spring Festival. I heard later that it became a permanent fixture, so I stopped by for a walk after work a while ago. Longfu Mosque has really turned into a pedestrian street now. There are security guards at every entrance to keep cars out, so you don't have to dodge traffic while walking around. The stalls in April are quite different from the ones in February. Coming in from the north, you'll find Longfu Mosque Snack Shop and Baikui. A bit further in is Wanhe Beef, and across from the main building entrance is Jinfang. To the east, by the entrance of the Donggong cinema, is Lianying Shaomai (steamed dumplings). The weather is warmer now, so it's easy to grab a snack outdoors after work. There are tables and chairs available.

Longfu Mosque Snack Shop and Baikui are right next to each other with four tables. I arrived after 5:00 p.m. and it wasn't crowded, but it was full by 6:00 p.m. I started with the ingot-shaped dumpling soup (yuanbao tang) and pea flour cake (wandouhuang) at Longfu Mosque Snack Shop. It tasted just like the regular shop. The dumplings are wrapped fresh. Then I had a fried chicken leg at Baikui. It tasted the same as the shop, but it wasn't freshly fried and was only lukewarm. The skin got tough after I heated it in the microwave.

After eating, I bought some mung bean milk (douzhi) at Jinfang. The bagged mung bean milk at Jinfang is their own brand, while the bottled version is from Jinxin. It's time to drink cold mung bean milk in the summer. My son really likes it.



















I had a beef and cilantro roll on a hot plate and a meat burger (roujiamo) at Wanhe Beef on Longfu Mosque Street. It's a Lanzhou-style restaurant, and there are seats in front of the stall. The beef and cilantro roll was 4 yuan and quite tasty. The meat burger was also good, but at 15 yuan, it didn't have much meat, so it wasn't really worth it.









Mashi Muxiangyuan, a Hui Muslim restaurant from Suihua, Heilongjiang, at the Baizhifang branch.

A while ago, I ate at Mashi Muxiangyuan, a Hui Muslim restaurant from Suihua, Heilongjiang, in Fangzhuang. It tasted good and wasn't expensive. I recently heard they opened a new branch in Baizhifang, so a friend and I decided to go try it.

The new shop was busy. We ordered sweet and sour pork (guobaorou), pickled cabbage with vermicelli, stir-fried beef brisket (liu xiongkou), and dry-braised sea bass. The sweet and sour pork was appetizing, though the crust was a bit hard. Overall, it was okay. The pickled cabbage with vermicelli was the best. At 28 yuan, it was a good price and went perfectly with rice. We almost finished it as soon as it arrived. The dry-braised sea bass was also delicious. It was well-seasoned and had very few bones. I have to criticize the stir-fried beef brisket. The portion was small, so they added a lot of large onion chunks to fill the plate. That was unnecessary. I've never had it served with that many onions when eating in Northeast China. If the portion is small, they should just use a smaller plate.

Because it was so crowded, we waited a long time for our food, so the restaurant gave us complimentary yogurt and lamb liver with garlic sauce. Their lamb liver was quite good. It didn't have any gamey smell at all and tasted great even on its own. I have to give them credit for that.













Tianshan, a Uyghur restaurant from Turpan.

I used to go to those Uyghur restaurants on the upper street of Ritan Park every time I took my child there for a walk. I decided to try somewhere new this time, so I went to Tianshan Restaurant near Xiushui Street. It is actually not far from Ritan Park, but I rarely go that way, so this was my first time eating there.

The owner is a Uyghur from Turpan and is very welcoming. We ordered big plate chicken (dapanji), mixed noodles with long beans (jiangdou banmian), spinach with gluten (bocai mianjin), and grilled meat skewers (kaorou). Overall, it was quite authentic. I watched them pull the noodles in the open kitchen; they were very chewy and on the firmer side, which my son loved so much he ate a lot by himself. The long bean dish was also great. The sauce tasted just right, and the meat was firm and chewy, not like the soft, soggy kind that has been marinated too long. The grilled meat skewers were very tender, which the kids especially liked. The big plate chicken was just okay. It used standard broiler chicken, but the flavor was decent. The spinach with gluten is hard to find in Beijing, and it was sour and very appetizing. The Uyghur style is a bit oilier; Hui Muslim families from Xinjiang usually use less oil when they cook.

















Niujie Cafe Sanwanghu.



















Heilongjiang Hui Muslim Iron Pot Stew.

Last Sunday afternoon, I took my son to Madian Park to play on the slides and burn off some energy, then we went to eat at Uncle Oyster's Iron Pot Stew (Haoshu Tieguodun) in Jiandemen. The big rooster set meal is a great value. It includes half a chicken, cabbage, vermicelli, potatoes, three cornmeal flatbreads (tiebingzi), and a plate of smashed cucumber, plus they gave the kid some milk skin yogurt (naipizi suannai) for free.

After the pot arrives, you stick the flatbreads on the side first, then set a timer for 15 minutes. When the time is up, you open the pot, add the vermicelli, and set another 5-minute timer before it is ready to eat. The saltiness is suited for Northern tastes. If you are from the South, you can tell the staff to make it lighter. We asked for it to be lighter because of my son, and he didn't find it too salty. The portion size of the set meal is plenty; it is just right for two adults.

They also have noodle lotus root (mianou), which was my first time trying. I looked it up and it is popular in Shandong and Henan. It is basically tube-shaped gluten made from wheat flour, and it is very chewy. The usual way to serve it is with sesame paste and garlic. They make it with a very strong garlic flavor, which really brings out the taste.

















Part 1: 10 Halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying: Pakistani restaurant Lahore Courtyard, Henan Jiaozuo beef knife-cut noodles Mai Mai Hong, Halal Mongolian food Hulun Aile, West African Ghana Tribe Garden, Xi'an Xing Laosi meatball spicy soup, Xinjiang Changji Jinying meatball soup, Xinjiang Hotan Canteen, Syrian BRBR, Beijing fusion food Gulou Eating Noodles, and Beijing traditional food Xilai Shun.

Part 2: 10 Halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying (Part 2): UAE restaurant Gulf Mandi, Xinjiang Mansion Xihan Meatball Soup, Xinjiang Mansion Lobby Altai Afternoon Tea, Muhejia Rotating Hot Pot, Xinjiang Urumqi Nazilan (closed), Beijing pastry shop Baoyuanzhai (closed), Pakistani Samosa China-Pakistan Friendship Restaurant, Master Ma's Roast Duck (closed), Bangladeshi Benjibi Restaurant, and Huairou Shihu Cheng Resort.

Part 3: 10 recently tried Beijing restaurant recommendations: JM Italian Coffee Dongsi Branch, Halal Hunan food Huixiangyun Stir-fry Wangjing Branch (closed), Shandong Dezhou Old Ma's Lamb Soup and Steamed Dumplings, Sanlitun Philly Cheesesteak, Pakistani Roma Restaurant, Muyuzhai Rotten Garlic Lamb Intestines, Inner Mongolia Lianying Shaomai Grassland Pomegranate Red, Wangfujing Gansu Spicy Hot Pot, and Yuezhen Yayuan Halal Courtyard Restaurant.

Part 4: 10 Halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying (Part 4): Hotan Rose Pilaf Yizhuang Branch, Taiba Western Bakery, Taiba South Sanlitun Road Street Shop, Zhaotong Small Meat Skewers Guijie Ganmaya BBQ (closed), Bai Xiaobei Heilongjiang BBQ, Yunnan Muwenzhai Dry Pot Beef, Sanlitun Xinjiang restaurant Jiangjiang, Huixiangyun Halal Hunan Restaurant Zuojiazhuang Branch, Yili Ice Cream Shop Bazaar Sweetheart, and Dongzhimen Inner Street Qianyuan Hotel.

Part 5: 10 halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying (Part 5). Sandyq Kazakh Restaurant, Kashgar Restaurant, Ahmed Restaurant, Jingbalang Naan Bazaar, MacMac Lebanese Restaurant, Humaer Xinjiang Specialty Food, Lao Huihui Dumpling Restaurant (Zoo branch), Fresh Milk Town (Shuangjing branch, now closed), Nawab Restaurant, and Liu's Watch Repair and Barbecue.

Part 6: 10 halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying (Part 6). Hongyunlou Huaiyang Cuisine, Sanhe Beef Noodles (now closed), JM Coffee and Bakery (Daji Lane branch), Wanhe Fatty Beef, Xiangqing Roast Duck (now closed), Culture Pakistani Restaurant, Firenze Italian Restaurant, Niujie Dashuntang, Zhenweizhai Tianjin Cuisine, and Dardanelles Kids' Meal.

Part 7: 10 halal restaurants in Beijing worth trying (Part 7). JM Western Restaurant (Chaonei branch), Rose City Palestinian Restaurant, Baoding beef cover pancake (niurou zhaobing), Al Rayyan Pakistani Restaurant, Yili Loulan Restaurant (Guijie branch), Dianxinyuan Yunnan Cuisine, Muxiangyuan Heilongjiang Suihua Restaurant, Sanli Tun Turkish Restaurant, Chaoyangmen fast food stall, and Habibi Pakistani buffet. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This halal Hainanese food guide follows the first half of a trip through Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, covering chicken rice, kopitiam cafes, noodles, seafood, and Nanyang-style Muslim-friendly restaurants.

Malaysia

The Chicken Rice Shop in Kuala Lumpur

Oriental Kopi at Kuala Lumpur Airport

Hua Mui Restaurant in Johor Bahru

Yut Loy Coffee Shop in Kuala Kangsar

Sin Hua Air-Conditioned Restaurant in Kota Bharu

Fook Yuen Coffee Shop in Kota Kinabalu

Yit Chang Coffee Shop in Kota Kinabalu

Yee Fung Coffee Shop in Kota Kinabalu

Ling Long Seafood in Kuching

Rex Restaurant in Singapore

Ying Chew Restaurant in Brunei

Babu's Kitchen in Brunei

Mei Guang Coffee Shop in Brunei

Malaysia

The Chicken Rice Shop in Kuala Lumpur

After getting off the plane at Kuala Lumpur Airport, we take the airport express train to the final stop, KL Sentral. Once we go upstairs, we are at the Nu Sentral shopping mall. We eat there almost every time we visit Kuala Lumpur. There are many types of restaurants in the mall. There are three halal Nyonya cuisine restaurants alone, and many other halal Chinese restaurants.

This time, we ate at the famous halal Hainanese chicken rice chain in Malaysia, The Chicken Rice Shop. The founder, Wong Kah Bee, was once an executive director at KFC Malaysia. She had worked in the fast-food industry for 25 years before starting her own business. In 2000, 54-year-old Wong Kah Bee and her daughter, Wong Jia Lian, opened the first The Chicken Rice Shop in Taipan, Selangor, officially launching their halal Hainanese chicken rice brand.

Wong Kah Bee's parents were from Penang and her grandmother was from Hainan. She loved Hainanese chicken rice very much since she was a child. During the 20th century, Hainanese chicken rice was mostly sold at food stalls, and almost none of it was halal. When Wong Kah Bee and her daughter started the business, they had a clear goal: to bring Hainanese chicken rice into shopping malls with clean, comfortable, and independent storefronts suitable for family meals, and to make it halal food for everyone. Today, The Chicken Rice Shop has 135 locations, making it the largest halal Hainanese chicken rice chain in Malaysia. Led by them, halal Chinese food is growing in Malaysia, allowing friends (dosti) from all over the world to enjoy delicious Chinese cuisine here.

We ordered a set meal for three, which included Nyonya top hats (pai tee), mango salad, roasted chicken, Hainanese curry chicken, okra, wolf herring fish balls (sai tou yu wan), and rice. We also ordered an extra side of roasted tofu, which was perfect for our family. Top hats (pai tee) are a classic snack for weddings and New Year celebrations among the Peranakan Chinese in Malaysia. They originated in Singapore, where they are also called little gold cups (xiao jin bei), and are filled with shredded carrots and white radishes. Wolf herring fish balls (sai tou yu wan) are Teochew-style fish balls made from wolf herring, and they are very popular in Malaysia.

















Oriental Kopi at Kuala Lumpur Airport

Taking a car from Malacca back to Kuala Lumpur Airport, the most popular restaurant at Terminal 2 is the Hainanese coffee shop chain Oriental Kopi (huayang). There is almost always a line whenever you go.

They have a huge variety of dishes and are currently one of the most famous halal Hainanese coffee shops. Hainanese people began immigrating to Malaysia in the 19th century. Many early immigrants worked as chefs and servers in British hotels and restaurants, while some worked as servants for British officers. Influenced by their British employers, the Hainanese learned to cook Western food and combined it with Hainanese culinary elements to create the unique Hainanese coffee shop (Hailam Kopitiam) culture.

We ordered flaky egg tarts, pineapple buns with butter (bing huo bo luo bao), Hainanese chicken rice, classic mee siam, curry fish balls, coffee, soy milk with grass jelly, and longan sea coconut sweet soup (tang shui). The coffee, flaky egg tarts, and pineapple buns with butter are known as the 'Oriental Kopi Three Treasures' and make a classic Nanyang breakfast combination. Their flaky egg tarts are indeed well-made, with a very tender egg custard and a rich aroma. Their sweet soup (tang shui) is also delicious. We rarely drank sweet soup in the north, so it felt very authentic to the Nanyang style.

However, their Hainanese chicken rice was not good. The quality of the rice seemed poor, and it felt gritty, lacking the texture of rice at other places.



















Hua Mui Restaurant in Johor Bahru

We took the train from Woodlands, Singapore, in the morning and arrived at the Johor Bahru station in Malaysia in 5 minutes. We walked from the Johor Bahru station to the old town to visit Restoran Hua Mui to experience an authentic Hainanese coffee shop (Hailam Kopitiam).

Restoran Hua Mui opened in 1946 and has a 78-year history, making it the oldest Hainanese coffee shop in Johor Bahru. Like many old-school Hainanese coffee shops in Malaysia, although the owner is Hainanese Chinese, they hire Malay chefs and staff so that Chinese, Malay, and Indian customers can all enjoy the food.

The term coffee shop (kopitiam) is made up of the Malay word 'kopi' (coffee) and the Hokkien word 'tiam' (shop), specializing in charcoal-grilled toast, white coffee, and soft-boiled eggs. Early Hainanese coffee shops were very popular with the British. Today, they have become places where older people discuss news and daily life, serving as important social hubs.

At Hua Mui, we ordered mutton stew rice, Hainanese noodles, coffee and tea mix (cham c), and a breakfast platter. Coffee and tea mix (cham c) is just coffee, tea, and milk. The restaurant's setting is still very traditional, with a classic two-story arcade building (qilou) and bamboo curtains hanging on the doors and windows, easily bringing to mind the old days.





















Yut Loy Coffee Shop in Kuala Kangsar

Taking the train north from Ipoh, it is a 30-minute ride to Kuala Kangsar District. Kuala Kangsar has been the royal city of the Sultan of Perak since the 18th century. The town center still keeps an old street of arcade buildings, where you can find an old-school Hainanese coffee shop called Yut Loy Coffee Shop (Yue Lai Cha Shi). The Hainanese owner hires Malay staff here, allowing the three major ethnic groups—Chinese, Malay, and Indian—to all dine in the shop.

Since Yut Loy Coffee Shop only serves main meals after 1:00 PM, we spent the morning there having coffee with toast, topped with honey and butter. In Nanyang-themed novels, I often read about old people sitting in these Hainanese coffee shops all morning with a cup of coffee, a piece of toast, and a newspaper. This time, we got to experience it ourselves.

















Sin Hua Air-Conditioned Restaurant in Kota Bharu

Hainanese people are an important part of the Chinese community in Kelantan. We ate at the Sin Hua Air-Conditioned Restaurant, a long-standing Hainanese eatery in Kota Bharu with over 50 years of history. We had Hainanese chicken chop, Hainanese noodles, and toasted bread, all of which are authentic Nanyang Hainanese dishes. Next door, there is also a Sin Shing Coffee Shop (Xin Cheng Cha Can Shi), which is said to have the best Hainanese chicken rice in Kota Bharu.

















Fook Yuen Coffee Shop in Kota Kinabalu

Although there are many Hakka and Hokkien people on Gaya Street in Kota Kinabalu, the restaurants are still mostly run by Hainanese people. I started my morning with breakfast at Fook Yuen Coffee Shop (Fuyuan Cha Canting), which is very popular and crowded with tourists. Ordering is semi-self-service. They offer Cantonese-style congee and dim sum, Malay coconut milk rice (nasi lemak), and Western-style bread and coffee, meeting the needs of all ethnic groups in Malaysia. I had a serving of Hainanese chicken rice, two portions of steamed dumplings (shaomai), and a glass of iced milk tea. Their chicken rice is a modified version; they add dried small fish to the rice, a style that should be more popular with Malay customers.

















Yit Chang Coffee Shop in Kota Kinabalu

Opened in 1896, Yee Fung Coffee Shop (Yue Chang Cha Shi) is the oldest Hainanese restaurant in Kota Kinabalu, with a history even longer than the city itself. The shop was originally located at the headquarters of the British North Borneo Chartered Company on Gaya Island. After the settlement on the island was destroyed in 1898 by an anti-British uprising led by the indigenous leader Mat Salleh, the shop moved to its current location on Gaya Street. You could say Yee Fung Coffee Shop has witnessed the entire transformation of Kota Kinabalu. Old photos hang on their walls, including one from the 1960s showing Yee Fung Coffee Shop in the exact same spot as today.

The shop is divided into two sections, with the Hainanese owner personally making coffee and toasting bread. The owner is very enthusiastic, provides excellent service, and speaks great Korean, which helps him attract many Korean guests. Another stall invites Muslim sisters to make Hainanese beef offal noodles (niuzamian) and various Malay dishes, which is a major feature of traditional Hainanese coffee shops. To attract customers from all ethnic groups, they must make food that suits everyone's taste. This is why many long-standing Hainanese restaurants in Malaysia have been open for decades or even a century.

We ordered white coffee, three-layer coffee, monk fruit herbal tea (luohanguo liangcha), oats, toast, and beef offal noodles. Monk fruit herbal tea and barley water (yimi shui) are really perfect for the weather here.



















Yee Fung Coffee Shop in Kota Kinabalu

The most popular halal Chinese restaurant on Gaya Street in Kota Kinabalu is Yee Fung Tea House. The owner of Yee Fung Tea House, Zhuang Qiuwang, is from Johor. He started selling laksa on Gaya Street in 1984, which is exactly 40 years ago. Like many halal Chinese restaurants in Malaysia, they hire Muslim chefs and staff to ensure the ingredients are halal.

Their signature dishes are the "three treasures": laksa, claypot chicken rice, and beef offal. We ordered lettuce with oyster sauce, plain beef offal, plain fish balls, and chicken wonton noodles. Hainanese beef offal mainly includes beef balls, beef tripe, stewed beef, and beef slices. Many Hainanese restaurants in Kota Kinabalu serve it, and it is a major local specialty. Authentic Hainanese beef offal does not use MSG. It relies purely on spices to stew out the flavor, so you do not feel thirsty after eating it.



















Ling Long Seafood in Kuching

I strongly recommend the Top Spot Food Court in the city center to friends (dosti) visiting Kuching. It is a Chinese halal seafood city with a Nanyang style. The food court is open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. It looks like a very plain parking garage from the outside, but once you take the elevator to the top floor, you enter a very lively seafood open-air food court. Most of the stalls in the food court are Chinese-run with halal certifications. Various fish, shrimp, and vegetables are displayed openly, so you can pick whatever you want to eat.

We chose a stall called "Ling Long Seafood." The lady who took our order is Hainanese. Hainanese people running halal Chinese restaurants in Malaysia is also a major feature. The lady spoke great Mandarin and enthusiastically helped us order according to our needs. We ordered Sarawak-style stir-fried midin (a type of fern) with shrimp paste and stir-fried mani cai (a local vegetable) with eggs. Their stir-fried dishes come in small, medium, and large sizes, so even one person can eat very well.

Midin is a fern native to Borneo. It is not bitter at all when stir-fried and has a very fresh fragrance. Mani cai, also known as star gooseberry leaves, is a wild vegetable that Sarawak Hakka people love to cook. You can find it in homes and small restaurants. The picked mani cai leaves must be crushed in water and drained to remove toxins, and the small stems must be picked out before stir-frying, so it is much more troublesome than other vegetables.

For seafood, we ordered lokan (white clams), sea shrimp, and seven-star grouper. The waiter told us which ones were the freshest and which were frozen. After we ordered, the food was indeed very delicious. Since this is a food court by the sea in the city center, I am not sure if other stalls overcharge, but I think this one offers good value for money. In the end, our five dishes, rice, and 6% sales tax cost 313 RMB in total. Small stir-fried dishes were 24 RMB each, a seven-star grouper was 148 RMB, though they have cheaper fish too. A plate of sea shrimp was 48 RMB, and a plate of clams was 40 RMB.



































Rex Restaurant in Singapore

If you visit the National Museum of Singapore and Fort Canning Park, it is well worth going to the nearby MacKenzie Rex Restaurant to taste authentic halal Hainanese chicken rice. MacKenzie Rex Restaurant opened in 1966. It is the first and most famous halal Hainanese chicken rice restaurant in Singapore. The owner is a Hainanese Chinese who speaks good Mandarin and is happy to introduce dishes to guests. Besides Hainanese chicken rice, they are also good at making various home-style Chinese dishes, known in Singapore as Zi char (home-style stir-fry).

We ordered the classic chicken rice and five-spice meat rolls (Ngor Hiang per roll), plus stir-fried mixed vegetables and fish soup. Everything was delicious, and it was arguably the best meal of our Singapore trip. The best part of their chicken rice is not the chicken itself, but the rice steamed with chicken fat. You can eat it plain and never want to stop. The halal version of the five-spice meat roll adds five-spice powder to the chicken filling, which is then wrapped in bean curd skin and deep-fried. It is very fragrant when freshly fried.



















Ying Chew Restaurant in Brunei

When traveling in Brunei, you must visit the most famous legendary Hainanese teahouse, Ying Chew (Yingzhou Hao).

The founder of Ying Chew, Han Qiongyuan, was from Wenchang, Hainan. During the Japanese invasion of China in 1939, 17-year-old Han Qiongyuan traveled to Southeast Asia and arrived in Brunei to work as a helper in his uncle's coffee shop. In 1946, Han Qiongyuan officially opened Ying Chew Teahouse, selling coffee, bread, and other food. It became widely known for its longevity bread (Roti Kuning). As the teahouse business grew, Han Qiongyuan expanded into real estate and led the construction of the Brunei Hainan Building. After 1993, Han Qiongyuan returned to his hometown every year to visit relatives and invested heavily there. He was awarded the title of 'Patriotic Hainanese' by Hainan Province three times.

Like many old-fashioned Nanyang Hainanese teahouses, they serve halal food and have Brunei halal certification, making them popular with all ethnic groups. They have a very rich variety of bread. The most classic sandwich breads come in four flavors: peanut, red bean paste, butter, and coconut. There are also peanut and kaya mix bread, cheese bread, yellow bread with kaya and butter, and French toast. You can add a fried egg and cheese, or order a soft-boiled egg on the side. Cakes include custard cakes, egg tarts, coconut tarts, red bean cakes, butter cakes, pandan cakes, and more. Western-style breads and pastries were learned by Hainanese people while working as kitchen helpers for the British in the 19th century. Today, they have become a classic part of Nanyang Hainanese restaurants.

Besides bread and pastries, they also have various noodles, such as sesame flat rice noodles (guotiao), dry-tossed noodles, stir-fried noodles, Hainanese noodles, stir-fried rice vermicelli, and silky egg flat rice noodles (hefen). These suit Chinese tastes very well. We ordered silky egg flat rice noodles, sesame flat rice noodles, egg tarts, custard cakes, yellow bread with fried egg, chicken curry puffs, peanut and kaya mix bread, ginger milk tea, and lemon tea for a mix of Chinese and Western flavors. The peanut and kaya mix bread contains kaya jam, butter, and crushed peanuts, giving it a very rich texture. The sesame rice noodles (zhima guotiao) are a mix of sweet, salty, and spicy, served with fried tofu and fried fish chunks. They are a signature dish at this shop.



















Babu's Kitchen in Brunei

We had lunch in the old town of Brunei Town. There are many Chinese-owned shops here, and it is also a great place to find halal Hainanese restaurants. We chose a place called Babu's Kitchen. It was very busy at lunchtime with Chinese, Malay, and Indian customers, which is a classic scene at a Hainanese restaurant. Since they did not have a Chinese menu, we asked the owner to recommend dishes. We ordered the Assam fish fillets, salted egg fried mushrooms, beef yee mee noodles, and bean curd skin with tofu and chicken. Just like in Malaysia, the Chinese people in Brunei speak very standard Mandarin. Overall, the food was very good. It blends Chinese cooking with Malay flavors, but it is still very easy for Chinese people to enjoy. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This first part introduces Shia mosques, ashurkhanas, jamatkhanas, and Muslim heritage sites across India, Thailand, Myanmar, and Singapore, including Hyderabad, Bangkok, Yangon, and Singapore.

India

Bad-e-Shahi Ashur Khana in Hyderabad

Thailand

Sheikh Ahmad gongbei in Ayutthaya

Kudi Luang mosque in Bangkok

Kudi Charoenphat in Bangkok

Phadungtham Islam mosque in Bangkok

Dilfulla mosque in Bangkok

Safee mosque in Bangkok

Goowatil Islam Mosque in Bangkok

Myanmar

Mughal Shia Mosque in Yangon

Hazarat Abbas (A. S) Astana Alamdar-e-Husayn in Yangon.

Punja Mosque in Yangon.

Dawoodi Bohra Saifee Mosque in Yangon.

His Highness The Agakhan Building Myanmar Ismaili Khoja Jamatkhana in Yangon.

Singapore

Al-Burhani mosque in Singapore

Indian Heritage Centre in Singapore

Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore

India

Bad-e-Shahi Ashur Khana in Hyderabad

Shia Islam grew in the Deccan Plateau of South India during the Bahmani Sultanate (1347-1527). After the Bahmani Sultanate fell, the Qutb Shahi dynasty made Shia Islam the state religion in 1518.

Hyderabad became a center for Shia culture in India during the 16th and 17th centuries. The fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, was a talented Urdu poet and the first person to write Marsiya (Shia mourning poetry for Imam Hussain) in Urdu. Shia scholar and scientist Mir Muhammad Momin arrived at the Qutb Shahi dynasty in 1581 and helped design and build the city of Hyderabad in 1591.

Bad-e-Shahi Ashur Khana is the Shia center of Hyderabad and the first Imambargah in India. An Imambargah, also called a Hussainiya, is a hall where Shia Muslims of the Twelver branch mourn Imam Hussain. It is busiest here during Ashura, but there are also events held every week.

The fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, ordered the construction of Bad-e-Shahi Ashur Khana in 1594, and the seventh sultan, Abdullah Qutb Shah, added tiles in 1611. In 1764, the second Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Ali Khan, added a wooden colonnade, an outer hall, and a gate. The caretakers here are from a hereditary family, and the current one is the 11th Mutawalli Mujawer, Mir Nawazish Ali Moosvi.

The Arabic calligraphy and floral tiles inside the building use the Cuerda Seca technique, which was created by Persian craftsmen. This technique uses lines drawn with dark pigment mixed with grease on the tile surface to separate different colors of water-soluble glaze, leaving dark lines in every area. Scholars believe the Cuerda Seca technique originated in 10th-century Andalusia (southern Spain) and later spread to Asia through Arabs and Persians. The Mughal Empire frequently used this technique to fire tiles during the 17th century.













When we visited Hyderabad, we happened to catch a Shia event at Bad-e-Shahi Ashur Khana.







Thailand

Sheikh Ahmad gongbei in Ayutthaya

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Shia merchants from the Persian Safavid dynasty traveled along the Indian Ocean coast to trade in Siam, where they were warmly welcomed and received with high honors by the Siamese royal family. Some Persian merchants married locals, settled down, and held important positions in the Siamese court.

Sheikh Ahmad was born in Qom, Persia, in 1543. He arrived in Ayutthaya, Thailand, with his brother in the early 17th century to trade, married a Thai wife, and settled there. Sheikh Ahmad was very successful in business and became one of the wealthiest foreign merchants of his time. He met the Thai royal treasurer and, with his help, connected with the Thai royal family and began participating in Thai trade affairs. After gaining the trust of King Songtham (who reigned from 1610 to 1628), he was appointed Chao Kromma Tha Khwa to manage trade, shipping, and diplomatic affairs between Thailand and the west, including India, Persia, Arabia, and Europe. He was also appointed as the first Chula Rajmontri in Thai history, overseeing religious affairs for the whole country. In 1611, after helping the Thai king defeat Japanese merchants who attempted a coup, he was appointed Samuhanayok, becoming the Grand Vizier of Thailand.

In the early 17th century, Sheikh Ahmad built the Kudi Chao Sen Shia mosque within the city of Ayutthaya, which is the oldest mosque inside the city walls of Ayutthaya. After Sheikh Ahmad passed away in 1631, he was buried near the mosque.

In the late 17th century, the Shia community continued to thrive in Ayutthaya. During the month of Muharram in 1656, Sheikh Ahmad’s son and other Shia nobles helped King Narai take the throne. To show his gratitude, King Narai gave the Ayutthaya Shia community all the items needed for their Ashura ceremonies during Muharram and established a royal guard made up of 500 Shia men. In 1685, a French Jesuit missionary named Father Tachard recorded the grand scene of the Shia Ashura ceremonies in Ayutthaya. He wrote that the procession included over two thousand people, carrying models of the tombs of two saints along with many intricately crafted symbolic objects. The men changed their formations as they walked to the rhythm of drums. At the front of this massive procession were three or four beautifully decorated horses, and many people held long-handled lanterns to light the way for the entire group. The festival lasted for several nights, ending at five o'clock each morning.

Besides the Kudi Chao Sen mosque, Ayutthaya once had two other Shia mosque communities. The Khaek Pae mosque was located on the bank where the Chao Phraya River and the Pa Sak River meet, where Persian merchants once lived on boats, a place locals called the floating village. The Nurul Yamal mosque was in the northern suburbs of the old city of Ayutthaya, near an elephant kraal built by the Ayutthaya dynasty in 1580. According to the 1685 travelogue of the Persian Safavid mission to Ayutthaya, titled The Ship of Suleiman (Safine-ye Solaymani), hundreds of Persian merchants were involved in the profitable elephant trade at the kraal at that time.

After Ayutthaya fell in 1767 and Thailand moved its capital to Bangkok in 1782, the Persian-descended Shia community of Ayutthaya moved to Bangkok as well. Today, the Kudi Chao Sen mosque no longer exists, leaving only the nearby gongbei of Sheikh Ahmad, which was built in 1631.











Opposite the gongbei of Sheikh Ahmad is the Ayutthaya-Persia (Iranian Studies) Room, where the Iranian Embassy in Thailand occasionally holds cultural and memorial events.





Kudi Luang mosque in Bangkok

The Siamese capital of Ayutthaya fell in 1767, and after the capital moved to Bangkok in 1782, the Persian descendants from Ayutthaya followed. The first leader of the Persian-descended Shia community in Bangkok was Konkaew, the son of the last leader in Ayutthaya. In 1797, he began managing Siam's trade with the West and received a residence in the Thonburi area across the Chao Phraya River. People say he and 400 Shia followers established the Kudi Chao Sen mosque community, which became the primary Shia community in Bangkok.

After Konkaew passed away, his brother and the next eight direct descendants inherited the title, controlling Siam's trade rights with the West for a hundred years. In 1897, King Rama V renovated the Kudi Chao Sen mosque and renamed it the Kudi Luang Chao Sen mosque. In 1947, because of the construction of the Royal Thai Navy headquarters, the entire Kudi Luang mosque community was moved to its current location. The residents still live around the mosque, allowing the traditional culture of the Bangkok Shia community to survive.



The elders of the Bangkok Persian-descended Shia community who live around the mosque are not exclusive and are very welcoming to visitors (dosti).



After the prayer (namaz), I went to the Kudi Luang mosque again and ate chicken rice noodle rolls (changfen) with everyone, along with a special dessert made of palm sugar and pomelo that the Bangkok Persian descendants eat during the month of Muharram. Sharing and giving are key themes for Shia Muslims during the month of Muharram. Food is free during this time, and people gather to make the flowers used in the events. Some people in the mosque wear white pants and headscarves with bells hanging from their pant legs. They spend the first ten days of Muharram serving the mosque community with all their heart.















The most eye-catching thing in the mosque is a handsome, tall horse personally gifted by the King of Thailand. This horse represents Zuljanah, the warhorse of Imam Hussein. Zuljanah was raised by the noble Prophet from a young age and is known for loyalty, strength, endurance, and a spirit of sacrifice. During the Battle of Karbala, Zuljanah used its body to block arrows aimed at Imam Hussein. After Imam Hussein passed away, Zuljanah returned to his family covered in blood to warn them of an ambush. It died from its wounds after fulfilling this final duty. During Muharram, the horse is kept in the stables of Kudi Luang mosque, and people take turns walking it in the courtyard every night.



On the qibla wall of the main hall, the flagpole at the top is called an Alam. It represents the flag held by Abbas, the standard-bearer for Imam Hussein during the Battle of Karbala. The metal hand is called a Panja, which symbolizes the severed hands of Abbas. Abbas was the half-brother of Imam Hussein. He inherited the courage of Imam Ali and always held the flag of victory high on the battlefield. People say on the night of Ashura, he was blocked by enemy forces while returning from the Euphrates River with water. He fought alone until his arms were cut off and he was killed.

Above the niche in the qibla wall, the names of Allah, the noble Prophet, and the twelve Imams of the Shia are written. The Twelver branch is the largest branch of Shia Islam and is the state religion of Iran.







The Nakhl Gardani placed in the main hall symbolizes the funeral bier of Imam Hussein. It is decorated with a dagger and a turban (dastar) representing those used by Imam Hussein. During Ashura events, people carry the Nakhl Gardani to symbolize the funeral procession for Imam Hussein.



A Tadjah is also placed in the main hall to symbolize the tomb of Imam Hussein.



There is also a small decoration in the hall representing the youngest baby martyred at the Battle of Karbala, Ali Asghar, the six-month-old son of Imam Hussein. Records state that Imam Hussein held the thirsty Ali Asghar and asked the enemy for water for the child. The enemy fired an arrow that pierced the baby's throat and Imam Hussein's arm at the same time. Ali Asghar later became a symbol of innocent victims and the most painful mourning during Muharram events.



During the first ten nights of Muharram, Shia Muslims in Bangkok chant to commemorate Imam Hussein. During these sessions, people known as Rawda khwan tell the story of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and his followers at the Battle of Karbala. The stories come from famous books, the most well-known being The Garden of the Martyrs (Rawdat al-shuhada) by the famous Timurid-era Persian writer Hussein Kashifi. Afterward, the imam also gives a sermon (waaz) in Thai, helping everyone learn about the bravery, fearlessness, and spirit of sacrifice shown by Imam Hussein and his followers at the Battle of Karbala.







The Nakhl Gardani used during Ashura events symbolizes the coffin of Imam Hussain, and the entire Ashura event is essentially a reenactment of his funeral.



Kudi Charoenphat in Bangkok

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Akayi, the second leader of the Persian Shia community in Bangkok, built Kudi Charoenphat at the heart of the community. This is an Imambara hall used by the Shia for mourning ceremonies.





An Imambara, also called a Hussainiya or Ashurkhana, is a hall where the Twelver Shia branch holds ceremonies to mourn Imam Hussain. On the Day of Ashura (the 10th of Muharram) in 680 AD, the Prophet's grandson, Imam Hussain, was martyred in the Battle of Karbala. Since then, the Shia hold grand mourning ceremonies every year in the first month of the Islamic calendar (the month of Ashura), the second month (40 days after Ashura), and the ninth month (Ramadan). Except for the most important processions, most ceremonies take place inside the Imambara hall.











The wood carvings on the hall are in the Gingerbread style, which was popular in Thailand in the late 19th century. This architectural style originated in Victorian England during the 19th century and was later developed by British companies logging teak in Thailand, who blended it with local Thai decorative elements. Due to high construction and maintenance costs, this architectural style gradually became a thing of the past after the 20th century.



The Nakhl Gardani used during Ashura events.





A street view of the Persian community in Bangkok. Many walls of Persian-descendant homes and shops here display the 'Lion of God' (Asadullah), which refers to Imam Ali and serves as a symbol of the Shia.



















Phadungtham Islam mosque in Bangkok

The center of the Persian community in Bangkok is the Phadungtham Islam mosque. This mosque was first built in 1938 and was rebuilt into its current structure in 1979.

The new mosque features a Persian-style Iwan gate, modeled after the Imam Reza Shrine, a Shia holy site in Iran.







The clay tablet placed before a prayer rug is called a Turbah in Arabic and a Mohr in Persian. Twelver Shia Muslims touch their foreheads to it during namaz. Some clay tablets feature images of the Imam Hussain Shrine, indicating they are made from the soil of Karbala, where Imam Hussain was martyred.



Dilfulla mosque in Bangkok

The Indian Shia community is located on the southwest side of the Persian Shia community in Bangkok, separated by Itsaraphap Road.

For hundreds of years, Shia merchants from India set out from the cities of Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, traveling across the Indian Ocean to Siam for maritime trade. Because of their shared faith, they often collaborated in business with the Persians, and later intermarried, forming a powerful trade network in Siam. In the early 19th century, Shia merchants from Mumbai began opening shops near the Persian community along the Chao Phraya River. Thanks to the favoritism of Persian officials who controlled Western trade, these Indian Shia businesses could obtain state-controlled export goods from Siam under very favorable conditions.

Adam Ali was a merchant and adventurer from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. In the early 19th century, he left the city of Surat with fine Indian textiles and sailed across the Indian Ocean to Bangkok many times for trade. Through connections with local Persian-descended nobles in Bangkok who shared his Shia faith, he was able to meet many Siamese nobles. These nobles often visited his merchant ships and bought many high-quality textiles. With the profits from selling textiles, Adam was able to build a pier and warehouse along the Yai Canal near the Persian community, where he opened a textile printing and dyeing factory. The factory workers were all Shia Muslims he brought from India, and he built houses and a mosque near the factory for them, which formed Bangkok's Indian Shia community.

The center of the community is the Dilfulla mosque. It also displays the Shia symbol, the Lion of Allah (Huda zhi shi), and while the interior is slightly simpler than Persian-style mosques, you can still see Shia features in the candlesticks, flowers, and pulpit. Today, the descendants of Adam's family still live around the mosque and have served as imam for generations.



















Inside the main hall of the Dilfulla mosque are incense burners, a pulpit (minbar), scripture boxes, and flowers.





















Next to the mosque is the cemetery for Indian Shia Muslims, where you can see some graves covered in flowers, a memorial style very typical of South Asia.





Safee mosque in Bangkok

In the early 19th century, Phraya Si Phiphat, who managed the Siamese royal warehouses, was a descendant of Shia Muslims from the Ayutthaya period. Although he had long since converted to Buddhism, he still provided many conveniences to Indian Shia merchants. At that time, Phraya Si Phiphat oversaw the construction of rows of royal warehouses and piers in the Khlong San area on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. After Britain and Siam signed the Bowring Treaty in 1855, the Siamese royal family was forced to give up its trade monopoly, and the royal warehouses were emptied. Phraya Si Phiphat then rented these warehouses to Indian Shia Muslims, leading to the emergence of a new Indian Shia community here.

The first Indian Shia merchant to rent a royal warehouse was A. T. E. Maskati, a textile dealer from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. He had already opened a shop near the Persian Shia community in Bangkok in the early 19th century. In 1856, he opened a weaving and dyeing factory inside the royal warehouses, employing over 600 Indian Shia workers at its peak. He and other Indian Shia merchants built a mosque in the warehouse area, naming it Toek Khaw (white brick) mosque after the warehouse's whitewashed walls, which was later renamed Safee mosque.

Safee mosque is located deep inside the royal warehouses and can only be reached through a hidden alley in the middle of the warehouse complex. Most of the Indian merchants who once had shops nearby eventually returned to India, and only a few married and had children in Bangkok, with their descendants still living here today.







This mosque belongs to a small branch of Ismailism called the Dawoodi Bohras. This branch has only a few million followers, most of whom live in Gujarat, India, and Karachi, Pakistan. Today, a photo of Mufaddal Saifuddin, the 53rd leader of the Dawoodi Bohras who succeeded in 2014, can be seen on the wall of the Sefi mosque.



















The Dawoodi Bohra cemetery sits right next to the Persian community in Bangkok. Since the mid-19th century, it has been the final resting place for Shia Muslims from Indian cities like Surat, Mumbai, Sidhpur, Khambhat, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, and Dhoraji.

The Dawoodi Bohras are known for their focus on trade and their modern lifestyle. Most followers are merchants and entrepreneurs, and the word Bohra itself means trade in the Gujarati language.

The Dawoodi Bohras trace their origins back to the Shia Ismaili Fatimid Caliphate, which ruled North Africa from the 10th to the 12th century. In 1067, the 18th imam of the Fatimid Caliphate sent a man named Abd Allah from Yemen to Gujarat, India, to spread the faith, where he found great success. Since then, the followers in Gujarat have stayed in contact with Yemen and continued to grow. In 1567, the headquarters of this sect officially moved from Yemen to Gujarat.

Starting in the 19th century, members of the Dawoodi Bohras began traveling abroad to do business. The 43rd leader, Abdeali Saifuddin, invited 12,000 followers to the city of Surat in Gujarat. He provided them with food, work, and housing. The only condition was that they had to learn and practice professional skills, and he gave them startup capital once they finished their training. Many people chose to use this money to start businesses abroad. Some reached East Africa, while others came to Siam.

The Dawoodi Bohras have a unique culture that blends traditions from Yemen, Egypt, Pakistan, and India. They use a language called Lisan al-Dawat, which has a basic structure from Gujarati and vocabulary from Arabic. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This second part continues the author’s visits to Shia mosques, jamatkhanas, and Muslim heritage sites in Thailand, Myanmar, and Singapore, with names and historical details kept intact.











Goowatil Islam Mosque in Bangkok

After the Toek Khaw (white brick) mosque was built in 1856, some Dawoodi Bohra Shia merchants from Surat, Gujarat, India, rented a piece of royal warehouse land a few hundred meters upstream. At that time, some Malay Sunni goldsmiths from Sai Buri District in Pattani Province, southern Thailand, also lived nearby. They were skilled at making an alloy of gold, silver, and copper called Nak in Thai.

In 1859, these two groups built a new mosque together. Because the nearby warehouses were built of red brick, it was called Toek Daeng (red brick) mosque, and later renamed Goowatil Islam Mosque.

Among the Indian Shia merchants in the Goowatil Islam Mosque community, Ali Asmail Nana was the most famous. He served as a translator for the Siamese Western Trade Department and earned the title Phra Phichet Sanphanit. He married and had children in Bangkok, and his family later succeeded in real estate development.

After the 20th century, Indian Shia merchants began moving their shops from the old royal warehouses to the busier Song Wat Road area in Bangkok's Chinatown. They started working in more promising professions like commission agents, bankers, insurance brokers, auctioneers, and real estate developers. With the changing times, you can no longer find those Indian Shia merchants at Goowatil Islam Mosque today.



















Myanmar

Mughal Shia Mosque in Yangon

The Mughal Shia Mosque in Yangon, Myanmar, is the largest Shia mosque in Southeast Asia. It was founded in 1854 by Persian-Indian merchants who were the first to settle in Yangon.

The British East India Company opened a factory in Yangon starting in the 1790s, after which Persian and Indian Shia merchants began arriving in Yangon. These Shia friends (dosti) and others from Iran, Afghanistan, India, and elsewhere were collectively called Mughals by the Burmese people. After the 19th century, the Mughals often served as intermediaries and translators for exchanges between the British and the Burmese, becoming an important part of Yangon's foreign trade.

In 1852, the British officially occupied Yangon and made it the capital of British Burma. They hired army engineers to design and plan the grid-like city of Yangon, and the Shia community in Yangon officially established the Mughal Shia Mosque. The Mughal Shia Mosque was originally a teak wood building. Between 1914 and 1918, mosque board members from Isfahan, Shiraz, Khorasan, and Kabul in Iran and Afghanistan raised funds to rebuild it in its current Hyderabad style. The Shia faith developed on the Deccan Plateau in southern India during the 14th to 16th centuries. The Qutb Shahi dynasty declared Shia the state religion in 1518. Its capital, Hyderabad, was built in 1591 with the participation of Shia scholar and scientist Mir Muhammad Momin, and Hyderabad later became a center of Shia culture in India.

S Afsheen, a descendant of a board member of the Yangon Mughal Shia Mosque, wrote in his autobiography that his ancestors were originally court advisors to the Mughal Empire. In the 19th century, his great-grandfather's father, Hasan Ali Khorasanee, came to Yangon to do business, received favorable trade terms, and then developed a powerful trading company. Hasan Ali Khorasanee's son bought many properties in Yangon and operated leather and other trading businesses, which made the Khorasanee family one of the board members of the Mughal Shia Mosque.

The Mughal Shia Mosque is located on Shwe Bon Thar Road in Yangon's Indian quarter. This place was originally called Mughal Street and was the area where Indian shops in Yangon were most concentrated. The mosque consists of the street-facing Mughal Hall, the main prayer hall, and two tall minarets. The shops in the Mughal Hall facing the street are rented out.

















The layout of the main hall at the Mughal Shia mosque in Yangon differs from Sunni mosques. The hall is split into separate areas for men and women, both covered with prayer rugs and featuring a mihrab to indicate the direction of prayer. The center area is used for the khutbah sermon and for mourning ceremonies held every year during the first month of the Islamic calendar.



















Distinctive calligraphy art at the Mughal Shia mosque in Yangon. The main gate is carved with the Shia version of the Shahada, which includes one extra phrase compared to the Sunni version: 'Ali-un-Waliullah,' meaning Ali is the friend (wali) of Allah.







Hazarat Abbas (A. S) Astana Alamdar-e-Husayn in Yangon.

Located on 32nd Street next to the Sule Pagoda in the heart of Yangon's old town, there is a Shia ritual hall called Hazarat Abbas (A. S) Astana Alamdar-e-Husayn. Built in 1856, it is an important ritual center for the Shia community in Yangon. Unlike a standard mosque (masjid), this place is used by the Shia community for memorial ceremonies during the first and second months of the Islamic calendar and during Ramadan. It is an important way for the Shia community to build unity.

The hall has two floors. On the first floor, the words 'Live like Ali, die like Husayn' are written in English. On the second floor, the center displays a Punja, which symbolizes the severed hand of Imam Husayn’s standard-bearer, Abbas, during the Battle of Karbala. On both sides are tombs symbolizing those of Imam Husayn and the standard-bearer Abbas, who were martyred in the battle. An elder at the mosque showed me a book in Burmese about the standard-bearer Abbas.

In the Shia tradition, the standard-bearer Abbas is seen as the ultimate example of courage, love, sincerity, and self-sacrifice. Many Shia people take oaths in his name or give out food in his honor. The death of Abbas is the oldest passion play in the Shia tradition, and verses about him often appear in the decoration of Shia buildings.























Punja Mosque in Yangon.

Located on 38th Street on the east side of Yangon's old town, Punja Mosque was built in 1877 and is another Shia ritual center in Yangon. The Shia Shahada can also be seen on the mosque gate, with the extra phrase 'Ali is the friend of Allah' added at the end. The main hall is divided into two parts: the right side is a hall for mourning Imam Husayn, and the left side is a prayer hall. In the center of the right hall sits a tomb symbolizing Imam Husayn. To the left is a minbar pulpit for the Imam to deliver the khutbah, and on the right is a Punja, symbolizing the severed hand of Imam Husayn’s standard-bearer Abbas from the Battle of Karbala, which is how the mosque got its name.





























Dawoodi Bohra Saifee Mosque in Yangon.

Besides the Twelver Shia, there are two other Shia minority ritual centers on Mughal Street in Yangon. Unfortunately, because there are so few members left, both have stopped operating.

Dawoodi Bohra Saifee Mosque is located on the west side of Mughal Street and was built by the Dawoodi Bohra sect in 1898. Starting in the 19th century, members of the Dawoodi Bohra sect from Gujarat, India, began traveling across the Indian Ocean to trade. Many became wealthy merchants and industrialists, and some settled in Yangon, which had a large Indian population.







His Highness The Agakhan Building Myanmar Ismaili Khoja Jamatkhana in Yangon.

Located on the east side of Mughal Street, His Highness The Agakhan Building Myanmar Ismaili Khoja Jamatkhana was built in 1949 by the Khoja people, who follow the Nizari Ismaili branch of Shia Islam. They belong to the same small branch as the Tajik people in China. The name Khoja comes from a term used by the 14th-century Ismaili scholar Pir Sadardin for his followers. Sadr al-Din was born in Persia and spent a long time preaching in South Asia. He promoted tolerance and integration between Islam and Hinduism, which led many merchants from the Lohana caste in Gujarat to convert.

The Khoja began trading in Mumbai, India, in the 18th century. Later, they settled in places across South Asia, Oman, East Africa, and Madagascar, and some also settled in Yangon. The Khoja community center is called Jamatkhana, or 'Friday prayer hall,' where they hold congregational prayers, wedding banquets, and various commemorative events.











Singapore

Al-Burhani Mosque

Al-Burhani Mosque is located on Hill Street, a main road in Singapore. It is the only Dawoodi Bohra Shia mosque in Singapore.

Starting in the 19th century, members of the Dawoodi Bohras from Gujarat, India, traveled along the Indian Ocean to trade. They began trading dry goods and spices in Singapore in 1875. After the 1920s, more Dawoodi Bohra merchants came from Gujarat to Singapore to do business, and the Dawoodi Bohra community in Singapore was officially formed.

Al-Burhani Mosque was first built in 1895 and was originally small. The high-rise building seen today is how it looked after being rebuilt in 1997. Unfortunately, there was no one inside the mosque when we visited, so we could not talk to anyone.



















Indian Heritage Centre in Singapore

The Indian Heritage Centre in Little India, Singapore, uses a timeline in its main exhibition hall to tell the rich history and culture of Singapore's Indian community. It is divided into five parts: early contact, origins and migration, early Indian descendants in Singapore and Malaya, the social and political awakening of Indian descendants in Singapore and Malaya, and the contributions of Indian descendants to Singapore. Of course, this includes Indian Shia culture.

A Khoja turban worn by the Ismaili Shia Khoja people of Gujarat.



A procession of Indian Shia Muslims during the Ashura festival in the 19th century. On the right is a Ta'ziya, a model of the tombs of Imam Hussein and Hassan, and you can also see Alam flags.



An Alam flagpole carried by South Indian Shia Muslims during an Ashura procession in the 19th century.





Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore

A porcelain plate for export ordered by Indian Shia Muslims in 1844-45, featuring Persian verses related to the martyrdom of Imam Hussein. The teardrop pattern used here is known as the 'boteh' motif in Persian.



A scroll painting of a Shia Ashura procession in southern India (possibly Chennai) from the 1830s to 1840s. The entire scroll is nearly 6 meters long. You can see a Ta'ziya (a model of the tombs of Imam Hussein and Hassan), Buraq (the mount of the Prophet Muhammad during his Night Journey), Alam flags, the Hand of Abbas, a Sipar shield, and a reenactment of the Battle of Karbala. You can also see the Chennai native infantry, people dressed as animals, and even elements of the Hindu Charak festival, which reflects India's multiculturalism.













A 'Hand of Abbas' from the late 19th to early 20th century. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Urumqi Sha'ban account begins on February 12, 2026, before Ramadan, and covers family meals, Jumu'ah at Shaanxi Grand Mosque, Beiliang Mosque history, and local Hui Muslim food. It keeps the source's dates, mosque history, dishes, religious gatherings, and photographs.

I flew from Beijing to Urumqi for the Spring Festival holiday on February 12, 2026. With a few days left before Ramadan, I attended some religious gatherings (ermei) and sat for several meals. I am sharing my experiences here.

February 13.

I spent the morning at home reciting prayers (nianye). We had braised beef steak, clear-stewed lamb, and braised fish. The fried dough (youxiang) had been prepared the day before.













At noon, I went to the Shaanxi Grand Mosque in Urumqi for Friday prayers (Jumu'ah). This was the last Friday prayer before Ramadan. It was very crowded, and the main hall was almost full.













The restaurants behind the Shaanxi Grand Mosque are all delicious. I wrote about them in my previous article, '2025 Urumqi Hui Muslim Street Tour'.







I only learned last year that the main hall of Urumqi's first mosque, Beiliang Mosque, still exists. It is now open to the public as the Wenchang Pavilion. After Friday prayers at the Shaanxi Grand Mosque, I took the subway one stop from South Gate to North Gate to visit it.

After the Qing Dynasty built Dihua City in Urumqi in 1758, it promoted policies to station troops and settle immigrants for border defense. Since then, Hui Muslims from the northwest moved there to settle. In 1780, they built Beiliang Mosque on a small hill inside the North Gate of Dihua City, making it the first mosque in Urumqi.

The first imam of Beiliang Mosque was an elder from the Weijiapu area, who belonged to the Salar people from Xunhua. When the elder from Weijiapu was young, he studied at the Jiezi Gongbei and the Grand Mosque in Xunhua. In 1763, he left to seek enlightenment during the Hehuang menhuan conflicts. He traveled through Linxia, Lanzhou, and Wuwei, eventually reaching Hami and Turpan to teach. In 1780, he was officially invited to Beiliang Mosque as its first imam.

In the mid-18th century, Yihewan Gali, a disciple of the Indian Sufi leader Imam Rabbani, entered Aksu to teach the Khufiyya doctrine. Ma Fang, a Qing military officer stationed in Aksu, accepted his teachings. Later, Ma Fang resigned from his post to preach across Xinjiang. He took five students, one of whom was Ma Pei, who went to Urumqi to preach. The elder from Weijiapu became his student. The elder from Weijiapu taught at Beiliang Mosque for nearly 30 years. He taught religious knowledge to ordinary community members and guided Khufiyya followers in their spiritual practice. He balanced the relationships between different groups well and was respected by everyone.

Beiliang Mosque existed for 94 years in total. Its last imam was Ma Zongfu. Ma Zongfu came from Datong, Qinghai. People called him the Datong Elder. When he was young, he taught at various mosques in Qinghai and practiced the Khufiyya path. Later, because he opposed the planting and selling of opium, he was persecuted by local wealthy landowners. In 1850, he led his family through great hardships to Xinjiang and settled at Beiliang Mosque. At that time, the mosque's religious leader, Qitaizhou, was the second-generation disciple of Ma Pei. Imam Ma Zongfu then became his student. In 1852, Ma Zongfu became the imam of Beiliang Mosque and oversaw its renovation in 1861.

In 1876, Zuo Zongtang sent Liu Jintang to lead the Qing army west, where they defeated Yaqub Beg and recaptured Urumqi. After the Qing army entered the city, they occupied Beiliang Mosque. In 1884, Xinjiang Governor Liu Jintang renamed it Wenchang Pavilion. Beiliang Mosque was not used as the Wenchang Pavilion for very long. During the Republic of China era, it was occupied by Kuomintang communication troops. After 1949, it was taken over by the People's Liberation Army communication troops and used as a military factory for a long time. It was not returned to the cultural heritage department for management until 2002.

In 2003, the cultural heritage department renovated the only remaining main hall of Beiliang Mosque. Citing 'site constraints and ease of public access,' they changed the traditional east-west orientation of the Hui Muslim hall to face south. Today, it is open as a place to introduce Taoist Wenchang culture.



















Hidden in the storefronts of the Guangyuan residential complex on Zhujiang Road in Urumqi is Li Yingping's Meatball and Vermicelli Soup (wanzifen tang). The owner has been selling meatball soup in the neighborhood for over twenty years and only moved to the Guangyuan complex in the last two years. This area is far from the food streets, so mostly only locals know about it.

Their signature dish is braised beef meatball noodle soup served with a steamed flower roll (huajuan). The beef is stewed until very flavorful and has a great texture, served with tofu, starch noodles, and wood ear mushrooms. I first thought their 'wonton dumplings' were two separate dishes, but I later learned they are dumplings shaped like wontons made by the owner. They have a lamb and onion (piyazi) filling, and you can eat them dry or in soup. The soup dumplings are served in the beef noodle soup, which I think is especially comforting in winter. I also tried their lentil noodle squares (biandou mianqizi). Small flag-shaped dough pieces simmer in the soup, paired with the creamy texture of lentils. It is a winter staple that warms the stomach for people in Xinjiang.



















February 14

Urumqi has so many food streets. From the early days of Shanxi Alley and Erdaoqiao to the later Lingguan Alley and Hotan Street, more and more places have become popular spots for food lovers. My biggest discovery on this trip back to Urumqi is that the area from Yingawati Road toward Zhujiang Road is getting busier. The ground-floor shops in the new residential area near the plastic factory are all restaurants newly opened by people from Hotan, each with its own unique style.

We first ate at this 1980s-style pan-fried bun (shuijianbao) shop. Pan-fried buns are a specialty of Ili, but this shop also sells Hotan-style corn naan (baogu nang) and old pigeon soup, making it a mix of northern and southern Xinjiang styles.

We ordered old pigeon soup, goose eggs, corn naan with milk tea, pan-fried buns, yogurt, and dried milk curds (naigeda). The old pigeon was delicious and very fragrant, though the soup was a little salty. The goose egg was large and looked crystal clear. The corn naan with milk tea is an incredible combination. The corn naan is a purely healthy food. The corn dough is filled with walnuts and topped with fried onions. It is a bit hard when dry, but it becomes soft on the outside and crispy on the inside when soaked in milk tea. Their milk tea is also very fresh. Of course, you can find fresh milk everywhere on the streets of Urumqi, so fresh milk tea is a given. They also sell various types of dried milk curds, including sheep milk, cow milk, and yogurt versions, some sour and some milder.

I had only eaten Henan-style pan-fried buns before. The biggest difference with Ili pan-fried buns is the use of a lamb and onion filling, seasoned with cumin and pepper. The dough is made with sourdough starter and fried in a flat pan just like in Henan, but it is served with salty milk tea instead of spicy soup. Ili pan-fried buns taste a bit like a leavened version of a baked bun (kaobaozi). Many people here love them and buy a lot at once.



























In the afternoon, while visiting relatives, we passed by the Chaiwopu No. 22 Spicy Chicken on Wuxing South Road. It is a 30-year-old shop, and it was packed with people and very lively. They serve Hui Muslim-style Xinjiang cuisine. A large portion of spicy chicken is a whole bird, and a medium portion is half. It is stir-fried to order, so it takes a while and you have to wait when it is busy, but the taste is better than Yang Le. Adding wide belt noodles (pidai mian) to it is very satisfying. Because the kids couldn't eat spicy food, we also ordered the mixed vegetable soup (dazahuai tang), which has beef meatballs, fried egg strips (jiasha), tofu, and wood ear mushrooms. The portion was large, and it was very warming in the winter. We also ordered stir-fried chestnut squash (banligua). The salty, fragrant, stir-fried squash was soft, waxy, and sweet. It was my first time eating it prepared this way, and it was quite good. The place is always too crowded and the service is just average, but the food is truly excellent. You cannot find this kind of spicy chicken (lazi ji) in Beijing.



















In the evening, we went to the cute Xinjiang Silk Road Feast (Silu Yan) at Shengda Plaza near the high-speed railway station. It is great for family gatherings. They have song and dance performances at night, and the menu is a fusion of many different things.



















February 15

In the morning, I took Suleiman to the top of Yaomo Mountain in Urumqi. It was his first time climbing a snow-covered mountain. We entered through the southeast gate. The path up to Yunmantai is quite gentle and the shortest route, so both the elderly and children can climb it. We took a dirt path going up and the paved road coming down. The scenery on both sides was different, and we even saw a pheasant on the way down.



















Another restaurant on Zhujiang Road, Hotan Flower Black Pilaf (Heizhuafan), is also very unique. It was my first time eating black pilaf in Urumqi. They only sell it at noon. We asked at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and it was sold out both times. We finally got to eat it when we went after 4 p.m.

Black pilaf is made by frying onions (piyazi) until they are completely charred and caramelized, rather than frying them to a light golden color like regular pilaf. They also add whole garlic cloves for flavor. Black pilaf has a richer flavor than white pilaf. I had it before in Tashkent and loved it, so I was happy to eat it again this time. You can actually find black pilaf in Southern Xinjiang, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, but it is rare in Northern Xinjiang. My relatives said an elderly Uzbek man used to sell black pilaf on Zhujiang Road, but we don't know if he is still there.

Their black pilaf comes with lemonade, yogurt, and mung bean jelly (liangfen). The spicy vinegar in the jelly adds a great kick. The waiter will come over and ask if you want more rice.

We also ordered the Hotan-style corn porridge. Hotan corn porridge is called 'umash' in the Uyghur language. To make it, you stir-fry onions in lamb fat, add diced lamb, then pour in lamb broth and bring it to a boil. You also add fresh corn kernels. It is completely different from the clear corn porridge in inland China. It is salty, rich, and full of ingredients, making it very warming in autumn and winter.















There are some new Uyghur restaurants on Zhujiang Road. I want to try this Hotan noodle soup next time.













In the evening, we had a meal at a relative's house, eating meatball soup and slow-cooked beef bone marrow. The homemade meatballs have lots of meat and very little starch; you really can't find this taste in restaurants. The beef bone marrow was stewed until soft and flavorful, so even the elderly could eat it easily. Steamed oil bread (youxiang) is a specialty of Xinjiang Hui Muslims. It is not deep-fried, making it healthier. It is fluffy in layers and carries the unique aroma of vegetable oil and fragrant clover (xiangdouzi).













February 16

In the morning, we attended a meal at the Huashenglou Banquet Hall, located across from the Changsheng Brigade Mosque in the southern suburbs of Urumqi. This land originally belonged to my wife's relatives, but later it was rented to a friend (dost) from Midong to open a restaurant. Whenever the family hosts a banquet, they replace the kitchen staff with relatives to cook and serve their friends and family themselves.

Changsheng is located at the southern foot of Yamalike Mountain. Under the Qing Dynasty's policy of settling soldiers to farm the border and the migration waves during the Republic of China, Hui Muslims from Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu arrived here to clear wasteland and farm, gradually forming a village. After the founding of New China, these Hui Muslim farming households were organized into the Changsheng Brigade, creating a stable Hui Muslim community. Compared to Hui Muslims living scattered in the city, the people here have kept more traditional customs, and their banquets are much larger.



















Following the order, nine small plates are served first while waiting for the main dishes, so people can drink tea and chat. The small plates contain things like dried fruits, snacks, and candied fruit. Then the small plates are cleared away and cold dishes are served, such as spiced dried tofu (xianggan), mung bean jelly (liangfen), and cold-tossed beef. Next come the stir-fried and stewed dishes, including clear-stewed lamb, braised beef steak, braised eggplant, pickled cabbage with lamb, fried hairtail fish, oil-seared meat (guoyourou), sauced meat-stuffed egg slices (jiashajiasha), stir-fried chives, and braised meatballs. These are all very traditional and have the true taste of a family banquet. Finally, they serve a sweet plate, also called eight-treasure rice (babaofan), which is very satisfying when drizzled with syrup.

































At noon, we had a gathering at Ma Laosan Huixiangge Restaurant in the Sangong area of Urumqi. The restaurant is near the northern edge of the city and specializes in Xinjiang Hui Muslim banquet dishes.

We ate the nine-bowl three-row banquet (jiuwan sanxingzi), which included sauced meat-stuffed egg slices, braised fish chunks, pearl meatballs, braised beef steak, sweet plate, yellow-braised beef, braised meatballs, spicy chicken chunks, and sauced jelly (menzi). The nine-bowl three-row banquet comes in large and small sizes. Ordering a small portion along with a few other dishes is just right. We had light dishes like shrimp with snow peas and wontons, as well as bold-flavored dishes like peppercorn fish and peppercorn chicken. The restaurant also gave us complimentary chive and meat dumplings. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: The Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai displayed 300 Louvre artworks from India, Iran, and the Ottoman Empire from December 13, 2025, to May 6, 2026. This article preserves the source's Persian Sufi poetry translations, object notes, historical context, and photographs.

From December 13, 2025, to May 6, 2026, the Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai displayed 300 artworks from the 16th to 19th centuries from India, Iran, and the Ottoman Empire, all from the Louvre's collection. Many of these items were purchased by King Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) from the Mughal and Ottoman empires and were once used to decorate royal palaces like the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles.

Many of these pieces feature Persian Sufi poetry, but the exhibition hall provided almost no information about them. Fortunately, the Louvre's official website has translations for these poems. You can visit the site, search using the location 'Shanghai,' and view all the items from this Shanghai exhibition at once.





Here are the items from the Shanghai exhibition that feature Persian poetry:

This jade cup from the Iranian Aq Qoyunlu dynasty (1450-1500), once in the collection of King Louis XIV, is inscribed with two Sufi poems in Arabic and Persian:

Because of the purity of the wine and the delicacy of the cup,

The color of the cup and the wine blend into one.

Everything in the world is like a cup,

As if no wine exists,

Or as if everything is fine wine,

And the cup itself is nowhere to be found.

The horizon is stained with the color of the morning sun,

Shedding the cloak of twilight,

Day and night are reconciled,

And all things in the world return to their proper order.

The imagery of the 'cup and wine' is frequently mentioned in Sufi poetry. Sufi sheikhs often use the cup and wine to represent the concepts of 'blending' and 'oneness' in Sufi thought, using the fusion of the two as a metaphor for spiritual elevation and unity. Therefore, when reading Sufi poetry, you should not interpret the meaning only from the surface.

The Arabic in the poem comes from Sahib ibn Abbad, a grand vizier of the Buyid dynasty in 10th-century Iran. He was a Persian scholar from Isfahan, Iran, who had a deep interest in Arabic culture and created many literary works.

The Persian text comes from the famous 15th-century Persian Sufi sheikh, Mir Shams-ud-Din Araqi. Araqi was from Iran and belonged to the Noorbakshia order. He traveled to Kashmir to preach, which led many local Tibetan-speaking Balti people to embrace the faith, leaving a profound impact on the development of the religion in the Kashmir region. After the 16th century, the Nurbakhshiyya order was gradually assimilated by the Twelver Shia sect in Iran, but it has been passed down to this day in the Kashmir region.





A copper alloy jar from the Mughal or Safavid dynasty, dating between 1585 and 1615, was once used to hold gemstones. Engraved on it is a poem from the 'Divan' by the famous 15th-century Persian Sufi poet Jami:

Your ruby cup is made from the pearls of the soul.

The longing of every person withered by love is hidden within this cup.

Everything that was once hidden behind the veil of the unseen,

Becomes clearly visible in the form of love.

This is the opening of a Sufi ode and a classic text where religious artifact art, Sufism, and Persian poetry become one. The 'withered person' refers to a seeker whose soul is tempered and obsessed with the love of Allah. The 'veil of the unseen' refers to the barrier between the secular world and the divine essence, where the mundane cannot glimpse the ultimate beauty and subtlety of Allah. 'Love' refers to the ultimate devotion to Allah, which is the only path to break through the veil of the unseen.

The cup in the poem is the physical manifestation of the soul's essence, corresponding to the Sufi ontology that 'all existence is a manifestation of Allah'. The divine nature is hidden by the 'veil of the unseen,' and divine love is the only power that can remove this cover. The seeker's devotion is poured into the object, turning the invisible divine subtlety into the visible beauty of the cup's body. The 'longing' hidden in the cup is the original intention of the Sufi practitioner and their yearning for Allah. The object becomes a 'medium' for practice; holding the cup and contemplating it means contemplating the connection between one's own soul and the divine.



A copper alloy candlestick from the Safavid or Mughal dynasty, dating between 1585 and 1600, has two Persian Sufi poems engraved on its upper and middle sections. The upper poem is by the Khorasan poet Mulla Hayrati Tuni (died 1554):

When the soul burns because of the love of an idol,

Love burns me every moment with another flame.

I am just like a butterfly near a candle flame,

If I take one step forward, my wings will be burned away.

I burn in the pain of loving you, and this burning has already witnessed,

The glory of the candle flame burning above me.

'Idol love' in the poem does not refer to worshipping material idols, but is a common rhetorical device in Sufi literature. It uses 'idol' to represent secular love or obsession with non-divine things, contrasting it with pure love for Allah to highlight the intensity and exclusivity of divine love.

The middle poem is from the famous 'Butterfly and Candle' passage in the masterpiece 'Bustan' (The Orchard) by the great Persian poet Saadi (1210-1291).

I remember a dim night.

With eyes closed, I heard a butterfly say to the candle flame,

I am worn out for love.

Burning is also a form of completion.

Why so many tears?

Why exhaust yourself?

The butterfly and the candle flame is a classic metaphor in Persian Sufi poetry. The butterfly represents the soul longing to unite with Allah, and the candle flame represents divine love and the light of Allah. Throwing oneself into the fire to burn one's wings means the soul is willing to dissolve itself in pursuit of divine love. It is a poetic expression of the Sufi state of selflessness.





A copper alloy candlestick from the Safavid or Mughal dynasty, dating between 1550 and 1600. The upper part is inscribed with Persian Sufi verses, also by the Khorasan poet Mulla Hairati Tuni, titled When the soul burns for the love of the idol.









A bronze candlestick from the 16th-century Mughal or Safavid dynasty. The upper part of the candlestick shaft is divided into four panels, each engraved with a Persian Sufi quatrain:

The lamp of the gnostic shines because of your face.

I see you, and the souls of all who know the heart turn toward your face.

My heart looks to you, for you are the ultimate destination of the universe.

May not a single hair on your head perish, for this world relies entirely on you.

In the poem, the gnostic refers to a practitioner in a Sufi order seeking inner enlightenment, and those who know the heart refers to Sufi mystics or those with spiritual awareness. This poem was written during the 15th-century Timurid dynasty, but it was very common on metalware and ceramics during the 16th-century Safavid dynasty.





A tinned copper bowl from the Safavid dynasty, dating from 1585 to 1650. It is engraved with the Persian name Firuz-i Rustam-i Firuz, which belonged to a Safavid court noble. Rustam is taken from the hero in the Persian epic Shahnameh, symbolizing bravery and nobility.

The bowl is engraved with two Persian Sufi quatrains:

This cup is filled with the nectar of the Kawthar spring.

Its outline is just like the lines of a beauty's cheek.

Whoever drinks the sweet dew from this cup,

Will be like Khidr, possessing the breath that gives life.

I travel fast through the desert of your love,

And see two thousand bloodthirsty black men.

They spoke to each other in mysterious, coded language:

Tilt the cup in your hand, but do not spill it!

The Kawsar (Kawsar) is the sacred pond in Paradise mentioned in the scriptures, known as the 'Pool of Abundance.' On the Day of Resurrection, people will rise from thirst, and the noble Prophet will offer the believers refreshing water from the pool.

'Desert' and 'cup' sound similar in Persian, so they are common metaphors in Sufi poetry. They refer to the use of the vessel while expressing a persistent search for divine love.

Khidr (Khidr) is considered by the faith to be an immortal saint, symbolizing life, wisdom, and guidance.







A bronze bath bucket from the Safavid or Mughal dynasty, dating between 1585 and 1615, is inscribed with Persian poetry:

When my moon-faced beauty steps into the bathhouse, I rise

I fill my eyes with water and pour it over her feet

To bathe you, oh, blooming rose

The sun becomes a golden cup, the new moon becomes the handle

Whenever my moon-faced beauty steps into the bathhouse

The water cup is my eye, and the eyebrow is its handle

This is a specialized bucket for a traditional Middle Eastern public bath (hammam), used to carry toiletries or hold water, and was a daily object for the wealthy class at the time. Using parts of everyday objects to describe a lover's appearance is a common rhetorical technique in Persian poetry. Blending the bathing scene with intense longing is a classic expression of the 'lover' (ashiq) theme in religious art.







A bronze bath bucket from the Safavid dynasty dated 1589 is inscribed with the same Persian poem as the previous one, along with the name 'Giyan Big' and the date '998,' which corresponds to the Hijri year 998 or 1589-90 AD.





An underglaze painted ceramic plate from the Safavid dynasty, dating between 1585 and 1615, is inscribed with a Persian quatrain:

May this plate always be full of blessings and delicious food

Long accompanying the table of elegant scholars and good friends

May the delicacies in the plate never run dry

Whoever eats from this plate (will have health and longevity)

This anonymous lyric poem was popular at the time and is commonly found on metal and ceramic wares used by the Safavid court and nobility. After the Safavid dynasty moved its capital to Isfahan in 1587, ceramic art was influenced by Chinese Wanli blue-and-white porcelain, leading to mass production of blue and white glazed wares. Meanwhile, Persian poetic inscriptions became a signature decoration for high-end items, reflecting the Safavid dynasty's appreciation for literature and calligraphy.





A miniature painting from the Bukhara Khanate between 1585 and 1600 shows an Uzbek or Mongol warrior leaning against a large Chinese porcelain vase. Above it is a Persian couplet:

Kissing our wine cup

They lift it to their foreheads

The fate of a wine lover

Is tied to the pattern on the rim of the cup

This is a classic wine and cup image in Sufi literature. In these Persian miniature poems, the wine cup symbolizes a spiritual vessel for union with Allah, and drinking symbolizes spiritual intoxication and soul awakening.





A Mughal dynasty calligraphy album page from 1772-1789 with floral decorations, featuring a Persian lyric poem:

I can no longer ask you for more, nor can I beg you

I can give up all hope for myself, but I can never give up on you

Written by the sinful servant Ali Reza. May Allah forgive him.

Using worldly love to describe absolute devotion to Allah is a classic pattern in classical Persian literature. Giving up the self while being unable to let go of the beloved is the core spirit of Sufi selflessness and devotion.





A portrait of a young man made during the Safavid dynasty in 1560. Persian poetry is written around it:

I long again for the breeze of the garden

My heart yearns for the beauty of the cypress and jasmine

The cypress symbolizes uprightness, immortality, and the integrity of a gentleman; it is an eternal image of nobility in Persian poetry. Jasmine represents fragrance and softness. Together with the cypress, they balance strength and gentleness, creating a perfect blend of nature and humanity in Persian aesthetics. The poem uses the garden scenery to express a longing for beautiful nature and pure states of mind, which is a typical way to express feelings through scenery in religious art.



A Rose and Nightingale book cover from the Qajar dynasty in Iran, 1775-1825. This period in Iran was the founding and consolidation of the Qajar dynasty. Fath-Ali Shah highly valued art, and court workshops gathered top lacquer artists. The center of the image shows irises, hyacinths, carnations, roses, and hazelnuts, surrounded by verses from The Orchard (Bustan) by the great Persian poet Saadi:

A rose without scent or color is a strange thing, and the nightingale would never fall in love with it.

O wise one, I admire its character and soul, not its handsome appearance.

The rose and nightingale theme matches the book cover decoration. Here, the idea that a nightingale still loves a rose without scent or color suggests that love is not based on looks, but on inner character and loyalty. This is a common moral poem in religious book binding, used to explain the values of true love, loyalty, and prioritizing the heart over material things.

The rose and nightingale is also one of the most classic themes in Persian Sufi literature and art, symbolizing the Sufi practitioner's longing for Allah.







A glazed ceramic bowl from the Qajar dynasty of Iran, dated 1808-09.

The center features a lyric poem by the great Persian poet Hafez:

Last night I saw angels busy in the tavern.

They kneaded the essence of human souls and poured it into a wine cup.

Written in the city on the first day of the month following Rabi al-Awwal.

Made by the craftsman Ramazan in the year 1223 of the Hijri calendar.

This is a typical Sufi poem. The tavern symbolizes a spiritual retreat, the essence of human souls (guli adam) represents personified spiritual knowledge, and the wine cup symbolizes a spiritual vessel for communion with Allah.

The first line around the edge contains verses from The Rose Garden (Gulistan) by the great Persian poet Saadi:

One day, I picked up a piece of scented clay dropped by a loved one,

I was intoxicated and obsessed by its fragrance,

So I asked: 'Are you ambergris, or are you musk?'

The clay replied softly:

'I was originally just a piece of common, humble earth,

But because I stayed close to a rose,

I became stained with the noble character of my companion,

Even though my essence remains the same, my spirit has become something different.'

This poem is a classic fable from The Rose Garden. Its core message is that character comes from one's companions, and that one's environment and friends can elevate an ordinary nature. By comparing itself to common earth and using the rose to represent good friends, wise people, and noble souls, it expresses the philosophy that one becomes like those they associate with. This fits the tradition of religious moral literature while using beautiful imagery suitable for ceramic housewares, making it a representative literary decoration for Iranian practical ceramics from the 18th and 19th centuries. Glazed ceramics from 18th and 19th-century Iran often featured famous lines from Persian poets like Saadi, Hafez, and Rumi, serving practical, aesthetic, and literary purposes.

The second line around the edge contains a Persian Sufi proverb:

The fool who gives his soul never leaves the path of the wise.

The nightingale with a heart burned by love never leaves the rose garden.

The true nature of a sincere lover is just like this.

Even if their head falls, they do not break their oath or promise.

The "nightingale with a heart burned by love" is a classic theme in Persian poetry, representing a seeker who sacrifices everything for love. While the oath refers to romantic love, it actually symbolizes loyalty to the path of Allah.

The third line around the edge comes from the narrative poem "Shapur and Shirin" (Maṯnawī-ye Šāpūr va Šhnāz):

One night, a performer sighed to himself in the wilderness.

In these mountains and deserts, where must I wander?

Come, let us spread our wings and fly to the royal city.

To talk and keep company with princes and nobles.

Sometimes acting as a close friend at the king's banquet.

This is a couplet from a classical Persian epic, a long romantic poem. It uses wandering in the wilderness to represent life's confusion and the royal city to represent ideals, power, and spiritual destination, making it perfect for decorating court-style objects.





A glazed ceramic bowl from the Qajar dynasty of Iran, dated 1800–1815.

The bottom of the bowl says:

For all who recite scripture and offer dua for me, I have my own hopes.

Because I am only a lowly servant burdened by sin.

The surrounding area features verses from the book "The Orchard" (Bustan) by the great Persian poet Saadi.

One day, I picked up a piece of scented clay dropped by a loved one,

I was intoxicated and obsessed by its fragrance,

So I asked: 'Are you ambergris, or are you musk?'

The clay replied softly:

'I was originally just a piece of common, humble earth,

But because I stayed close to a rose,

I became stained with the noble character of my companion,

Even though my essence remains the same, my spirit has become something different.'



A glazed ceramic bowl from the Qajar dynasty of Iran, dating to 1820-1821.

The bottom of the bowl says:

For all who recite scripture and offer dua for me, I have my own hopes.

Because I am only a lowly servant burdened by sin.

The inscription along the inner rim of the bowl reads:

Drink up, you gentle and sweet-mannered beauty.

Come drink this water of life from the palm of my hand.

May you drink in joy all your life, and be safe and healthy year after year.

May life be sweeter than rock sugar (bingtang), granulated sugar (shatang), dried fruits, and fragrant herbs.

There is also a fragment of a Shia text: Drink this water, you... fragrant lips, keep Ali and Abbas in your heart, and remember the grace of the king.

Ali was the fourth Caliph of the faith, and Abbas was a martyr of the Battle of Karbala.

The first part is a humble prayer poem at the bottom of the bowl, expressing the user's humility and desire for blessings. The second part is a celebratory poem for banquets on the rim, using the imagery of the water of life to encourage drinking and wish for a long, sweet life. The third part commemorates the Shia sages Ali and Abbas, serving both dining etiquette and devotional purposes. Together, these three parts form a typical inscription pattern for daily ritual vessels of the Qajar period, blending secular banquet culture, religious ethics, and Shia faith, serving as an important example of how classical Persian literature continued on everyday objects.



A glazed ceramic tile from Ottoman Syria, dating to 1570-1620, inscribed with Persian poetry:

Your poetry feast makes the heavens dance at this moment,

The poems of Hafez, with their sweet words and wonderful language, are your songs.

This is the final couplet of a classic lyric poem (ghazal) by the great Persian poet Hafez, and it is also a classical Persian couplet (masnavi).

In this context, the 'poetry feast (majlisat)' refers to a sacred gathering in the Sufi tradition where the divine and human connect. In Sufi literature, this poem means that the beauty and wisdom of Allah are the source of the universe's movement, and poetry is a way to speak about divine beauty. The heavens dance for the poetic feast, not for human entertainment, but because they are called by the beauty of sacred words. Hafiz's poetry turns divine beauty into human language, acting as a bridge between the mortal world and the heavens.





A copper ewer from the Safavid or Mughal dynasty in 1615 is engraved with a Persian classical lyric couplet (mathnawī):

At the feast of the enlightened, servants stand ready to serve.

Beauties from all directions stand holding pure water ewers.

The beloved washes their hands with soul and heart.

As the beauty pours the water, she still holds the ewer in her hand.

In Sufi literature, the "feast of the enlightened" refers to a Sufi gathering, "the beloved" refers to one who loves Allah, "water" refers to Allah's grace, and "washing with soul and heart" means cleansing the soul of worldly distractions and selfish desires, while "beauties" refers to the ways Allah's grace is delivered. Sufi practice emphasizes being clean in body and soul. Washing hands is not just a matter of hygiene; it is a spiritual ritual to wash away the dust of the soul with sacred water and offer sincerity to Allah. The poem turns an everyday object into a spiritual vessel for those seeking the Sufi path.





A 16th-century copper plate from the Safavid dynasty is engraved with three Persian poetic couplets.

The first couplet is from the Orchard (Bustan) by the great Persian poet Saadi:

May you enjoy all you wish for in this world, and may the heavens be your close friend.

May the Lord of Creation protect you forever.

The second couplet is from the work of the Persian poet Daqiqi:

May everything go as you wish.

May the Lord God protect your health.

The third couplet is from the story of Bijan and Manijeh in the Book of Kings (Shahnameh) by the great Persian poet Ferdowsi:

May the high heavens follow your heart's desire.

May the evil eye never be able to harm you.





A copper ewer with a dragon-shaped handle from Herat, Afghanistan, during the Timurid dynasty, dated 1480-1500.

The craftsman's signature on the bottom of the ewer reads: A work by Abd al-Husayn ibn Mubarak Shah.

Four panels on the belly of the ewer are engraved with lyric poetry by the 12th-13th century Persian Sufi poet Qasim al-Anwar.

When the eastern shadow of the eternal dawn appears

The beautiful face of the Beloved emerges from the dust of creation

The jar of eternal wine was clear and without dregs from the start

After entering my heart's cup, it reaches an even purer state

This poem is a typical Sufi literary work, using the morning shadow as a metaphor for the manifestation of Allah, and wine to represent the infusion of divinity into the heart and the purification of the soul.

The four panels on the neck of the pot are carved with another Persian poem, though unfortunately, it can no longer be fully read:

The star of fortune has arrived at your orbit and conjunction

...among the free

...a copper cup

A drinking vessel for those intoxicated by love... a place for drinking

This poem continues the Sufi metaphorical tradition of wine, love, and auspicious signs, sharing the same poetic lineage as the poem on the belly of the pot. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This book note introduces the renewed publication of Tianfang Shijing, including the classical Ode to the Imperial Robe, as a work linking Islamic literary tradition and Chinese cultural expression. It preserves the source's book details, historical references, publication context, and literary framing.



1

Introduction

In the galaxy of Islamic literature, one poem has been recited for over seven hundred years. It is considered the greatest poem praising the Prophet Muhammad, and it is the famous Arabic literary work, the Burda (al-Burda).

Its full name is al-Kawakib al-Durriyya fi Madh Khayr al-Bariyya, which means "The Glittering Stars in Praise of the Best of Creation." Chinese readers know it better by the title Robe of Honor (Gunyi Song), a work known to every household.

The author of the Classic of Arabian Poetry (Tianfang Shijing) is the famous medieval Arab poet al-Busiri

(1213–c. 1296). In the 16th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1890), the Chinese Islamic scholar Ma Dexin

guided the translation and explanation, while Ma Anli

compiled the text with the assistance of Ma Xuehai,

and it was published by the Baozhen Hall in Chengdu. This translation represents the scholarship and faith of several generations of scholars.

The entire book contains 161 bayt (couplets)

that follow the Arabic letter "mim" rhyme throughout. The poem unfolds in layers, moving from longing and awakening to praise, repentance, and dua, celebrating the perfect virtues of the Prophet Muhammad, whose inner nature and outer conduct were in harmony with Allah. The translators followed the style of the Book of Songs (Shijing) and divided the poem into three volumes: "Wisdom," "Benevolence," and "Courage."

The translation uses four-character lines, four lines per stanza, with rhyming even lines, making it rhythmic and beautiful to read in Chinese.



An inside page of the Classic of Arabian Poetry (Tianfang Shijing)

What makes the Classic of Arabian Poetry (Tianfang Shijing) especially rare is that it is not just a translation of poetry; it also incorporates the commentaries of generations of scholars from the Arab world

to explain the meaning of the poem line by line, which is why it is also called the Collected Commentaries on the Burda (Geshuide Jizhu). Because of this, it can be used for both spiritual cultivation and academic study, holding both literary and intellectual value.

The Classic of Arabian Poetry (Tianfang Shijing) has been recited in China for a long time, and people often read it morning and night as a way to cultivate their spirit. The "Original Preface" in the book lists nine methods for reciting the poem, systematically explaining the rituals and mindset for reading it, turning the poetry into a bridge toward faith and practice. At the end of each chapter, the translators often explain the circumstances under which that chapter should be read. For example, the twenty-second poem says, "Whether hungry or full, guard against the harm of excess;" When suffering from hunger or feeling hurt by accumulation, the end of the collection notes says: 'This chapter and the next are for when the heart is hard or controlled by desires. On the day of congregational prayer (Friday) or during fasting, recite these two chapters again. In the early morning, you will find your heart clear and bright, your desires reduced, and you will be able to perform your daily duties, repent, and seek forgiveness. Allah will accept your sincerity.'

This shows that the 'Tianfang Shijing' (Classic of Arabian Poetry) is a book for constant reading and recitation, meant to cleanse the heart, purify one's nature, control desires, and practice one's faith.



'Tianfang Shijing' (Classic of Arabian Poetry)

Ma Dexin once sighed that this poem had long ago reached China, but because it lacked annotations, it was 'not easily understood by ordinary people,' which kept its brilliance hidden for a long time. During his pilgrimage to Mecca, he obtained an authoritative annotated version. He was determined to 'translate the poetry of the Western Regions into the language of the Eastern Land,' which finally led to the birth of this great Chinese translation.

Against the backdrop of the growing prosperity of Chinese Islamic literature in the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty, the appearance of the 'Tianfang Shijing' was especially precious. Ma Dexin believed that this poem had 'cadence in its words, profound principles, pure and sincere meaning, and deep logic.' It is not only a standard for poets but also a medicine for those who study poetry. As Ma Anli said in his 'Preface,' 'The teachings of poetry are great.' It can rectify customs, harmonize people's hearts, and help people transform themselves through the path.

Today, when we open the 'Tianfang Shijing' again, we are not just reading a religious poem; we are listening to a deep chant that crosses time and space and connects civilizations.

—One poem, one classic, and a history of the blending of Chinese and Arabic cultures.

2

Table of Contents



'Tianfang Shijing' Bookmark



'Tianfang Shijing' Copyright Page



'Tianfang Shijing' Table of Contents



'Tianfang Shijing' Editorial Note Signature

3

Book Title Seal



Calligrapher Wang Qifei wrote the Arabic title seal for the 'Tianfang Shijing' in the style of Yunnan Arabic calligraphy.

To thank readers for their support and attention, this book specially invited the famous calligrapher Wang Qifei to handwrite the title for the 'Tianfang Shijing.' Based on this, we created a commemorative seal included with the book as a collectible memory of this literary connection.

The title is presented in Arabic calligraphy. In his creation, Wang Qifei referred to the traditional style of Arabic calligraphy from the madrasas (jingtang) in the Yunnan region.

He combined this with the common writing and design styles of Yunnan religious book titles. This makes the work continue the local calligraphic tradition while fitting the historical atmosphere and spiritual content of the book, making it simple and elegant with a unique charm.

Wang Qifei is a calligrapher who inherits the Ottoman calligraphy art system, a visiting professor of Arabic culture at Beijing Language and Culture University, and a researcher at the OIC Research Center of Hebei University.

Mr. Wang has long been engaged in the teaching of traditional Arabic calligraphy and the collection, organization, and research of Chinese Arabic calligraphy. In recent years, I have given lectures on the history of Arabic calligraphy and taught practical calligraphy courses at universities including Beijing Language and Culture University, Tsinghua University, Beijing International Studies University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China University of Petroleum, and Communication University of China.

4

How to purchase

To ensure this thousand-year-old cultural heritage is passed down completely and shines again, Mr. Chen Hui has spent many years working with deep respect for ancient texts. He searched for various fragments, traced their origins, compared differences, and carefully edited the text. After many challenges, he finally brought this classic back to the world in a new collector's edition. This new edition is published by the Religious Culture Press. It comes in a hard-case set, printed on high-quality rice paper (xuanzhi). The three-volume set has a clean, elegant layout, making it perfect for both study and collection.

If you love ancient books and cross-cultural stories, this set will help you connect with the history of exchange between Chinese and Arab civilizations. If you value the cultural quality of a collection, this is a treasure worth owning. Whether for reading, display, or as a gift for a friend, it is both meaningful and valuable.

This book comes in a three-volume set, printed on rice paper with a classic, antique feel. You can choose between a signed edition and a commemorative edition:

1. Signed edition: 550 yuan per set (including shipping). It includes a signature from the editor, Mr. Chen Hui, and a commemorative seal featuring the Arabic title written by calligrapher Mr. Wang Qifei.

2. Commemorative edition (only 130 sets available): 680 yuan per set (including shipping). Bonus: A single leaf from an original fragment of the "Tianfang Shijing" (Classic of Arabian Poetry) from Mr. Chen Hui's personal collection. As shown in the picture:



Fragment of the "Tianfang Shijing"

If you are interested, please contact 15901334054.

-END- view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This first part of the Cairo mosque journey begins with early landmarks such as Al-Hakim Mosque and Al-Aqmar Mosque. It preserves the source's mosque names, founding years, dynastic context, street route, architectural details, and photographs.

Al-Hakim Mosque: 1013

Al-Aqmar Mosque: 1125

Al-Ashraf Mosque: 1424

Al-Azhar Mosque: 972

Al-Hussein Mosque: built in 1154, rebuilt in 1874

Abu al-Dhahab Mosque: 1774

Al-Muayyad Mosque: 1415

Al-Salih Tala'i Mosque: 1160

Mahmud al-Kurdi Mosque: 1395

Qijmas al-Ishaqi Mosque: 1480

Mosque of Ahmad al-Mihmandar: 1324

Mosque of Amir Altinbugha al-Mardani: 1338

Mosque of Umm al-Sultan Sha'ban: 1368

Blue Mosque: 1347

Sayyida Fatima Mosque: 18th-century expansion

Khayrbak Mosque: 1519

Sultan Hasan Mosque: 1356

Rifa'i Mosque: 1869.

Ibn Tulun Mosque: 876.

Taghribirdi Mosque: 1440

Shaykhu Mosque: 1349

Qanibay al-Muhammadi Mosque: 1413

Al-Hakim Mosque: 1013

Right next to the north wall of Old Cairo is the Al-Hakim Mosque. It is named after the sixth caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, who was also the 16th imam of the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (reigned 996-1021). The Al-Hakim Mosque was started in 990 by the fifth Fatimid Caliph, al-Aziz Billah (reigned 975-996), and finished in 1013 by Caliph al-Hakim. It is now 1,012 years old.

The mosque originally sat outside the Cairo city walls, but it was brought inside after the walls were rebuilt in 1087. Its architectural style is similar to the Al-Azhar Mosque, but it is twice as large. The most striking features are the two minarets built on square brick bases. When the minarets were first built in 1003, they were separate structures. They were not encased in brick until 1010. Some scholars suggest this change relates to 1010, when the ruler of Mecca rejected Fatimid authority, weakening the dynasty's power. The outer wall of the southern brick base has Fatimid-era marble carvings in Kufic script. Because the northern base was incorporated into the northern wall of Old Cairo in 1087, its Kufic carvings were moved to the outside of the city wall.

During the Crusades, the Franks used the mosque as a prison. Later, Saladin used it as a stable. It was repaired during the Mamluk period in the 14th century, but it eventually fell into ruin for a long time. The mosque was repaired in 1808, and a small, colorful marble mihrab added during that time still exists today.

In the 20th century, the mosque served as a school until 1980, when the Dawoodi Bohra branch of Shia Islam carried out a massive reconstruction and renovation using white marble. Inside the main hall after the reconstruction, only the original plaster carvings, wooden beams, and scripture remained. This restoration was criticized by scholars for being 'inauthentic' and sparked widespread debate. In 2017, the Dawoodi Bohra community and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities launched a new round of repairs, and the mosque did not reopen until February 2023.



















Al-Aqmar Mosque: 1125

Walking south from the Al-Hakim Mosque along Al-Mu'izz Street, the main road of Old Cairo, you can see the famous Fatimid-era Aqmar Mosque. The Aqmar Mosque was built in 1125-1126 by order of the Fatimid vizier Al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi. It sat at the northeast corner of the Fatimid Eastern Palace, right next to the palace grounds.

The Aqmar Mosque is a landmark in Egyptian architectural history. It was the first mosque with a main entrance aligned with the street rather than the qibla wall, meaning it was the first planned according to Cairo's street layout. It was also the first to feature complex stone carvings. The facade of the Aqmar Mosque is very luxurious. Above the entrance is a medallion surrounded by a grille, with the names of the Prophet and Ali in the center and scripture around it—a unique decoration in Cairo.

At the top of the left facade are carvings of doors and windows. The window on the left symbolizes the ceremonial grille the Fatimids took back from the palace of their rivals, the Abbasids in Baghdad, representing victory. Inside the window are a lamp and a six-pointed star, based on the Shia hadith: 'The star is a promise to the world, and it will not be submerged.' Below the window are carvings of plants growing from a flower pot, referencing the Prophet's words about Hasan and Husayn: 'My two fragrant herbs in the world.' The door in the upper right corner comes from the famous Shia hadith: 'I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate.'

Because it was near the Fatimid palace, the Aqmar Mosque originally had no minaret. One was added by the Mamluk dynasty at the end of the 14th century, and the cylindrical top was rebuilt during the Ottoman period.

In 1993, the Dawoodi Bohras branch of Shia Islam carried out a large-scale renovation of the Aqmar Mosque. Most of the historical elements inside the main hall were not preserved, which led to criticism.



















Al-Ashraf Mosque: 1424

The Ashraf Mosque (Al-Ashraf Mosque) was built in 1424 by the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Barsbay, who reigned from 1422 to 1438. The complex includes a main prayer hall, a school, a tomb, and a Sufi lodge (khanqah). It features a dome with geometric carvings, which is an early example of decorative dome carving.

Barsbay was once a Mamluk slave of Sultan Barquq and later served as a tutor to the young Sultan Muhammad. With support from the governor of Damascus and other emirs, Barsbay deposed the young sultan in 1422 and took the throne himself.

Barsbay’s 16-year reign was a time of relative safety and stability for the Mamluk Sultanate, with almost no wars. He was very generous to the poor and to Sufis, and he carried out a series of administrative reforms.

People called Barsbay the Merchant Sultan because he placed great importance on trade. He took steps to strengthen control over the Mediterranean and Red Seas, diverted Indian Ocean trade routes through Jeddah, and created state monopolies on sugar and pepper. He lowered tariffs to attract merchants and monopolized most of the trade from the East, which angered many European powers.



















Al-Azhar Mosque: 972

In 969 AD, the Shia Ismaili Fatimid dynasty conquered Egypt and began building their new capital, Cairo. At that time, the densely populated Sunni city of Fustat already existed south of Cairo, so the new city became the center for the Shia Ismaili faith.

After two years of construction, the first Friday mosque (Jami) in Cairo opened in 972 and was named the Cairo Mosque (Jami al-Qahira) after the city. The Cairo Mosque was later renamed the Al-Azhar Mosque (al-Jami al-Azhar), with Al-Azhar meaning the Radiant.

After the Al-Azhar Mosque opened, the Ismailis moved from secret to public preaching. The mosque's first chief judge, Qadi al-Numan, became the founder of Ismaili law and the author of the authoritative Ismaili text, The Pillars of Islam (Kitab da'a'im al-Islam).

The main hall of the Al-Azhar Mosque is a columned hall. The marble columns in the four rows of arcades came from ruins of the Pharaohs, ancient Rome, and the Copts, and they were leveled using bases of different heights.

The roof of the main hall originally had three domes, but none survived later renovations. The original mihrab was rediscovered in 1933, and the niche still preserves ornate stucco carvings from the Fatimid period.

Several Fatimid caliphs expanded and renovated the Al-Azhar Mosque. Caliph al-Hafiz, who reigned from 1132 to 1149, carried out a major renovation in 1138. The four-centered arches in the courtyard and the dome at the entrance to the main hall date from this time. The stucco carvings in the courtyard also come from this period, though they were renovated again in 1891.



















In 1171, Saladin overthrew the Fatimid dynasty and established the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty. The Friday prayers for Cairo moved to the Hakim Mosque in the north of the city, and the Al-Azhar Mosque was neglected because it had been the center of the Ismaili faith. Saladin removed the silver bands from the mihrab niche of the Al-Azhar Mosque that bore the names of the Fatimid caliphs and destroyed all the Ismaili manuscripts kept in the mosque.

It was not until 1266 that the Mamluk Sultan Baybars, who reigned from 1260 to 1277, restored Friday prayers at the Al-Azhar Mosque and repaired the building. The Ayyubid dynasty followed the Shafi'i school of law, which held that a community should have only one main Friday mosque. The Mamluk dynasty followed the Hanafi school, which did not have this rule.

The Mamluk dynasty left two grand minarets at Al-Azhar Mosque: the Qaytbay minaret and the twin minarets of Al-Ghuri, along with the Qaytbay Gate. The Qaytbay minaret was built in 1483 or 1495 and features three balconies decorated with ornate carvings. The Qaytbay Gate was built in 1495 and leads directly into the courtyard. Both are exquisite examples of late Mamluk architecture. During the reign of Sultan Qaytbay (1468-96), the Mamluk dynasty was politically and economically stable and won several military victories against the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan was very interested in art and architecture and sponsored as many as 230 buildings.

In 1509, the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri (reigned 1501-16) built the twin minarets of Al-Ghuri. Al-Ghuri was the last powerful ruler of the Mamluk dynasty. He was eventually defeated by the Ottoman Empire and fell on the battlefield in Syria.



















In 1517, the Ottoman Empire conquered the Mamluk dynasty and occupied Egypt, causing the status of Al-Azhar Mosque to decline once again. It was not until after the 18th century, when the Mamluk elite regained influence in Egypt, that renovations and expansions of Al-Azhar Mosque continued.

In 1749, Abd al-Rahman was appointed as the head of the guards (Katkhuda). In 1753, he oversaw the construction of three Ottoman-style gates for Al-Azhar Mosque: the Barbers' Gate (Bab al-Muzayinīn), the Gate of the Upper Egyptians (Bab al-Sa'ayida), and the Soup Gate (Bab al-Shurba). Outside the Barbers' Gate was where students got their hair cut, 'Sa'ayida' means people from Upper Egypt, and the Soup Gate was where students went to get soup. From then on, the Barbers' Gate became the main entrance to Al-Azhar Mosque.

Abd al-Rahman also doubled the size of the main prayer hall of Al-Azhar Mosque to the south and added a new mihrab, giving the hall its current shape. After Abd al-Rahman died in 1776, he was buried inside Al-Azhar Mosque, becoming the last person in history to be buried there.

After the 18th century, Al-Azhar Mosque became the most influential educational institution in Egypt, and the ulama (scholars) could report to the Pasha (governor) as official advisors.

Napoleon occupied Cairo on July 22, 1798. On October 21, an uprising against the French broke out at Al-Azhar Mosque. Napoleon shelled the mosque directly from the Cairo Citadel, resulting in over 3,000 Egyptian casualties and the death of six Al-Azhar ulama. Napoleon's troops tied their horses to the mihrab of Al-Azhar Mosque and ransacked the student dormitories and the library. In 1800, the commander-in-chief of the French expeditionary force was assassinated by an Al-Azhar student, after which Napoleon ordered the closure of Al-Azhar Mosque. In June 1801, Cairo was recaptured by the British and the Ottoman Empire, and Al-Azhar Mosque reopened.



















Between 1892 and 1901, the last Khedive (viceroy) of Ottoman Egypt, Abbas II Hilmi Pasha, rebuilt the facade of Al-Azhar Mosque as part of a wave of modernization in British-occupied Egypt. At the same time, Al-Azhar University also carried out educational reforms to oppose fundamentalism. To mitigate the impact of the Saudi Wahhabi movement, many students from Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia came to study at Al-Azhar University during this period.

The last two pictures show the Fatimid dynasty stucco carvings restored by the Committee for the Preservation of Arab Art Monuments during the reign of Abbas II Hilmi Pasha.













Al-Hussein Mosque: built in 1154, rebuilt in 1874

Across from Al-Azhar Mosque is Al-Hussein Mosque, where Shia Muslims believe the head of Imam Hussein is buried. The mosque was first built in 1154, but its current appearance dates to a reconstruction in 1874.

The Fatimid dynasty believed the Abbasid dynasty secretly moved Imam Hussein's head from the Umayyad Mosque cemetery in Damascus. The Fatimids rediscovered it in 1091 and built a shrine for it in Ashkelon, Palestine.

In 1153, the Fatimid dynasty ordered the head of Hussein moved to Cairo to be buried with past Fatimid caliphs, and they built Al-Hussein Mosque in 1154. The lower part of the south gate of Al-Hussein Mosque still keeps its original Fatimid structure.

Al-Hussein Mosque was rebuilt by the Ayyubid dynasty in 1237, but it later burned down, leaving only one Ayyubid minaret today.

In 1874, Isma'il Pasha (reigned 1863-79), the ruler of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, rebuilt Al-Hussein Mosque in a Gothic Revival style and added a minaret blending Gothic and Ottoman styles. During his rule, Isma'il Pasha modernized Egypt on a large scale, trying to align Egypt with Europe, and the renovation of Al-Hussein Mosque was part of this effort.

In 1893, a room for Prophet Muhammad's relics (Bab al-Mukhallafat al-Nabawiyya) was added next to the shrine. It holds four strands of the Prophet's hair, a linen cloak he wore, a lantern, a copper kohl applicator, a staff, and a sword given to him by a companion.

The center of the shrine today is a metal grille (Zarih) made in Mumbai in 1965 by Taher Saifuddin, the leader of the Dawoodi Bohras. It is said this Zarih was originally designed for the shrine of Abbas ibn Ali in Karbala, but it could not be installed there. Taher Saifuddin believed this was guided by Allah, so he had the Zarih flown to Cairo and installed in Al-Hussein Mosque.



















Abu al-Dhahab Mosque: 1774

Right next to the west wall of Al-Azhar Mosque is the Abu al-Dhahab Mosque, built in 1774 by the Egyptian Mamluk ruler Abu al-Dhahab. This was the last large building complex the Mamluks built in Egypt, but only the mosque remains today.

Abu al-Dhahab means 'Father of Gold,' and he was a wealthy and generous Mamluk emir. During the Russo-Turkish War, the Egyptian Mamluk emir Ali Bey declared independence from the Ottoman Empire, and Abu al-Dhahab led troops to conquer most of the Hejaz and Syria. After taking Damascus in 1772, Abu al-Dhahab turned his army to occupy Cairo, becoming the actual ruler of Egypt until he died suddenly of the plague in 1775 while conquering Palestine.

The architecture of Abu al-Dhahab Mosque mixes different elements, including Mamluk-style outer walls, Ottoman-style domes, and a minaret inspired by the early 16th-century minaret of the nearby Sultan Qaytbay complex.



















The prayer niche (mihrab) and the pulpit (minbar) of Abu al-Dhahab Mosque feature Mamluk-style decorations inlaid with mother-of-pearl and marble.

















Al-Muayyad Mosque: 1415

Right next to the south gate of the old city of Cairo is the Sultan Al-Mu'ayyad Mosque, built between 1415 and 1421 by the Mamluk Sultan Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh (reigned 1412-1421). This site was originally a prison, and legend says Sultan Al-Mu'ayyad was held here when he was young. At the time, he suffered greatly from fleas and lice, so he made a dua that if he ever became Sultan, he would turn the site into a place for teaching and learning. This wish later came true.

With the Sultan's funding, the madrasa inside the Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Mosque became one of Cairo's most famous academic institutions in the 15th century. The large endowment left after the Sultan passed away allowed the school to hire the most brilliant scholars of the time. Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani, the most famous authority on Islamic jurisprudence in Egypt, taught Shafi'i law here.

The madrasa at the Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Mosque taught the four schools of Islamic law: Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali. According to mosque records, the school could accommodate 50 Hanafi students, 40 Shafi'i students, 15 Maliki students, and 10 Hanbali students, along with their teachers and imams. There were also two classes with 20 students each dedicated to studying Quranic exegesis and Hadith.

The Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Mosque is the last large hypostyle mosque in Cairo. It originally had four facades, but today only the east side and the main prayer hall remain from the original structure. The mosque's main gate is known as the last grand gate of the Mamluk dynasty. It is decorated with beautiful geometric marble patterns, Kufic calligraphy, and complex stucco carvings.



















The main prayer hall of the Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Mosque was one of the most ornate in Egypt at the time, and the qibla wall is decorated with colorful marble. The supporting stone columns were collected from Cairo and the surrounding areas, and they likely date back to the pre-Islamic era. The circular colorful marble decoration above the mihrab is also very unique, as this style was almost always used for floors rather than walls. Turkish tiles were added to the qibla wall in the 1840s, but they were removed to restore the original design during a 2001 renovation.



















The Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Mosque features exquisite wood carvings from the Mamluk period, including the minbar, wooden doors, and ceilings. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This first part of the Tunisia mosque journey begins with the Great Mosque of Kairouan, founded in 670 and rebuilt in 836, and follows a route through major early Islamic sites. It keeps the source's mosque names, dates, dynastic references, architecture, images, and travel observations in one English long-form article.

Great Mosque of Kairouan: founded in 670, rebuilt in 836.

Mosque of the Three Doors (Jami al-Thalathat Abwab) in Kairouan: 866.

Mosque of the Barber (Zaouia of Sidi Sahab) in Kairouan: 1629.

Zaytuna Mosque in Kairouan: date unknown.

Great Mosque of Zaytuna in Tunis: founded in 698, rebuilt in 864.

Kasbah Mosque in Tunis: 1230.

New Mosque (Jami al-Jadid) in Tunis: 1726.

Ksar Mosque in Tunis: founded in 1106, rebuilt in 1647.

Hammouda Pasha Mosque in Tunis: 1655.

Sidi Mahrez Mosque in Tunis: 1692.

El Ichbili Mosque in Tunis: founded in the 10th century.

Youssef Dey Mosque in Tunis: 1616.

Great Mosque of Sousse: 851.

Great Mosque of Monastir: founded in the 9th century.

Great Mosque of Hammamet: founded in the 12th century.

Great Mosque of Kairouan: founded in 670, rebuilt in 836.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan is the oldest and most spectacular Friday mosque in Tunisia. It was founded in 670 by order of the Arab Umayyad general Uqba ibn Nafi. It was destroyed by Christian Berbers in 690 and rebuilt by the Umayyad dynasty in 703. As Arabs spread the faith across the Tunisia region, the number of Muslims in Kairouan grew. The Great Mosque of Kairouan underwent many rebuilds and renovations in 724-728, 774, 836, 862-863, and 875, finally taking its current form in the 9th century.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan is a massive, irregular quadrilateral with a perimeter of 405 meters. From the outside, it looks like a fortress. The outer walls are 1.9 meters thick and built from stone, rubble, and bricks. Because the ground is quite soft, the mosque's outer walls have many buttresses to add stability.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan has nine gates, some of which feature porches and ribbed domes. Bab Lalla Rihana on the southeast side was built in 1293 during the Hafsid dynasty. It features a horseshoe arch and ancient stone columns that blend perfectly with the 9th-century walls.



















The minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan was built between the 8th and 9th centuries. The current structure mostly dates to 836. It is ranked as one of the three most important early minarets, alongside the spiral minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq (built 848-852) and the spiral minaret of the Abu Dulaf Mosque in Iraq (built 859). It served as a model for later minarets across Andalusia and the Maghreb.

During the time of the Prophet and the four Caliphs, there were no minarets. People called for prayer from the mosque entrance or the roof. Platforms for the call to prayer appeared during the Umayyad Caliphate in the 7th century, but true minarets did not emerge until the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century. There is no final conclusion on the origin of the minaret. Some say it mimics Syrian church towers, while others suggest it copies the Lighthouse of Alexandria or Mesopotamian ziggurats. Four towers were built during the reconstruction of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca in the late 8th century, but they have not survived. The oldest surviving minarets are the Great Mosque of Kairouan and two in Iraq. The Bride Minaret at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus may also date to the 9th century, but there is no clear record of this.

The minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan is 31.5 meters high. Its base dates back to the Umayyad period in 725, and you can see Latin inscriptions from the Roman era on the walls. The first and second levels of the minaret were built in 836 using carefully cut stone. There are windows facing the courtyard and arrow slits on the other three sides. The third level of the minaret is a four-arched structure (chahartaq), which was likely added later.













Three sides of the Great Mosque are surrounded by double-row horseshoe arches. The columns come from various ancient Roman and Byzantine ruins, including some from the famous site of Carthage.

There is a dome above the main entrance of the prayer hall and another above the mihrab. These domes, built in 836, are important examples of early mosque architecture.

The prayer hall connects to the arcades through 17 carved wooden doors. The most exquisite one in the center was built in 1828 and features rich geometric and floral patterns.



















The mosque's mihrab is 5.1 meters high and was also built in 863. It is the oldest concave mihrab in the world. The main body of the mihrab is a horseshoe arch supported by two red marble columns. The columns have Byzantine-style capitals with very fine carvings.

The upper part of the mihrab has 139 luster tiles fired in the second half of the 9th century. This metallic-glazed pottery originated in Abbasid-ruled Iraq and circulated throughout West Asia and North Africa. It is not yet certain whether the luster tiles of the Great Mosque of Kairouan were fired in Iraq or if Iraqi craftsmen were invited to Kairouan to make them.

The concave surface in the center of the upper section is painted wood, featuring complex vine patterns in yellow on a blue background. The lower section is inlaid with 28 white marble slabs carved with complex plant and geometric patterns, including stylized grape leaves, flowers, and shells.



















Next to the mihrab are the minbar for the Friday sermon and the enclosure (maqsurah) used by kings and nobles.

The minbar of the Great Mosque of Kairouan was also built in 863 and is the oldest surviving minbar in the world. The minbar is made of teak imported from India and is assembled from over 300 wooden panels carved with plant and geometric designs. Although it was restored in the early 20th century, all but nine of the wooden panels are original pieces from over a thousand years ago. Today, the sides of the minbar are protected by glass, making it difficult to take photos due to the reflection.

The maqsurah of the Great Mosque of Kairouan was built in the first half of the 11th century and is the oldest one still in use in the world (the maqsurah of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain was built in 965 but is no longer in use). The prayer enclosure (maqsura) is made of cedar wood and measures 14 meters long. It is carved with ornate Kufic calligraphy and floral patterns, representing the highest achievement in Tunisian carving art at the time.

The maqsura originated in the mid-7th century during the time of Caliph Uthman. After Caliph Umar was assassinated inside the main prayer hall, Uthman built a wall inside the hall to protect himself. Later, a maqsura was built in every mosque where a caliph prayed.



















The main prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan is 70.6 meters wide and 37.5 meters deep. It consists of 17 aisles, with the aisle directly facing the mihrab being the tallest and widest. This layout was later adopted by major mosques across the Maghreb and Andalusia.

The main hall contains 414 stone columns made of marble, granite, and porphyry. The column capitals feature Corinthian, Ionic, and composite styles. Some capitals were carved specifically for the main hall, while many others came from ancient Roman, Phoenician, and Byzantine sites in Tunisia, including the famous ancient city of Carthage.















The gate inside the main hall's maqsura is decorated with marble floral carvings. This gate leads to the library behind the qibla wall, which is also where the imam usually stays. The imam only comes out from here to lead the prayer and deliver the khutbah.





The grand scene of Jumu'ah at the Great Mosque of Kairouan. After the adhan is called, the imam slowly walks up the minbar to begin the khutbah. In Arabic-speaking regions, everyone understands the khutbah, so there is no need for a prior sermon (wa'z).

Tunisia follows the Maliki school of thought. The namaz movements are quite similar to our Hanafi school, including the initial raising of the hands, but the main difference is that they also fold their arms when making the intention.

After the prayer, we stood outside the main hall for the funeral prayer (janazah). Because Jumu'ah was at three o'clock, we immediately returned to the main hall to pray the Asr prayer (dhuhr/asr context) after finishing.

From the 9th to the 11th century, the Great Mosque of Kairouan was the academic center for the entire Maghreb region and the Maliki school. to religious courses, it offered subjects like mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and botany. In 1045, the Zirid dynasty court in Kairouan announced its adherence to the Sunni faith. Upon hearing this, the Shi'a Fatimid dynasty in Egypt sent a group of Arab tribes to invade Kairouan. In 1057, these Arab tribes occupied and destroyed Kairouan. The Great Mosque of Kairouan declined from then on and did not slowly recover until after the 13th century.



















The Museum of the Ribat of Monastir in Tunisia houses wooden components from the 9th to 11th centuries from the main hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan. Seeing these thousand-year-old North African wooden structures is truly stunning.

















Mosque of the Three Doors (Jami al-Thalathat Abwab) in Kairouan: 866.

Besides the Great Mosque, another ancient mosque existing in Kairouan is the Mosque of the Three Doors (Jami' al-Thalathat Abwab), built in 866. This mosque has the oldest decorated facade of any religious building in the world.

Today, only the facade of the Mosque of the Three Doors retains its 9th-century appearance, while the adjacent minaret was added in 1440. The gate of the Mosque of the Three Doors consists of three horseshoe arches and features four ancient stone columns. Above the arch are carved floral patterns and Kufic calligraphy, which include verses and the name of the builder, Muhammad ibn Khairun. Muhammad ibn Khairun was a scholar and merchant from Andalusia who traveled through Iraq and Egypt to reach Kairouan, Tunisia. When the minaret was added in 1440, the original 9th-century inscriptions were rearranged to make room for new text.



















Mosque of the Barber (Zaouia of Sidi Sahab) in Kairouan: 1629.

In the northwest of the Kairouan Medina stands an important tomb for Sidi Sahib, a companion and barber to the Prophet, which is why it is also called the Barber Mosque.

Legend says Sidi Sahib died in a battle in 654 and was buried here. By the 11th century, this place had become a famous religious site, and the gongbei (tomb shrine) was built in the 14th century. The Bey of Tunis, Hammuda Pasha (reigned 1631-66), expanded the tomb significantly in 1629 and built a new main hall. Another Bey, Mohamed (reigned 1675-96), built a new minaret and madrasa between 1690 and 1695. After the 19th century, the tomb of Sidi Sahib underwent several renovations, but it kept its 17th-century architectural style.











The interior features many classic 17th-century Tunisian Qallalin tiles and rich stucco carvings.



















In the courtyard with the minaret, gate, and main hall, an old man pours perfume into the hands of every dost (friend/visitor) who comes to visit the grave.









Zaytuna Mosque in Kairouan: date unknown.

Outside the west gate of the Kairouan Medina is the Zeitouna Mosque, which has a similar architectural style to the Great Mosque of Kairouan but is smaller in scale.











Great Mosque of Zaytuna in Tunis: founded in 698, rebuilt in 864.

The Great Mosque of Al-Zaytuna in Tunis is the second great mosque built by Arabs in the Maghreb region after the Great Mosque of Kairouan, and it is the grandest mosque in Tunis.

One theory suggests the Umayyad general Hasan ibn al-Nu'man built the mosque after conquering Carthage in 698, while another suggests the Umayyad governor Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab built it between 732 and 733. The current structure of the Great Mosque of Al-Zaytuna mainly follows the design from the Aghlabid dynasty's reconstruction in 864-65, making it very similar to the Great Mosque of Kairouan, which was rebuilt in the same period. Stone inscriptions inside the mosque mention that the main patron of the reconstruction was the Abbasid Caliph al-Musta'in bi-llah. The original 9th-century structure remains mostly in the interior of the main hall and the round corner towers in the north and east.

Between 990 and 995, the Zirid dynasty expanded the mosque, adding a gallery and a dome at the entrance to the main hall. The main hall contains 160 ancient stone columns, many of which were taken from the ruins of Carthage. The dome in front of the mihrab was built in the 9th century and is carved with Kufic inscriptions. The stucco carvings on the walls of the central corridor also date back to the 9th century, while other decorations can be traced to after the 13th century.



















The gold-leaf marble carving at the center of the mihrab in the Great Mosque of Zaytuna dates back to the 9th century, while the surrounding plaster carvings were added during the Ottoman period in 1638. view all

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Summary: Sousse's old medina became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988 and remains less commercialized than the medina of Tunis. This travel account follows the source's route through the old city, mosque sights, markets, restaurants, seafood, and street observations.

The old medina in Sousse, Tunisia, was named a UNESCO World Heritage site back in 1988, but it is much less developed for tourism than the medina in Tunis, which became a World Heritage site in 1979. The Tunis medina has many guesthouses and hotels converted from historic homes, ranging from budget to high-end options. We searched for a long time, but found very few historic guesthouses in the Sousse medina, so we finally chose Dar Badiaa.

The atmosphere at Dar Badiaa is lovely, but the rooms in these historic buildings are quite small. Don't trust the room sizes listed on booking websites; they are just guesses. The lady who checked us in didn't speak English, only French, so we spent a long time struggling to understand each other.



















Breakfast at the Dar Badiaa historic guesthouse is quite generous, featuring egg pancakes (danbing), flaky pastries (subing), French bread (fagun), curd (ruza), cheese, various jams, pickled olives, Tunisian chili paste (harissa), and local Tunisian desserts, served with strong Tunisian coffee. While we were chatting in the courtyard at night, the guesthouse lady served us classic Tunisian mint black tea and date-filled semolina cookies (makroudh). Makroudh is a classic treat for breaking the fast in the North African Maghreb region. It has a semolina crust, a filling of date paste and dried fruit, and is soaked in syrup after baking.

While drinking tea and chatting that night, we noticed some very old writing on one of the stone pillars in the house. We aren't sure if it is Phoenician.



















The World Heritage old medina of Sousse, Tunisia. The area with better tourism development is the main street, Souk el Cald, which starts from the west gate of the old city, Bab El-Gharbi. It has many small shops and restaurants. We ate at a restaurant on the street called Dar Amna. We chose grilled fish for our main course, which came with French bread, french fries, roasted pepper salad (mechouia), and a Tunisian salad made of cucumber, tomato, and onion. Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881, which is why French bread became a staple food here. Personally, I find the French bread dry and hard, and not nearly as good as the staple breads in the eastern Arab world.



















Street view of Souk el Cald, the main road starting from the old city's west gate, Bab El-Gharbi.



















Souk el Cald has many tea houses and cafes perfect for taking photos. You can drink local mint tea, eat some pine nuts, and enjoy a slow pace of life.

















At the snack shop by the entrance of the Great Mosque of Sousse, they specialize in Tunisian folded sandwiches (makloub). It is like a mix of shawarma and pizza; the crust is like pizza dough, filled with grilled meat, cheese, harissa, and mayonnaise, then rolled up to eat.



















Restaurant du Peuple, located under the north city wall, specializes in traditional Tunisian food. We ordered the fisherman's stew and Berber lamb tagine, which represent the coastal and inland cultures of Tunisia, respectively. The fisherman's stew contains fish, shrimp, and shellfish, while the lamb tagine is a potato and meat stew. In Tunisian restaurants, you just need to order the main dish. Once you order, they bring out French bread, harissa soup, roasted pepper salad (mechouia), Tunisian salad, and deep-fried Tunisian spring rolls (brik). After you finish, they serve mint black tea.

The Berbers are the indigenous people of Tunisia. Centuries of Arab migration starting in the 7th century led to the Arabization of most Berbers, and by the 15th century, Tunisia was essentially fully Arabized. Although the Berbers and Arabs in Tunisia have merged today, many traditional Berber cultural elements remain, including unique Berber food and music.























A candy stall on the old city street selling something like Xinjiang nut cake (qiegao), and the old-fashioned balance scale is a rare sight. Behind are some decorations from the old town streets, featuring classic Islamic themes like the Nuh boat, the Buraq ridden during the Ascension, and Hamsa (Fatima's hand) tiles.



















Before the 19th century, all of Sousse's residents lived inside the old medina. After Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881, the French began building a new city north of the Sousse medina. Sousse was bombed repeatedly between 1942 and 1943, and the new city suffered heavy damage. Authorities began rebuilding the new city in 1946, which eventually led to its current appearance.

Sousse is a major coastal city in Tunisia, but the beach is not very busy and has little entertainment. People mostly just walk, chat, zone out, or drink coffee at the seaside cafes. While strolling by the sea, we were surprised to find a shop called "Justinian" with a portrait of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I printed on it. We bought some pistachios from a handsome young man in the shop and learned to zone out by the sea just like the locals.

During the reign of Justinian I (527-565), many territories lost by the Western Roman Empire were reclaimed, including Tunisia. In 533, the Byzantine army under Justinian I landed in Tunisia and quickly defeated the Germanic Vandal Kingdom, allowing Tunisia to remain prosperous for over a hundred years.



















The ABOU NAWAS BOU JAAFAR hotel by the Sousse beach is now abandoned, but surprisingly, their official website is still up. Looking at old photos, it was very luxurious back then.









At a small restaurant in the new city, we had a grilled meat platter, which was still served with a baguette and Tunisian salad. The platter included chicken, beef, and Tunisian sausage (Merguez).

Merguez is made with lamb and beef, mixed with cumin, harissa, chili, and various other spices, and is usually grilled. Merguez sausage was first seen in the 12th century in Andalusia, which was southern Spain under Arab rule, and later spread throughout North Africa.















Finally, here are some more street scenes from the old medina of Sousse. view all

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Summary: This first part of the Jiangsu mosque series documents historic Hui Muslim mosque sites in northern Jiangsu, including Yanghe Mosque, Siyang Mosque, Siyang West Mosque, Shuyang Mosque, Hexia Mosque, Wangjiaying Mosque, Yancheng Mosque, and Baoying Mosque. The article preserves the original mosque names, founding dates, community histories, inscriptions, architectural details, and image order.

I am sharing the 25 historic mosque buildings I have visited in Jiangsu, moving from north to south.

1. Suqian

1. Yanghe Mosque (Yanghesi): First built during the Qianlong reign, rebuilt after 1945.

2. Huai'an

1. Qingjiang Mosque (Qingjiangsi): First built during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, rebuilt in 1870.

2. Hexia Mosque (Hexiasi): First built during the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, rebuilt in the late Qing Dynasty.

3. Wangjiaying Mosque (Wangjiayingsi): First built during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty, rebuilt in 1985.

3. Yancheng

1. Yancheng Mosque (Yanchengsi): Built during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, renovated in 1928.

4. Yangzhou

1. Baoying Mosque (Baoyingsi): Rebuilt in 1910, rebuilt again in 2022.

2. Gaoyou Mosque (Gaoyousi): Rebuilt in 1864.

3. Lingtang Ancient Mosque (Lingtang Gusi): First built at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, moved to its current site in the early Qing Dynasty, rebuilt in 1924.

4. Shaobo Mosque (Shaobosi): First built during the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty.

5. Xianhe Mosque (Xianhesi): First built in 1275, rebuilt in 1390.

6. Majian Lane Mosque (Majianxiang Libaisi): First built in 1714.

7. Huihui Tang Mosque (Huihuitangsi): First built in 1275, rebuilt in 1776.

5. Zhenjiang

1. Shanxiang Mosque (Shanxiangsi): Expanded during the Kangxi reign, rebuilt in 1873.

2. Jianzi Lane Mosque (Jianzixiangsi) Ming and Qing Dynasty stone carvings.

3. Nanmenwai Mosque (Nanmenwaisi) Qing Dynasty mihrab.

4. Xinhe Street Mosque (Xinhejie Huijiaotang): 1930.

6. Nanjing

1. Jingjue Mosque (Jingjuesi): First built during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, rebuilt in 1877.

2. Original Taiping Road Mosque: First built in the early Ming Dynasty, moved and rebuilt in 2005.

3. Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque.

4. Hushu Mosque: First built in 1392, rebuilt in 1896.

5. Liuhe South Gate Mosque: First built in 1403, raised and renovated in 2013.

6. Liuhe Women's School: First built in 1912, rebuilt in 1930.

7. Liuhe Changjiang Road Mosque: First built in 1424, rebuilt during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty.

8. Zhuzhen Mosque: Rebuilt in 1901, renovated in 2001.

9. Zhuzhen Women's Mosque: First built in 1921, rebuilt in 1931.

Suqian Yanghe Town Mosque.

The Suqian Yanghe Town Mosque was first built during the Qianlong reign. It was funded by Yu Qin, a local scholar from Yanghe who had served as an education official in Lishui, Pizhou, and Ningguo, and was built on Rice Market Street in Yanghe. It was destroyed during the Japanese invasion and later rebuilt. The current main hall features a hip-and-gable roof, a post-and-lintel frame, and upturned eaves with wind bells hanging from the four corners. It was listed as a Suqian cultural heritage site in 2010.

Yanghe Town Mosque belongs to the Jahriyya Banqiao Daotang. During the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, Chang Tingzhang (1785-1870), a Hui Muslim from Siyang, Jiangsu, traveled to Lingzhou (modern-day Lingwu) in Ningxia to study. After completing his studies, he brought the Jahriyya tradition to the Huai-Si region. Chang Tingzhang was famous far and wide for his profound knowledge and had many disciples when he began teaching at the Huaiyin Wangjiaying Mosque. Since then, mosques including the Huaiyin Wangjiaying Mosque, Siyang Zhongxing Town Mosque, and Yanghe Town Mosque have all followed the Jahriyya tradition. Before 1932, the imams of Yanghe Town Mosque were all assigned from Ningxia. After 1932, Imam Ma Chengliang served until he passed away in 1979.























Huai'an Qingjiang Ancient Mosque.

Qingjiangpu in Huai'an was dredged in 1415 (the 13th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty). It was the center of grain transport for the Grand Canal during the Ming and Qing dynasties, where grain transport ships from all provinces were built and repaired. Because navigating the Yellow River section of the canal was very dangerous, and waiting times to pass through locks in Shandong were too long, many merchants chose to leave their boats at Qingjiangpu. They would cross the Yellow River and switch to horse-drawn carriages to continue north, making Qingjiangpu a symbol of the "southern boats and northern horses" transport system.

The most important pier in Qingjiangpu was next to the Yue Lock. It was called the Imperial Pier because both Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong landed there during their southern inspection tours. This was once the busiest and most prosperous place in Qingjiangpu. Hui Muslims began doing business on Yuehe Street in front of the Imperial Pier during the Ming Dynasty, and the earliest Qingjiang Ancient Mosque was built during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1677 (the 16th year of the Kangxi reign), the Governor of the Waterways moved to Qingjiangpu, and it became the center of grain transport. In his collection of notes and stories, Golden Pot Seven Inks (Jinhu Qimo), Qing Dynasty writer Huang Junzai recorded: 'Along the Qingjiang River for over ten miles, the markets were bustling and food was abundant. People from all directions gathered here, shoulder to shoulder and wheel to wheel, in a very prosperous scene.' In 1799 (the 57th year of the Qianlong reign), the Qingjiang Mosque (Qingjiang Gusi) underwent a large-scale expansion, marking the peak of its prosperity.

In 1860 (the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign), the Nian Army captured Qingjiangpu and the Qingjiang Mosque was destroyed. The imam, Ma Huanwen, sadly passed away from illness while preparing to raise funds for the mosque (nietie). Fortunately, an elder from Nanjing named Jiang Hengqing took over, organized the community to raise funds (nietie), and finally rebuilt the mosque in 1870 (the 9th year of the Tongzhi reign).

In 2006, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. Three historic mosques were included along the canal: the North Mosque in Linqing, the East Mosque in Linqing, and the Qingjiang Mosque in Huai'an. It can be said that the Hui Muslim community in Huai'an grew because of the canal and is inseparable from the canal's grain transport history.

Looking from the opposite bank of the Li Canal, you can see the gate of the Qingjiang Mosque right next to the Imperial Wharf ruins, helping you imagine what the busy grain transport days looked like.

















Inside the courtyard, the main prayer hall and the north wing, known as the Butterfly Hall, are Qing Dynasty structures. Beside the main hall stands a Chinese trumpet creeper (lingxiaomu) over 320 years old.



The main hall is a Qing Dynasty building made of two connected hard-mountain roofs (yingshanding) with a kiln-style hall (yaodian) at the back, typical of traditional Jianghuai architectural style.





















The north wing of the Qingjiang Mosque is called the Butterfly Hall (hudieting). This is a traditional name for garden architecture in the Jianghuai region, named because the corners of the hall curve upward like the wings of a dancing butterfly.















Two stone steles at the Qingjiang Mosque.

The first is the 'Prohibition Edict Stele' from the 57th year of the Qianlong reign. It was written and erected by the county government to explicitly ban corruption, issued by Wu Li, the magistrate of Qinghe County, Huai'an Prefecture, Jiangnan, who held a fifth-rank title and had been commended five times.







The second is the 'Stele Record of the Rebuilding of the Mosque Main Hall' from the 9th year of the Tongzhi reign, which documents the process of rebuilding the main hall during the Tongzhi period. The inscription records donors from nineteen places: Henan, Shandong, Jinling, Yunnan, Zhili, Chuanshan, Hexia, Lixiahe, Baoying, Gaoyou, Shaobo, Xiannumiao, Taizhou, Xinghua, Dongtai, Rugao, Shuyang, the Xinzi Cavalry, and Yuanpu. Donors from Henan, Shandong, Yunnan, Zhili, and Chuanshan were mostly traveling merchants, reflecting the prosperous 'southern boats and northern horses' scene of Qingjiangpu during the Qing Dynasty. The others were local mosque communities in Jiangsu. Some, like the Shaobo mosque, have since been abandoned, offering a glimpse into the rise and fall of the Hui Muslim community in Jiangsu.







Ancient well



Column base



Coffin for the deceased (tabumaiti xia)



Tombstone of Madam Yang, mother of the Ma family, from the 14th year of the Guangxu reign, and the tombstone of the Sai family of the Ma clan from Anhui.





Tombstone of the Sai family of the Ma clan from Anhui



Stone railing



Drum-shaped stone base with cypress and deer carvings (bailutu baogushi)





Hexia Mosque

Hexia Ancient Town in Huaian is the largest town on the outskirts of Huaian Prefecture. Because the salt from the coastal salt fields in Huaibei was high in both quantity and quality, many salt merchants from the northwest and Anhui came to Huaibei in the late Ming Dynasty to work in the salt industry. The Huaibei Salt Transport Branch was located in Hexia Town at the time. Salt from the fields had to be shipped to Hexia for inspection before merchants could sell it elsewhere. Hexia Town then entered its most prosperous period. Salt merchants built gardens and courtyards there. The Qing Dynasty record Huaian Hexia Annals states: Wealthy salt merchants brought their capital and made their homes in Hexia, and Hexia became extremely prosperous. The wealth brought by these salt merchants made the town's business thrive, and many Hui Muslims also came to settle in Hexia.

Hexia Mosque is located south of Luojia Bridge in Hexia Town. It was first built during the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. In 1860, during the tenth year of the Xianfeng reign, the Nian Army captured Huaian and burned down ten rooms of the mosque, which were later rebuilt. The main hall of Hexia Mosque is a Qing Dynasty structure with blue bricks, dark tiles, and upturned eaves, showing a typical Jianghuai architectural style. It was listed as a cultural relic protection unit of Huaian City in 2006.

Above the main hall door hangs a chestnut wood plaque inscribed with the words Si Wu Xie (Thinking Without Evil), written by Tian Rui, the acting prefect of Huaian in the tenth year of the Daoguang reign. Plaques originally on both sides, inscribed by anti-Japanese hero Zuo Baogui and Yunnan Commander Ma Chang'an, were destroyed after the 1960s.

The imam (ahong) of the mosque usually stays at a nearby beef and mutton shop. If you call the number posted on the mosque gate, he will come over to open it.

















An ancient well dug in the early Qing Dynasty.































Wangjiaying Mosque.

Wangjiaying in Huaian is located between the old course of the Yellow River and the Salt River. During the Ming Dynasty, the Dahe Guard was established in Huaian Prefecture, and ten military camps were built along the Yellow River. Wangjiaying was one of them. Because travel on the Yellow River section of the canal was slow and passing through locks was dangerous, often leading to broken cables and sunken boats, many merchants chose to leave their boats at Qingjiangpu. They would cross the Yellow River at Wangjiaying and switch to horse-drawn carriages to continue north. Wangjiaying and Qingjiangpu gradually grew into a busy town together.

Wangjiaying experienced many floods from the Yellow River, and the town moved east three times before reaching its current location. In 1831, the eleventh year of the Daoguang reign, Viceroy Tao Peng chose Wangjiaying as the new distribution center for Huaian salt. After that, eighteen salt warehouses and seventy-two salt bureaus were opened in Wangjiaying. Salt boats traveled back and forth every day along the three-hundred-li waterway from the Huaibei salt fields to Wangjiaying.

The prosperity of Wangjiaying attracted a steady stream of Hui Muslims to settle there. The first Hui Muslims to arrive in Wangjiaying were the Ma and Sha families, who came via Lingwu County in Ningxia, Shandong, and Zhenjiang. Later, Hui Muslims with the surnames Jin, Dai, Chang, Ge, Fan, Li, and Yang also settled here.

Wangjiaying Mosque was first built during the Yongzheng reign. It started as three thatched rooms next to the Lotus Pond at Wangjiapo. After Wangjiaying became a salt distribution center in the late Daoguang reign, the mosque moved to the south bank of the Salt River, with imams Chang Tingzhang and Dai Mingxuan in charge of religious affairs. Imam Chang Tingzhang, known as Third Master Chang, was originally from Jining, Shandong. He was born in 1785, the fiftieth year of the Qianlong reign, in Taoyuan County, Huaian Prefecture, Jiangsu (now Siyang). In his youth, he studied in Lingzhou (now Lingwu County, Ningxia) and continued his religious studies in Jining, Shandong, after completing his initial training. In 1810, the fifth year of the Jiaqing reign, the 26-year-old Imam Chang Tingzhang was invited to Wangjiaying Mosque to lead religious affairs. Imam Chang Tingzhang had deep knowledge of Arabic classics, astronomy, and medical theory. According to the Wangjiaying Annals, a man named Third Master Tao from Hangzhou died in Huaian during the Daoguang reign. Because it was the heat of midsummer, Imam Chang Tingzhang personally bought a boat and traveled south along the canal to escort the body back to Hangzhou to fulfill his duty to the family.

In 1860 (the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign), the Nian Army burned down the Wangjiaying Mosque. In 1867 (the 6th year of the Tongzhi reign), Imam Dai Jingzhai, the son of Imam Dai Mingxuan, built a few thatched huts. Later, with donations from the community, they built a main prayer hall with three rooms made of grass.

After Imam Chang Tingzhang passed away in 1870 (the 9th year of the Tongzhi reign), Imam Dai Jingzhai took charge of religious affairs. In 1884 (the 10th year of the Guangxu reign), he replaced the grass-roofed building with a tiled one. Because Imam Chang Tingzhang had studied at the Jahriyya Banqiao Daotang in Jinjibu, Lingwu County, Ningxia, when he was young, the Wangjiaying Mosque later invited five successive Jahriyya imams from Jinjibu to lead religious services and teach. Subsequent imams also went to Ningxia for further study, making Wangjiaying Mosque one of the nine branch centers of the Banqiao Daotang.

In 1912, the Wangjiaying Mosque built a new main gate, a south lecture hall, a kitchen, and a water room. In 1920, with funding from the Jinshan Tang in Gansu and money from selling dozens of willow trees from the public cemetery, they rebuilt the three-room tiled porch in front of the main hall and added three new rooms for the east lecture hall. Currently, there is a stone tablet from 1920 commemorating the Republic of China renovation on the inner north wall of the main hall, but the top part is covered.

In 1958, the Wangjiaying Mosque moved to the east side of the West Horse Road in Wangying. In 1961, it moved to its current location because the land was requisitioned for a bank building. During the destruction of the Four Olds, the main hall's plaques reading "The Way Spreads in the Central Land," "The Religion Follows the Western Regions," and "Stop at the Ultimate Good," along with the gold-lettered Arabic plaques and the couplet reading "See the formless, hear the soundless, rectify the intention and be sincere, become a sage and a worthy, the original nature;" “The Way stands here, movement brings harmony, reach others through oneself, benefit the people and the world, the land is complete” were all smashed and burned. Funeral supplies were also destroyed, and the main hall was used as a warehouse by a shoe and hat factory.

In 1979, under the leadership of Imam Ge Weili, the Wangjiaying Mosque was rebuilt in a traditional style. It was completed in 1985 and underwent two more renovations and expansions in 2003 and 2006, resulting in its current appearance.

Imam Ge Weili was born in 1924. He went to Ningxia to study in 1937. After completing his training and receiving his credentials in 1945, he became the imam of Wangjiaying Mosque and took on the role of imam in 1966. The religious work at Wangjiaying Mosque is now handled by Imam Fan Weiming, a student of Imam Ge Weili.

















The Republic of China era inscription reads as follows:



The Wangying Mosque was founded during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty. By the end of the Daoguang reign, our community was at its peak. The population was large, and businesses were thriving. With the old Imams Chang Tingzhang and Dai Mingxuan leading religious affairs one after another, the lecture hall was always full, and many students were trained. This is recorded in the local history and can be verified. In the Gengshen year of the Xianfeng reign, the Nian rebellion suddenly occurred. The mosque was burned to the ground, our people fled or died, and the population gradually dwindled.

In the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign, Imam Dai Jingzhai, the son of the old Imam Dai Mingxuan, followed his father's teachings and took over the religious duties. He first built a few thatched huts to teach the faith morning and evening. However, for prayers, it was too simple and exposed to the elements; For gatherings, it was too small to hold everyone. The Imam was deeply worried about this. He persuaded people to donate and built a main prayer hall with three rooms made of grass. Later, he discussed it with Yang Xuting, Ma Yunfeng, and Guo Daosheng. With their help, in the tenth year of the Guangxu reign, they rebuilt the tiled main hall and lecture halls, and things began to return to normal. As more of our people lived here, the original public cemetery became crowded, and after many years, there was almost no space left. The Imam was concerned that there were few cemeteries for the community, and whenever a major funeral occurred, it was difficult to manage. He planned to buy a piece of land to provide for the future. He got the agreement of Mr. Ma Yunfeng, but before the matter was finished, Mr. Ma passed away. What a pity! Fortunately, Mr. Ma's brother, Runzhi, carried out his brother's wishes. With the strong support of the village elder Mr. Li Yunpo, they set aside differences, raised funds, and bought two new cemeteries. The benefits provided by the imam (ahong) to our people are thorough and complete. This is largely due to the support of those passionate about public welfare, but it is also the result of the imam's decades of solitary, painstaking effort and his sincere devotion.

In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), we worked to continue the legacy of our predecessors by adding a main gate, a south lecture hall, and a kitchen. Mr. Ge Ziming funded the construction of the washroom (shuifang) with a donation of several hundred thousand. We also invited Imam Wang Pinqing from Gansu Province to teach scripture. Visitors from all over who came here always spoke highly of him. In recent years, wind and rain have damaged the buildings, and the main hall is at risk of collapsing. We met to discuss the situation and sold dozens of willow trees from the perimeter of the cemetery, raising over two hundred thousand. We also received a donation of many roof tiles and timber pieces from the Jinshan Hall in Gansu. We then built three tiled, curved-eave rooms in front of the main hall and fully repaired the surrounding walls, the three-room east lecture hall, and the courtyard of the inner gate. This massive project was completed through a combination of public funds and donations from afar. We feel ashamed that we lack the personal wealth to do more, but we share these details because, despite two hundred years of constant change, our mosque still stands tall. This is largely due to the efforts of our ancestors and village elders. We sincerely hope that future generations will remember the hardships of those who built this place and preserve it forever so it may last without decline. We have recorded the full story here.

July, the ninth year of the Republic of China (1920).

Jin Jiasheng, Jin Jialin, Guo Chunlin, Yang Fangtian.

Chang Bingkui, Li Shunjie, Chang Guanying, Mu Hongbin.

Jin Jiayuan, Ma Jianong, Fan Zhaofeng, Yang Guiyuan.

Ge Futang, Li Dianqing, Ma Jiarang, Mu Hong'en.

Ma Jialin, Ge Zhenqing, He Wenquan, Zhou Fengling.

Sha Faxiang, Liu Lianyuan, Zhou Riyang, Mu Hongye.

Yancheng Mosque.

Yancheng Mosque is located on Xicang Lane (historically called Xicang) in the Yancheng urban area. It was first built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty as three thatched rooms by five Hui Muslim families: the Ha, Huo, Ding, Liu, and Xue families. It was expanded in 1720 (the 59th year of the Kangxi reign) and rebuilt again in 1928 into the current brick-and-wood main hall.

The Republic-era 'Continued Records of Yancheng County' states: 'The mosque is located on Xicang Street in the city. It was founded during the Ming Yongle period. In the 59th year of the Qing Kangxi reign, land was purchased to expand it, and it was renamed the Mosque (Qingzhensi). Recently, it was renamed the Hui Church (Huijiaotang). The leader of the faith is called an imam (ahong).' In the second year of the Republic of China (1913), the Yancheng branch of the Jiangsu Islamic Association was established. In the 18th year (1929), it was renamed the Yancheng branch of the Chinese Islamic Association.

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Yancheng Mosque suffered two disasters. On March 30, 1938, it was bombed by the Japanese military. On April 26 of the same year, the Japanese military occupied Yancheng and set fire to the city. Except for the main hall, which survived, all other buildings were destroyed.

The main hall of Yancheng Mosque features traditional Jiangsu architectural style, with flying eaves in the front and a kiln-style niche (yaowo) in the back. The main hall still preserves the original wood-carved circular frame featuring a dua, which is very exquisite. According to Imam Xue Long from Zhenjiang, the inscriptions on the top and bottom of the main hall plaque use Arabic, Persian, and Xiao'erjing. They translate to: Completed on an auspicious day in the eighth lunar month of the 17th year of the Republic of China, respectfully erected by Abdullah Yang Luji. This is very precious.

The imam of Yancheng Mosque from 1936 to 1979 was Bai Hanzhang. Imam Bai was from Minquan, Henan. He graduated from the Beijing Niujie Islamic Institute in 1922. Later, he served as an imam in Jurong, Zhenjiang, and Nantong, Jiangsu. He became the imam of Yancheng Mosque in 1936 and served there until he passed away in 1979.

























Baoying Mosque

Baoying Mosque was originally located in Guojia Lane inside the east gate of the county town. Its founding date is unknown. It was rebuilt in 1910 (the second year of the Xuantong reign) at the entrance of Luoxiang Lane at the foot of the south city wall. With the help of Tao, the wife of anti-Japanese hero Zuo Baogui, and led by Imam Zhao Dezhai and others, many people including the Gao Mu Ma Jin family from Shandong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Huaiyin, Yangzhou, Yancheng, and Baoying raised funds to complete it in 1914. Baoying Mosque closed after 1958. It was rebuilt on the original site in 2002 and officially opened in 2006.

Baoying Mosque still has the water well dug during the 1910 construction and the ginkgo tree planted at that time. Imam Li at the mosque is from Siyang, Jiangsu. He usually runs the nearby Li's Beef and Mutton shop. If you want to enter the mosque, just call the number on his door. Imam Li is very welcoming. He says that Baoying Mosque still has some local Gao Mu who come to the mosque for Friday Jumu'ah prayers, which is better than some mosques where almost all the attendees are friends (dost) from the Northwest. Imam Li comes from the Zhepai Banqiao Daotang, but he treats all sects equally, and the religious community in Baoying County is very united. view all