Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim travel guide to Medina covers Umrah preparation, the Prophet Mosque, high-speed rail from Jeddah, Medina hotels, Al-Ghamama Mosque, Quba Mosque, Uhud, Qiblatayn Mosque, and other sacred Islamic sites.

Map of Sacred Sites in Medina is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: This year, I successfully took my family of three to complete the Umrah. My son, Fahim, is likely the youngest little Haji in the Beijing area ever, at less than two years old. The account keeps its focus on Mosque Travel, Islamic Heritage, Beijing while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

This year, I successfully took my family of three to complete the Umrah. My son, Fahim, is likely the youngest little Haji in the Beijing area ever, at less than two years old. However, for a minor, both the Hajj and Umrah only count as voluntary acts of worship. He will need to perform the Hajj again after he reaches adulthood to fulfill his religious obligation.

I will explain the Umrah process in detail in my Mecca travelogue. Saudi Arabia's current tourist visa includes an Umrah option. Just check that box under the travel destination section and apply for an e-visa at this website: https://visa.visitsaudi.com/.

The Saudi tourist e-visa is approved instantly. Once you pay, the visa is issued. It costs 488 Saudi Riyals, which is about 930 RMB. It is valid for one year, allows multiple entries, and you can stay for up to 90 days each time.

Before starting our Umrah, we arrived in Medina from Jeddah. Medina is where the Prophet Muhammad migrated and passed away. Praying one unit of namaz in the Prophet's Mosque is worth more than a thousand prayers in other mosques, and some say it is worth fifty thousand. Regardless of the exact number, it shows the importance of the Prophet's Mosque. Medina is perfect for peaceful worship. The temperature here is cooler than in Mecca. In December, there is a big difference between day and night temperatures, so you need to add or remove layers of clothing. Many pilgrims prepare for their Umrah in Medina and make their intention to enter the state of ihram there.



You need to buy tickets for the high-speed train from Jeddah to Medina on the official Saudi app called HHR Train. I suggest ordering a few days in advance because if you buy them at the station on the day of travel, you might not get a seat. We traveled in December, which is the coolest season in Saudi Arabia. It is about 20 degrees Celsius during the day and over 10 degrees at night. This is also when the most people perform Umrah, so hotels and train tickets are in high demand.



I bought a coffee on the train. I stood between the train cars because our seats were taken by a veiled Arab woman. She sat in our spots with a little girl. When my wife told her the seats were ours, she said the seat next to her was for a man and she did not want to sit next to one. She had not bought a ticket for her child, did not understand why I bought a ticket for a toddler like Fahim, and insisted on staying in our seats.

I did not want to argue. The trip from Jeddah to Medina takes about two hours, so I just walked to the area between the cars. A passing train attendant saw me and told me I could sit in any empty seat.

A taxi from the station to the hotel usually costs 100 Saudi Riyals. There were seven of us, so we hired an Arab driver. It happened to be Friday, the day of Jumu'ah. Our hotel was right across from the Prophet's Mosque. The roads around the mosque were restricted, so the driver wanted to drop us off halfway and have us walk. I checked the map and we were still 3 kilometers away. It was noon with the sun beating down, and we had elderly people and children with us, so walking was very difficult. I insisted that the driver take us to our destination. The driver looked frustrated, drove a long way around, and finally dropped us off in front of the hotel. Then he asked for an extra 50 Riyals. After some bargaining, we gave him 5 more.

The Prophet's Mosque.



Our hotel was just across the street from the Prophet's Mosque. We could see the mosque from our room window. We did not even rest; we dropped off our luggage and went straight to the mosque to pray.



The Prophet's Mosque is the second-largest mosque in the world, after the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. It has a building area of 82,000 square meters. Including the plaza, it can hold 530,000 people for prayer at the same time. If you are in the south plaza and want to walk to the north gate, it takes at least 15 minutes. I once tried to meet a friend after the Fajr prayer. We were on opposite sides, north and south, and after waiting for 20 minutes, we still could not find each other.



When you arrive at the holy sites, you see people of all skin colors from around the world gathered together. The number of pilgrims grows every year, which is why Saudi Arabia keeps expanding the holy sites. People who live there often feel the strength of the faith. Some visitors from China feel sad when they see few people in local mosques, thinking faith is fading, but that is only true in some places. Looking at the world as a whole, the number of people practicing the faith is increasing every year.









The large umbrellas in the mosque courtyard open during the day and close at night. Shade is very precious in Saudi Arabia, as it is hard to handle the intense sun otherwise.





There are many water stations around the courtyard that provide free drinking water for believers.



To visit the Garden of Paradise (Rawdah), you must download an app called Nusuk and book a time. This is where the Prophet once prayed. The Prophet said, 'Between my house and my pulpit is one of the gardens of Paradise.' It is a pity I could not get a reservation, but men and women visit separately, and it is easier for women to book than men.



Fortunately, you do not need a reservation for the Prophet's Tomb. You just need to line up and follow the crowd. The Prophet's Tomb is right under the green dome. The green dome of the mosque was originally the house of Aisha, where the Prophet passed away and was buried.



Believers carry their shoes in their hands and walk barefoot into the Prophet's Tomb. Everything is orderly, and people respectfully offer their salaams to the Prophet.



The Caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar are also buried with the Prophet, and people offer their salaams to them as well.



The Prophet's Tomb is separated from the Garden of Paradise, and the Garden of Paradise is inside the railing. There is one empty space reserved in the tomb for when the Prophet Isa passes away. According to Abdullah ibn Salam (may Allah be pleased with him), the Torah describes the characteristics of the Prophet and states that Isa ibn Maryam will be buried alongside him. Abu Mawdud said, 'Indeed, there is still a grave site inside the house.' [Jami at-Tirmidhi: 3696]



Screenshot from History of Medina









Stand behind the railing and say your salam toward the round hole. You do not need to speak loudly; just recite it silently. Do not linger so you can make it easier for the brothers (dosti) behind you, because there are really too many people.







When I came out of the Prophet's tomb, I saw believers crying. They stood where they were, unable to bear leaving.





Inside the Prophet's Mosque, there are copies of the Quran in many languages, including a Chinese version.



Because the Holy Mosque is so large, many people stay in place to recite the Quran after finishing their namaz for convenience. There is also Zamzam water (senshen quan) provided in the main hall, with separate areas for men and women.









The Prophet's Mosque is crowded 24 hours a day, and there are even more people at night than during the day.







I actually saw Chinese signs at the stalls by the south gate of the Holy Mosque.



The signs at the main entrance also display different languages in turns, and I managed to snap a photo of the Chinese one.













































The north plaza of the Holy Mosque is busier than the south plaza and has more shops. If you are looking for a place to stay, you might want to prioritize the area near the north gate.



Many historical sites are scattered around the Prophet's Mosque. Due to historical changes, many no longer exist and only remain in books. Some of these historical sites are introduced below.

Al-Ghamama Mosque



Al-Ghamama Mosque (Almusalla Mosque - ALGhamama) is located on the southwest square next to the Prophet's Mosque. The Prophet led the Eid prayer here in 631. This place is also called the Mosque of the Prayer Ground. It was built by Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, the eighth caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. The current building was constructed by Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire and later renovated by the King of Saudi Arabia.















Abu Bakr As-Siddiq Mosque



Abu Bakr As-Siddiq Mosque is 40 meters away from Al-Ghamama Mosque. It is also the place where the Prophet led the Eid prayer in 631, and later Abu Bakr also prayed here. The current building was constructed by Mahmud Khan of the Ottoman Empire.







Umar ibn al-Khattab Mosque



Located 133 meters next to Al-Ghamama Mosque, it was built in the 9th century of the Hijri calendar. The mosque and its surrounding area are currently under renovation and are not open.

Ali Mosque



It is 122 meters away from Al-Ghamama Mosque and north of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq Mosque. The Prophet once led the Eid prayer here, and a mosque was later built on this site. It is currently not open.

Mount Uhud and the Martyrs' Cemetery



The black rocky mountain in the distance is Mount Uhud. The small hill at the foot of the mountain is the site of the Battle of Uhud. Mount Uhud is about 4 kilometers away from the Prophet's Mosque.

In 625, more than 3,000 polytheists from Mecca launched a major attack on Medina. The Prophet consulted with his companions and decided to lead 1,000 men to Mount Uhud to meet the enemy. After arriving at Mount Uhud, the hypocrite Abdullah ibn Ubayy secretly led his 300 soldiers away. The Prophet led the remaining 700-plus men to defeat the 3,000 Meccan polytheists. The Prophet was injured in this battle, and Allah revealed verses 121-180 of Surah Al-Imran in the Quran at this location.



You can see many people standing on the hill to commemorate this event.



The Uhud Martyrs Cemetery is built next to the hill. It is surrounded by a wire fence, so you cannot walk inside. It is fine to look from a distance, as visiting the martyrs' graves is a sunnah.



Uhud Martyrs Mosque (Sayyid Al-Shuhada)



The Martyrs Mosque is on the east side of the cemetery. It is not a historical site, as it was built in 2017.





Mosque of the Two Qiblas (Masjid al-Qiblatayn)



This mosque is on Khalid ibn al-Walid Street. The Prophet once led the noon namaz here. After two rak'ahs, he received a revelation from Allah (Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 144) to change the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to the Kaaba.





On the wall directly facing the mihrab, there is a commemorative marker for the Jerusalem direction.



Note that the prayer direction in this mosque is still toward the Kaaba, not both directions. The Jerusalem direction is in the opposite direction of the Kaaba.





Trench Battle Mosque Complex

The Battle of the Trench is also called the Battle of the Confederates. The Meccan polytheists fought a decisive battle against the Muslims of Medina. The companion Salman the Persian suggested digging a trench, and the Prophet accepted his advice. During this time, verses 9-25 of Surah Al-Ahzab and verse 26 of Surah Al-Imran were revealed. The trench started near the Mustarah Mosque and ended near Mount Sal, facing the Fath Mosque complex. It was 2.5 kilometers long, 3 meters deep, and 4 meters wide, but the historical trench has long been filled in.

The Fath (Seven) Mosque complex is part of the trench area. These mosques served as stations and lookout points during the battle. Each mosque is named after the companion who was stationed there, except for the Fath Mosque, which was built on the site of the dome the Prophet used. These mosques were built during the era of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz and were restored at different times. The mosques are:

1. Ali Mosque

2. Abu Bakr Mosque.

3. Salman the Persian Mosque

4. Al-Fath Mosque

5. Umar Mosque

6. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh Mosque

Ali Mosque



Abu Bakr Mosque

















Salman Mosque







Al-Fath Mosque







Quba Mosque



Quba Mosque is 3.2 kilometers from the Prophet's Mosque. This is the site of the first mosque built by the Prophet and his companions in Medina. 'A mosque founded on righteousness from the first day is more worthy for you to stand in for prayer.' Verse 108 of the Repentance chapter in the Quran refers to Quba Mosque.



The Prophet said, 'Whoever performs wudu at home and then prays in Quba Mosque will receive the reward of an Umrah.' (Sunan Ibn Majah) People say those who live near Quba Mosque are blessed, as they can earn the reward of an Umrah just by performing namaz there.

Ring Well (Bir Aris)



Located on the west side of Quba Mosque, the Prophet once sat by this well with his legs dangling over it. Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman later came to see him and sat by the well as well, where the Prophet gave them the glad tidings of Paradise. (Sahih Muslim 2403)

The Prophet once wore a ring, which later passed to Abu Bakr, then to Umar, and finally to Uthman. Uthman accidentally dropped the ring into this well. The ring was engraved with the words, 'Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.'

This well was filled in at the end of the 14th century of the Hijri calendar to widen the road, and only the circle shown in the photo remains as a marker.

Jumu'ah Mosque



While traveling to Medina on a Friday, the Prophet performed his first Jumu'ah prayer with the Banu Salim tribe. He later built a mosque on that spot, which is now known as Jumu'ah Mosque, located one kilometer from Quba Mosque.







Aris Well



Aris Well is located one kilometer northeast of Quba Mosque. The Prophet often drank water from here and requested that this well's water be used to wash his body after he passed away.







This well is usually open for a short time in the afternoon, but it is not guaranteed. If you are lucky, you can drink the water and use it to perform wudu for namaz.



King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran



On the way to the Fatah Mosque complex, we passed the King Fahd Glorious Qur'an Printing Complex. It opened in 1984 and has published translations of the Quran in forty languages. Every friend (dosti) visiting Medina can get a free copy of the Quran. You do not need an appointment; just join the line and follow the crowd.







As you follow the line, you first pass through a Quran display case showing the various holy books published by the printing complex.







Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim travel guide to Medina continues the sacred sites map, covering the King Fahd Quran Printing Complex, free Quran copies, camel pilaf, hotel dining, family travel, and practical notes near the Prophet Mosque.

Map of Sacred Sites in Medina is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Once you enter the workshop, you can see the printing process for the Quran, which is as impressive as a banknote factory. The account keeps its focus on Halal Travel, Yiwu Food, Mosque Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.



Once you enter the workshop, you can see the printing process for the Quran, which is as impressive as a banknote factory.



After leaving the workshop, you can pick up a free copy of the Quran at the room by the entrance. The default is the original Arabic version, but if you ask, they will give you the language you want. We requested the Chinese-Arabic bilingual version translated by Ma Jian.



If you feel one copy is not enough, you can go to the shop at the entrance to buy other books.



These are the historical sites we visited in Medina. There are still some on my list that we didn't get to see because the area outside the north gate of the Prophet's Mosque is under expansion. Outside the east gate is the Baqi Cemetery, where about 10,000 companions of the Prophet and some of his family members are buried. These places look like yellow dirt construction sites from a distance and you cannot enter them. Many locations recorded in history no longer exist, and even the historical sites I photographed earlier were mostly rebuilt on their original locations, so you can no longer see traces left from ancient times.



Most of the time, we ate buffets at our hotel. At the strong suggestion of Dosti, we tried camel pilaf (zhua fan) in Medina once. The restaurant in the picture below is a fast-food chain that also has locations in Mecca.



This is a very traditional Arabic restaurant. The first floor is for individual diners and is covered with carpets; you spread a piece of paper on the carpet to eat. This type of restaurant does not allow female guests on the first floor, so families must go to the private rooms on the second floor. The restaurant pauses business during namaz time, and the staff will pull the curtains shut.



To be honest, this camel meat pilaf was very authentic. The texture of the camel meat is similar to beef and has no strange smell. The staff will provide spoons, as most locals now choose to eat with spoons instead of using their hands. Remember to perform wudu (minor ablution) after eating camel meat, as this was recorded in the Hadith.





For accommodation, it is best to stay somewhere close to the Prophet's Mosque that is within walking distance. Although it is expensive, it is very troublesome to travel back and forth every day if you are far away, and taxis are both expensive and inconvenient. We mostly chose to eat buffets at the hotel because there were seven of us, and it is hard to please everyone, so the buffet was a convenient choice. The buffet restaurant at the Sofitel Hotel is ranked number one for food in Medina on the TripAdvisor app because it offers a view of the Prophet's Mosque.



When dining at the hotel, you don't need to worry about family members being separated; everyone can sit wherever they like.

















In our small Umrah group, only our family of three was here for the first time; everyone else had been here many times. Our first impression of the people we met in Medina was not good, which is consistent with the feelings of other families who come here often. Even some of our friends who have lived in the holy land for many years have mostly negative things to say about the locals. I was mentally prepared for this bad impression before I came. I see this phenomenon as proof of the backwardness of the believers. Just imagine, if everyone behaved with the character of the Prophet, I would actually be confused. If you were all that excellent, how could you be in such a backward position in today's world? Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing halal food guide maps issue 37 of the restaurant series, featuring a Japanese barbecue buffet, Xinjiang cuisine, Heluo noodles, lamb soup, hot pot, sour soup, Lanzhou dishes, and practical notes for Muslim diners.

Beijing Halal Food Map (37) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: It has been just two months since my last Beijing halal food map (36), and I have already found eight new halal restaurants worth visiting. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Muslim Travel, Middle Eastern Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

It has been just two months since my last Beijing halal food map (36), and I have already found eight new halal restaurants worth visiting. I still have a long list of places saved that I have not tried yet. I stick to my rule of only writing original content based on my own experiences, so I will take my time to visit these spots one by one. Here is the list of restaurants for this issue:

1. Shixiang Japanese BBQ Buffet & Jiangguoer Xinjiang Cuisine

2. Xihan Meatball Soup

3. Yixiangyuan Restaurant

4. Niuwanfeng Heluo Noodles

5. Laohui Lamb Soup

6. Big Head Hot Pot (Danaodai Shuanrou)

7. Xiangshui Sour Soup Hot Pot

8. Lan 931

1. Shixiang Japanese BBQ Buffet & Jiangguoer Xinjiang Cuisine



This new Japanese BBQ buffet is right by the Guangqumen subway station. The owner used to run the Musefeilin Xinjiang Restaurant and the Yinmadeng Skewer Hot Pot. He also worked at the Xinjiang Office in Beijing for many years. After closing his previous two shops, he opened this new place. The buffet costs 188, 238, or 298 yuan per person, and the 298 yuan option includes all-you-can-eat fresh durian.



This is the menu. Once you sit down, just tell the server what you want to eat and wait for your food. You can help yourself to the fruit and drinks.



They have a full range of Japanese snacks like sushi, mixed rice (bibimbap), and cold noodles (lengmian).



They serve steamed seafood, and it arrives at the table alive. One crab even crawled out of the pot.



The server felt a bit embarrassed about the runaway crab, but I told them it was fine because it showed the food was fresh. The restaurant buys crabs in bulk without tying their legs with string. It is hard to tell if a tied crab is alive, and the string just adds extra weight anyway.



I think the best thing about this place is how fresh the ingredients are. The abalone also comes to the table alive, and you have to grill it on an iron plate before eating.



There is unlimited sushi.



They have beef rice bowls and ice cream. The ice cream is the Mengniu brand.



There is a four-part platter of marbled beef. The beef on top is my favorite; it is fragrant and tender once grilled.



Baked crab casserole with cheese.



Roasted durian.



Grilled oysters.



Cold noodles (lengmian).





Mustard shrimp balls



Pasteurized egg, a very small one, used for dipping sauce.



Matsutake mushroom soup



Sashimi platter



Unlimited drinks of all kinds

Mention Dosti to eat at Shixiang buffet, and friends of Tiyehaya can get 20 yuan off the set meal. You can get 15% off at Jiangguo Xinjiang Restaurant. This is a secret between us, so don't tell anyone else.

2. Xihan Xinjiang meatball soup



A Xinjiang meatball soup shop on the first floor of Jianwai SOHO East District, decorated in a fresh and artistic style.



The main color is Ili blue. They specialize in meatball soup and also serve various Xinjiang snacks.



Meatball soup

Meatball soup served with steamed flower rolls (huajuan), absolutely delicious.



Steamed flower rolls (huajuan)



Deep-fried cake (youzhagao)



Ili smoked horse sausage (yili xunmachang)

Jabir ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that on the day of the Battle of Khaybar, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade eating donkey meat but allowed eating horse meat. (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Asma bint Abu Bakr reported: During the time of the Prophet, we slaughtered a horse and ate its meat (Sahih Muslim).

3. Yixiangyuan Restaurant



There is a Yufa Town mosque (Yufa Zhen Qingzhensi) near Daxing Airport. After visiting the Yufa mosque, I went to the nearby Dongwenggezhuang Village for a quick meal.



This is the closest restaurant to the Yufa mosque. I ordered the stir-fried beef with chestnuts, and it tasted pretty good.

4. Niuwanfeng Heluo Noodles



A new Jia County noodle shop (hela mian) from Henan opened in Fengtai. I have been there twice, and the taste is quite authentic.



Jia County noodle soup is made with lamb broth. They use plenty of high-quality lamb, and the soup is good enough to drink on its own.



They fry their chili in lamb fat, so the flavor is very strong.





Besides the buckwheat noodles (heluo mian), their spiced beef (jiang niurou) is also quite good. The kitchen staff are all cousins from Henan.





Lamb liver



Spiced beef (jiang niurou)

5. Laohui Lamb Soup



Pingquan is a county in Chengde, Hebei, famous for its lamb soup (yangtang). This shop, Lao Hui, is a lamb soup restaurant opened by people from Pingquan.





You can get free refills on the lamb soup (yangtang). This shop really boils it from scratch, and you have to eat it with a sesame flatbread (shaobing).



A bowl of lamb soup (yangtang) on a cold day warms you right up. The shop also offers charity meal sets for people in specific professions.



6. Big Head Hot Pot (Danaodai Shuanrou)



A Beijing-style hot pot restaurant opened not far from the North Square of the West Railway Station. Now I have another option if I am not in a rush when visiting the station.



Fennel mini fried dough sticks (huixiang xiao youtiao)



Overall, the place feels quite affordable. They have copper charcoal pots and individual small pots, costing about 100 per person.







7. Xiangshui Sour Soup Hot Pot



The sour soup hot pot restaurant at the entrance of Nanxiapo Mosque uses property owned by the mosque, so they do not sell alcohol.





I recommend the yellow lantern chili and red tomato soup split pot, so you can try both flavors.



The signature Zhongjiang large fried dough sticks (youtiao) are delicious, especially when soaked in the soup.







Their hand-crushed lemon black tea and green tea are both great, and they are better to drink than alcohol.

8. Lan 931



This is a high-end Lanzhou specialty restaurant located quite far away in the Tongzhou National Defense Art District.



They have a full range of Lanzhou snacks and dishes, with an average cost of about 150 per person.



Cold starch noodles (niangpi)



Sweet pea soup (huidouzi)



Hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhu)



Cold sliced beef (niurou liangpian)



Fermented vegetable starch noodles (jiangshui yu)



Stir-fried meat with chili (lazi chaorou)



Spicy hot pot bowl (maocai)



Lily bulb (baihe)



Jingyuan lamb (Jingyuan yanggaorou)



Traditional Lanzhou mixed vegetable stew (lao Lanzhou huicai)



Hui Muslim meat-stuffed egg rolls (Hui min jiasha)



Hezhou steamed buns (Hezhou baozi)



Dongxiang potato slices (Dongxiang tudoupian)



Lamb bone broth (yangtang)

Except for the beef noodles, we tried all the signature Lanzhou dishes at the restaurant. Overall, it was just average. Unless you are staying nearby, there is no need to travel far to eat here. For snacks, it is better to visit smaller shops for more authentic flavor. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This China mosque travel guide visits Mojiang Talang Mosque in Yunnan, covering Jahriyya history, the Zhou school, Talang Hui Muslim village, Ma Shunqing gongbei, local halal food, and the mosque community.

Mojiang Talang Mosque—the Zhou Branch of the Jahriyya (Zheherenye) Order in Yunnan is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On the way south from Dali to Jianshui, I passed through Talang Village in Mojiang County. The account keeps its focus on Halal Travel, Yiwu Food, Mosque Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

On the way south from Dali to Jianshui, I passed through Talang Village in Mojiang County. I knew before coming that there was a Jahriyya mosque here. In the 46th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1781), after the Jahriyya founder Ma Mingxin was killed by the Qing court, his eldest son Ma Shunqing and some followers were exiled to Talang Village in Mojiang, Yunnan. They were rescued by Ma Mingxin's student Ma Xuecheng and settled in Talang Village.



During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns, the Du Wenxiu uprising failed and the Hui Muslims of Talang Village fled. It was not until 1936 that the Hui Muslims gradually returned and rebuilt the Talang Mosque.



The Talang Mosque used to have a dome, but after renovations, a hexagonal roof was added. It looks like the hexagonal cap often worn by Jahriyya followers. However, this hexagonal cap is not exclusive to the Jahriyya; other menhuan and even the Gedimu have a tradition of wearing it. The renovation of this mosque involved quite a struggle.



A couplet written by Shagou Taoye Ma Yuanzhang:

First line: 'Clouds shine on the child who replaces the brother, completing the work of the infant.'

Second line: 'Talang assists Pingliang and stands as a place of Jahriyya victory.'



After the prayer (namaz), the imam was reciting the Quran alone in the main hall. We chatted for a bit and I learned he is from Gansu and had just returned from visiting graves in his hometown.







The mosque is built on a mountain, and there is a Hui Muslim village below. There are not many Hui Muslims in Mojiang, and they are mostly concentrated in Talang Village.





Halal Ark Restaurant



There is a halal restaurant below the mosque run by locals that does not sell alcohol. We had lunch there and chatted with the owner, which is when I learned that most people here are followers of the 'Yunnan Zhou School'.



The Zhou School is what outsiders call them. They revere an elder from Yunnan named Ma Yuzhu, whose original surname was Zhou. It is said he is the son of the eighth-generation Jahriyya leader Ma Zhenwu, who was fostered by a Han Chinese family named Zhou in Yunnan and changed his name to Ma Yuzhu after growing up.



Ma Yuzhu grew up in Yunnan and now lives in Kunming. He is over eighty and used to be a pediatrician. When he began to publicly claim he was a descendant of the Jahriyya founder, his identity was never recognized by the current leaders of the Jahriyya in the Northwest. We can learn this from a conversation between a researcher and an imam from the Jahriyya order in Gansu, as recorded in the research report Investigation of Menhuan in Linxia, Gansu by the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.





The restaurant owner was surprised that I, a Beijinger, knew about the Yunnan Zhou school. I first heard of this school about ten years ago when a website called Shengchuan Zhendao was based in Yunnan and posted many of Zhou's works in the name of Sufism. I shared my doubts about the Zhou school, but the owner had a different take. They knew that people in the Northwest did not recognize the Yunnan Zhou school, but he told me stories about the old man from Yunnan.

He mentioned that several of the old man's prophecies came true. For example, a few years ago, two brothers in the village asked the old man about their jobs. The old man told them not to learn how to drive. The brothers didn't listen and went to work at an auto repair shop. One day, they got into a car accident and both passed away (returned to Allah) on the same day. They were buried in the cemetery behind the Talang Mosque.



Another story is that in the last century, some social events led to all the imams being arrested. With no imams around, there was no one to give Islamic names to newborns. But before this happened, the old man from Yunnan had handwritten dozens of names for unborn babies. This allowed children to receive their names even during the time when there were no imams. The villagers see these events as signs of the old man's spiritual power.



The owner is a follower who has followed the old man from Yunnan for over 30 years. He is now the director of the Talang Mosque management committee. He told me that the people living around the mosque are mostly followers of the old man. I asked about rumors from the outside world regarding the old man, such as claims that he would go into seclusion and stop naming a successor. The owner denied this, and the imam of Talang Mosque also denied it.













Walking further up to the top of the mountain, you can see a cemetery overgrown with weeds. A small path on the right leads to the graves of Han and Hani people. You can see crosses on some of their tombstones because many Hani people are Christians.





There is also the tomb of the martyr Xiong Chaochun.



Another wider and cleaner path leads to the Hui Muslim cemetery.



The gongbei (a domed tomb for a Sufi saint) of Ma Shunqing, the eldest son of Ma Mingxin, is here. I saw the gate was locked, and since I needed to reach Jianshui before dark, I prepared to leave. On the way back, I met the imam of Talang Mosque. He said he could contact the person with the key to open it, but I declined and drove onto the highway.



Something interesting happened. Half an hour after getting on the highway, my wife realized she had left her bag at the mosque gate. We had to turn back. I thought to myself that maybe it was meant to be and I wasn't supposed to leave just yet. After getting the bag, I asked the imam for the key to the gongbei. He told me to call the gatekeeper myself. When I called and the person learned I was from Beijing, he quickly came over to open the gate of the Talang gongbei.



This return trip brought new discoveries. The person guarding the gongbei is the only villager who follows the traditional Jahriyya order and does not associate with the Yunnan Zhou school. Because of this, the Zhou school cannot get the key to hold religious gatherings (a'ermaili) there. The Zhou school once wanted to build another gongbei next to it, but the local government rejected the proposal.



Ma Yuzhu had been here before, but he only got the doors opened because he was accompanied by the relevant authorities. I listened to the caretaker share stories about his family guarding this gongbei for generations. He told me about many unpleasant events that happened here, which made me feel quite sad. He said I was likely the second person from Beijing to visit. Zhang Chengzhi had been here, but he did not say who he was, so the caretaker did not recognize him.



To tell the truth, a DNA test would be enough to figure out what is real and what is fake. But I suspect things are not that simple. Even if the test results did not match, some people would still find a way to rationalize them with irrational reasons. It is hard to change someone's mind through logic between different sects or religions. Once you realize this, you stop trying to convince anyone. People often change their minds in a split second.



My short trip to Mojiang Talang turned out to be a very special side story of my Yunnan journey, and it is worth writing a travelogue about. I am not a member of the Jahriyya, but over the years, I have visited almost all the important Jahriyya gongbei across China. I have even been a guest in the homes of elders in Ningxia. I know the Jahriyya keep a low profile now and do not want to get involved in trouble. I have no intention of starting any disputes, so some things must stay in my heart. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing halal food guide maps issue 36 of the series, covering Samosa China-Pakistan restaurant, halal food verification, lamb hot pot, Chaoshan beef hot pot, Ningxia-style fine dining, and Xinjiang noodles at Daxing Airport.

Beijing Halal Food Map (36) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I often get private messages from followers asking if a certain restaurant is halal. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Muslim Travel, Middle Eastern Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

I often get private messages from followers asking if a certain restaurant is halal. Even when I post photos showing the halal sign hanging in the shop, a few people still feel uneasy and want to get to the bottom of it. I have talked about which foods are not halal according to the scriptures and teachings before. Once I see a business display a halal sign, I stop asking about the source of the ingredients. My reasoning is based on the following hadith:

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that a group of people came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, 'Some people (nomads from the countryside) bring us meat, and we do not know if they mentioned the name of Allah when slaughtering it.' The Prophet said, 'You mention the name of Allah over it and eat it.' Aisha said, 'Those people had only recently embraced the faith.' — Sahih al-Bukhari

This hadith contains a lot of information and gives clear guidance. Aisha did not trust the newcomers from the countryside and doubted the meat they brought. The Prophet did not tell Aisha to avoid eating it just because she had doubts, nor did he ask her to verify how the ingredients were slaughtered. This was to make life easier for Muslims so they do not have to struggle over food. Strictly speaking, unless you see the halal slaughter process with your own eyes, you have reason to doubt the meat provided by anyone. Even if the restaurant staff wears a headscarf and does not sell alcohol, it still does not prove that the ingredients they purchased are definitely halal. Even if the other party provides non-halal meat, it is their faith that is harmed, not the faith of the person who eats it by mistake. Otherwise, we would only be able to eat meat we slaughtered ourselves to feel at ease.

Of course, some people say that a restaurant selling alcohol is not halal. I am not here to defend restaurant owners who sell alcohol; they will receive their own reward. From the perspective of the scriptures and teachings, as a diner, there is no evidence that you cannot eat at a restaurant that serves alcohol. There is only a hadith mentioning not to sit at the same table as those drinking alcohol. Even regarding the issue of sitting at the same table as drinkers, Sheikh al-Qaradawi suggested that if the intention is to unite with others, then sitting at the same table without drinking is permissible. This is even different from just eating in the same restaurant. If we take it further, would it also be forbidden to be in the same building, on the same street, or even in the same city as someone who drinks? Life is not easy today. I hope we do not spend too much energy on food and drink, as there are more meaningful things to do.

1. SAMOSA China-Pakistan Friendship Restaurant



Samosa is a common fried triangular snack in Indian and Pakistani cuisine. The owner used to run another Indian-Pakistani buffet called ZamZam. This Samosa is located in Xibahe and still offers an 88-yuan buffet.



It just opened and is still in the trial phase. The variety of dishes is not huge, but they have all the essential Indian and Pakistani classics.





This is butter naan (naan) fresh out of the pan. It is one of my favorite Indian-Pakistani treats. I can eat a whole basket of bread with curry.











The buffet includes two desserts and three drinks. I like the green mint drink. The ingredients are high quality, the meat portions are generous, and everything is clean and hygienic.



2. Wanfu Halal Iron Pot Stew



This Harbin-style iron pot stew in Daxing has been open for three months. Three of us ate a pot of beef tendon and brisket (jintoubabao). Aside from the small portions and high price, the taste was very good. I think it tastes better than Uncle Oyster's.





Besides iron pot stew, they also serve Northeast Chinese stir-fry. The biggest surprise was the sweet and sour pork (guobaorou), which comes in several styles.











This is called sticky roll (nianjuanzi). It is made without yeast. You put it into the pot and steam it for 15 minutes while the stew cooks. It is very fragrant.



The owner gave us stone-ground tofu on the house. They make the tofu themselves. With the sauce and seasonings, it feels like eating savory tofu pudding (doufunao), and it is delicious.





We added dried green beans and dried potatoes to the iron pot. These two ingredients taste even better stewed than when they are fresh.



The sweet and sour pork (guobaorou) made by Hui Muslims in Harbin is savory. Their version is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. We finished a whole plate in no time. It is great to finally find authentic savory sweet and sour pork in Beijing again.

3. Tianqiao Lao Jin Hot Pot (Lao Jin Shuanrou)



Tianqiao Lao Jin Hot Pot opened a new branch at Hufangqiao. They now have two locations, with the other one on Jiaozihu Hutong in Niujie.





Lao Jin cooked the quick-boiled tripe (baodu) for us himself. Their cooking keeps the old Beijing Hui Muslim traditions, such as the way they slice the meat and their dipping sauce recipe. It is very different from modern hot pot styles.













4. Azerbaijan National Pavilion - Maiden Tower Restaurant



The Azerbaijan National Pavilion opened a new restaurant on the third floor called Maiden Tower, which is named after a famous tourist site in Azerbaijan.



The restaurant is inside the pavilion, so you can look at Azerbaijani handicrafts while you eat.





















Many Azerbaijani chefs work abroad. Many of the Turkish restaurants we often visit are actually run by Azerbaijanis.



The dishes here suit our tastes well, including these snacks, which are also good for babies to eat.



Creamy eggplant rolls



Jelitme roasted chicken



Beef rice with chestnut and pomegranate sauce



Nut flatbread (jianguobing)

The restaurant is near Sanyuanqiao. It costs about 150 yuan per person, making it a good spot for business dinners and dates.

5. Yangzhilian Fusion Restaurant



This is a new place in the Hui Muslim village of Xueying, Daxing. They sell beef and lamb and also run a restaurant on the side.



Their lamb is really good. It is high quality, not gamey, and not greasy.





This is a hot pot made with lamb chops. After you finish the chops, you can cook vegetables in the broth. These are live vegetables, cut straight from the hydroponic tank, so they are incredibly fresh.





6. Yu

Shanfang Chaoshan Beef Restaurant



This shop near the Pingle Yuan subway station has seen at least three halal restaurants come and go, from Yinmadeng skewers to Qinghai pan-cooked dishes, and now this Chaoshan beef hot pot. Every place here has actually tasted good, so I hope this new style lasts a bit longer.









Every plate of meat comes with a label showing how many seconds to cook it.



This is the first halal restaurant in Beijing to serve Chaoshan beef hot pot, and you can even get stir-fried beef rice noodles (ganchao niuhe) here.









7. Jingyu Yanyan Halal Cuisine



A high-end restaurant opened by a Ningxia owner in the China World Trade Center, focusing on Beijing dishes and Ningxia specialties.



The complimentary lychees served before the meal are icy, sweet, and delicious.



The snack platter features one piece of each dessert, all made with great care.



Their signature roast duck is carved by the chef right in front of the guests, and it tastes great.





The lamb chops and cold dishes are Ningxia-style, and you can taste the excellent quality of the salt-lake lamb (tanyang).





For the main course, we chose the noodle soup slices (tangmianpian), which arrived in a large pot with a flavorful broth and plenty of ingredients.





The yogurt rice dumplings (suannai zongzi) and mango pomelo sago (yangzhi ganlu) are the desserts, though I prefer the yogurt rice dumplings.



The average cost is about 200 yuan per person, but the food quality is top-notch and the service is attentive, making it worth bringing a loved one here.

8. Yixiaomei Silk Road Cuisine



A Xinjiang restaurant at Daxing Airport, located next to the service desk on the second floor of the P1 parking garage, making it very easy to find.



The owner of this Xinjiang restaurant is from Xinjiang, and the chefs were brought here from Yili, Xinjiang.



You can eat authentic Yili mixed noodles (banmian) and yogurt here, because their yogurt is truly shipped in from Yili.





Even these steamed flower rolls (huajuan) are shipped from Yili. Since the airport restaurant cannot easily add new equipment, some dishes are hard to make. You might ask how I know these things come from Yili; it is because I just returned to Beijing from Yili, where I met the owner and the local elders who supply the yogurt and flower rolls.





The yellow noodles with grilled meat (huangmian kaorou) are very satisfying. I usually do not eat at the airport and prefer to save my appetite for after I land, but I am truly grateful (shukr) to be able to eat such authentic Xinjiang food at Daxing Airport now.



Show the Yixiaomei card below at the shop to get a 10% discount. Remember to save the image, friends (dosti), so you can enjoy good food when you fly out of Daxing Airport.

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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.

A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.

The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.

Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.

Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.

Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.



Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.



Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.



Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.



The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.



Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.







You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.





Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.



Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.



The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.



Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.



The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.



You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.



Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.



These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.



Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.



The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.









Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.



I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.

























Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan

I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.



When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.



Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.



You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.



The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.



On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.





The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.



The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.



The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.



It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).



The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.

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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Ningxia halal food guide starts a road trip from Beijing through Zhangjiakou, Hohhot, Wuhai, and Yinchuan, featuring old mosques, halal breakfast carts, Mongolian halal food, Yinchuan Marriott, and local lamb barbecue.

A Halal journey through Ningxia: The food in this 'Pearl of the Frontier' is more than just salt-lake lamb (tanyang) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: You can drive from Beijing to Ningxia in one day if you hurry. If you prefer a slower pace, stop in Zhangjiakou for breakfast, have lunch in Hohhot, and spend the night in Wuhai, the city closest to Ningxia. The account keeps its focus on Halal Travel, Yiwu Food, Mosque Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

You can drive from Beijing to Ningxia in one day if you hurry. If you prefer a slower pace, stop in Zhangjiakou for breakfast, have lunch in Hohhot, and spend the night in Wuhai, the city closest to Ningxia. The next morning, enter Ningxia, pass through Shizuishan, and arrive in Yinchuan by noon. You can try all kinds of Northwest food along the way.

Zhangjiakou Xiguan Mosque



Zhangjiakou Xiguan Mosque

I previously visited five mosques along the Zhangjiakou Grassland Sky Road. This time, I am stopping by to see the two old mosques at Xiguan and Xinhua Street.



Xiguan Mosque was built during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. It is a traditional-style building with stone inscriptions inside as proof, making it the oldest mosque in downtown Zhangjiakou.



The mosque is located in Xiguan Street West Alley, tucked away among residential houses, so it is not easy to find.

















After leaving Xiguan Mosque and walking to Xinhua Street, you can find halal breakfast carts.



I had a baked flatbread (beizi) here. Since Zhangjiakou is right next to Inner Mongolia, you can find beizi to eat.



Walking to the entrance of Xinhua Street Mosque, there are a few more halal breakfast shops.



The shop sign says Guanshi Li, which means it was opened by the Li family from Xiguanshi in Changping, Beijing. Xiguanshi is not far from Zhangjiakou. I had their ingot-shaped dumpling soup (yuanbao tang), and it tasted good.



Zhangjiakou Xinhua Street Mosque



This mosque was built in the second year of the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty and was funded by Hui Muslims from Ningxia.



















After a short break, we headed northwest and arrived at the halal food street in Hohhot at noon.



The Niujie Street in Hohhot shares the same name as the one in Beijing, and both are hubs for halal food.







Among the many halal options, we chose the most unique halal Mongolian meal, since it is hard to find halal Mongolian food once you leave Inner Mongolia.



This Mongolian restaurant is inside the Bailaoliu Bone House (Bailaoliu Gutouguan), which has been open for many years.









This is Mongolian-style meat sausage, and the dipping sauce is delicious.



Scrambled eggs with wild onions (shacong).



Mongolian meat dishes are not much different from those of Hui Muslims, so the real highlight of Mongolian cuisine is the Mongolian milk tea. It is boiled in a pot with various dairy products and beef jerky, and the hot, salty taste is quite good.





ZZANG·Great

After finishing our meal, we found a Korean-style afternoon tea spot on Niujie Street. For cities I have visited many times, traditional local dishes no longer interest me. I am only interested in these niche halal spots, so I decided to have a coffee before leaving.



This Korean restaurant is likely the only one in Hohhot. It serves both afternoon tea and Korean dishes.







We left Hohhot for Wuhai. Wuhai has no sea, but the Yellow River flows through it, and a giant statue of Genghis Khan stands on a distant mountaintop.



Haibowan Mosque.



Haibowan Mosque.

Haibowan Mosque was built in 1978 and is currently the only religious site in Wuhai city that can host foreign Muslims.









Because Wuhai is near Shizuishan in Ningxia, most of the Hui Muslims here come from Ningxia, so the local food is basically Ningxia style.



I had minced meat noodles (saozimian) and cumin lamb mixed noodles, and the prices were not expensive.





After eating, I checked into Yuehai Hotel and set off for Shizuishan early the next morning.

Shizuishan Mosque



The founding date of Shizuishan Mosque is unknown. The current building was rebuilt during the Republic of China era and has been expanded many times since.



In no time at all, we finished visiting the five mosques in Shizuishan.



Zhongjie Mosque



Zhongjie Mosque was first built during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty.







Xinjie Mosque



Xinjie Mosque was not open. It was not for any other reason, but because the main hall had cracks and was declared a dangerous building that needs renovation. Someone at the mosque greeted us and told us about the place.



This crack is quite serious and hard to fix. The soil in the Northwest is loose, so building damage from ground sinking happens a lot.



Dawukou Mosque



If its roof hadn't been cut off, Dawukou Mosque would be quite beautiful.





I used to think there weren't many Hui Muslims in Shizuishan. After coming here, I realized there are actually quite a few in Huinong and Pingluo, and there is a lot of good food too. Many people in Ningxia might not even know about it, like this place called Zhongmin Lamb (Zhongmin Yanggaorou) which is truly delicious.



My friend from Shizuishan recommended this shop. It is a chain restaurant from Pingluo and is very famous locally.



I tried the stir-fried lamb (baochao yanggaorou) myself and it is indeed very tasty. You can really taste how tender and fresh the lamb is.









Stirred flour paste (jiaotuan)

Locals all know stirred flour paste (jiaotuan). For people from the Northwest who have been away from home for a long time, one bite brings back the taste of their childhood.



Stir-fried lamb (baochao yanggaorou)

When you come to Pingluo, you must try this stir-fried lamb. You won't find this taste anywhere outside of Ningxia.

Pingluo Mosque



Pingluo Mosque was first built in the 21st year of the Republic of China under the leadership of the Kuomintang. It serves as a joint community mosque for the Ikhwan, Gedimu, and Jahriyya groups.





After leaving Pingluo, Yinchuan is right next door.

Jingui Market



Recommended by a friend in Ningxia, the Jingui Market is a popular spot for locals in Yinchuan. It is a halal market about a half-hour drive from Yinchuan city and not far from Shizuishan. Since it is on the way to Yinchuan, I stopped by to take a look.







Besides all kinds of farm produce, the market has a street dedicated to snacks, and everything there is halal.



The market is quite large and takes about half a day to explore.



Specialty snacks in Ningxia include spicy hot pot (malatang), knife-cut noodles (daoxiaomian), and lamb offal soup (yangza).









After leaving Jingui Market, we finally arrived in Yinchuan and checked into the Yinchuan Marriott Hotel. A friend told me that most hotels in Yinchuan are halal; at least the Kempinski and Marriott where I have stayed are both halal hotels.



Yinchuan Halal Marriott



The gym and swimming pool at the Yinchuan Marriott are not as spacious or grand as those at the Hyatt in Lanzhou.



Marriott Ningxin Pavilion



To my surprise, the Ningxin Pavilion restaurant inside the Marriott serves halal Cantonese cuisine.





Durian pastry (liuliansu)

I actually think the Cantonese food at Ningxin Pavilion tastes better than what I had in Guangzhou.



Chaoshan seafood porridge (chaoshan haixian zhou)



King shrimp dumplings (xiajiao huang)



Crispy roast goose (cuipi shao'e)

The roast goose at Ningxin Pavilion is also delicious. It is a bit pricey at about 300 yuan per person, but it is rare to find such authentic Cantonese food in the Northwest, even in Beijing.



It feels great that the breakfast at Marriott is entirely halal. I really enjoyed my stays at the Yinchuan Marriott and Lanzhou Hyatt during this Northwest loop trip.



















The hot pot-style boiled dishes (tangcai) at Marriott allow you to add your own ingredients, which is a local Ningxia specialty.

Yang Gaze barbecue



Yang Gaze

People in Yinchuan love barbecue. This place, Yang Gaze, is a local hit and a spot my friend specifically brought me to.



This barbecue shop was surprisingly good. You even have to wait in line during peak meal times.





Yinchuan has plenty of great lamb. It tastes good just grilled, and it is even better with some secret seasonings.





This restaurant does not just have good grilled meat; their various snacks and side dishes are also prepared with care and attention to detail.















There is such a wide variety that I just wish I had a bigger appetite. Check the list below to see what I ate; everything was truly delicious.



The average cost per person is about 200 yuan. Prices in Yinchuan are not low.

Yuehai Mosque



After finishing the lamb skewers (yang gazi) barbecue, it is just a short walk to Yuehai Mosque. This mosque is considered the most unique building in the area.



The interior has a Southeast Asian style, and Yuehai Mosque has now become a landmark building in Yinchuan.



Najia Building Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Ningxia halal food guide continues the Yinchuan journey with Najia Lou, lamb bone broth, Tongxinchun wedding banquet, Mingxin Mosque Jumuah prayer, Minning Town, Jahriyya mosque architecture, and local starch noodle soup.

A Halal journey through Ningxia: The food in this Pearl of the Frontier is more than just salt-lake lamb (tanyang) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I met a friend and client at Najia Lou. The 'Na' family here does not refer to the one in Najaying, Yunnan. The account keeps its focus on Halal Travel, Yiwu Food, Mosque Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.



I met a friend and client at Najia Lou. The 'Na' family here does not refer to the one in Najaying, Yunnan. There is a famous Great Mosque of Najiahu (Najiahu Qingzhen Dasi) in Yinchuan, which is a national cultural heritage site I have visited before. This restaurant, Najia Lou, is run by people from that area.



Eating big meals back-to-back put a lot of pressure on me, so this time I ordered something lighter: lamb bone broth (yanggutou) and steamed dumplings (zhengjiao).





Tongxinchun



The main reason for this trip to Yinchuan was to attend my apprentice's wedding. It was held in the morning at Tongxinchun. This is one of the few high-end halal restaurants in Yinchuan that does not allow smoking or alcohol. I have been to several of their branches, and their food is very popular with the locals.













The wedding day happened to be on a blessed Friday (Jumu'ah). The groom and I prayed Jumu'ah at the Mingxin Mosque right next to Tongxinchun. Afterward, I said goodbye to my friends in Yinchuan and drove toward Minning.



This is a Jahriyya mosque in Minning Town. This simple and traditional architectural style is a hallmark of the Jahriyya order, as they do not encourage decorating their mosques.







Sheep raised by a friend in Minning Town, seen that morning at my friend's home in Gan'ermaili.



This is the starch noodle soup (fentang) that our friend (dost) specifically saved for us. You can skip the meat in the Gan'ermaili meal, but you must have a bowl of this soup.



As you might guess from the name, Minning Town is a new town built with aid from Fujian to Ningxia. Most of the residents moved here from Xihaigu. The people living in Xihaigu were mostly refugees sent there during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. The land in Xihaigu is barren and resources are scarce, so the most effective way to solve local poverty is 'diaozhuang,' which means relocating entire villages. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This China mosque travel guide visits Yumen in Gansu, including Yumen Mosque, Uwais Gongbei, hand-grabbed mutton, Islamic discussions on visiting gongbei, and heritage connected to early Muslim figures in China.

A Halal Journey in Gansu: The Gongbei of the Prophet's Companion Uwais is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Traveling from southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang, and finally leaving through Hami in eastern Xinjiang to return to Gansu, felt like a long deep-sea dive. The account keeps its focus on Qinghai Mosques, Chinese Muslims, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Traveling from southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang, and finally leaving through Hami in eastern Xinjiang to return to Gansu, felt like a long deep-sea dive. I could finally surface to catch my breath and everything felt normal again, for reasons I mentioned in my previous Xinjiang travelogues.

Yumen Mosque



Yumen Mosque was the first mosque we entered after leaving Xinjiang. It felt like coming home. I naturally drove into the courtyard and parked in the open space in front of the main prayer hall, knowing I did not have to worry about anyone stopping me here.



I had a perfect wudu (ablution) in the washroom, and that long-lost feeling of relaxation and rejuvenation came back to me.





The familiar Chinese characters for "halal" (qingzhen) appeared on restaurant signs again, and I could finally eat a meal with peace of mind without being suspicious.



Beef vermicelli soup with flatbread (bing) was delicious.



Yumen Uwais Gongbei



Uwais Gongbei is the most worth-visiting place in Yumen. People say Uwais was one of the three companions of the Prophet sent to China by Caliph Uthman to spread the faith. Uwais passed away in Yumen. Gais passed away in Xingxingxia and was later reburied in Hami, which I mentioned in a previous travelogue. The last one, Waqqas, passed away in Guangzhou. Gongbei shrines were built at all three locations.



Uwais Gongbei does not belong to any specific Sufi order (menhuan), but is jointly managed by several of them. I met some enthusiastic mosque committee members here who treated us to hand-grabbed mutton (shouzhuarou) for afternoon tea.



Uwais Gongbei was originally called Huihuibao. After over 1,300 years of war and repeated donations for reconstruction, it has reached its current scale.



I will share some knowledge here about the religious rules for visiting a gongbei, which are discussed in detail in the book "The Radicals and Their Methods: A Discussion on the Major Issues They Raise" by Egyptian scholar Ali Gomaa.



When Imam Malik spoke about where the companions of the Prophet discussed burying the Prophet, he said: "Some say he was buried under the pulpit of the mosque, and others say he was buried in the Baqi cemetery." Then Abu Bakr arrived and said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say that every prophet is buried exactly where he passed away. So, they dug the grave right where the Prophet passed away and buried him there. —Muwatta Hadith, Volume 1, page 231.

This hadith shows that when someone suggested burying the Prophet inside the mosque, no one objected.



After the companions decided to bury the Prophet in the room of his wife Aisha, we find that this room was connected to the Prophet's Mosque where he led the Muslims in namaz. When Abu Bakr passed away, he was buried next to the Prophet, meaning there were now two graves in the room connected to the mosque. When Umar passed away, he was also buried next to the Prophet and Abu Bakr. At this point, there were three graves in the room connected to the mosque.



In this situation, Muslims continued to pray in the Prophet's Mosque without anyone raising an objection, which shows the consensus of the companions.

Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim record: May Allah curse the Jews and Christians, for they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship. Sahih Muslim adds: and the graves of their righteous people as places of worship. This hadith refers to bowing down in worship toward a grave, which is a different concept from building a mosque that happens to have a grave in one of its side buildings.



The Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) contains the burial place of Ismail and the tomb of Hatim, making it the most suitable mosque for performing namaz.



The specific legal ruling is as follows: if the tomb is in a place separated from the mosque, and the namaz is performed inside the mosque, the prayer is valid.

If the tomb is inside the mosque, the Hanbali school of jurisprudence holds that the prayer is invalid, but the other three schools of jurisprudence consider it valid. At most, these three schools of scholars say that if a tomb is in front of the person praying, the prayer is disliked because it creates the suspicion of praying to the tomb.



The above content is excerpted from the Al-Azhar Lighthouse series. It is not currently sold in China, so please do not send me private messages asking for the books.







The tomb of Uwais is separated from the mosque, and they face different directions.



The mosque management committee asked us about our experiences in Xinjiang. They said the Uwais gongbei is open 24 hours a day, never locks its doors, and welcomes everyone to visit. We said goodbye to the elders and continued along the Hexi Corridor toward Jiayuguan.

Jiayuguan Mosque



In 1982, Jiayuguan Mosque was originally a ritual washing room for Muslims at the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company, used for washing the bodies of the deceased. Later, it was expanded into a two-story prayer hall on Fuqiang Road. The Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company occupied mosque property to build a gymnasium and provided 1.8 million yuan in compensation. The current large mosque was built in 2002.



There are quite a few halal restaurants in Jiayuguan, but there are far fewer once you reach Jiuquan.

Jiuquan Dongguan Grand Mosque



Jiuquan has a Han-Tang food street, and surprisingly, you cannot find a single halal restaurant on the whole street, though the Jiuquan Dongguan Mosque is quite beautiful.















We stayed in Jiuquan for one night and then headed toward Beijing, passing through Wuwei.

Wuwei Dongguan Grand Mosque



Wuwei Dongguan Mosque is located on Mosque Lane in Dongguan Street and was first built in 1920. Wuwei had five mosques during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, but they were torn down during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty.



It was renamed Liangzhou Grand Mosque in 1942 and changed back to the name Dongguan Mosque in 1986.















The calligraphy on the mihrab of the Wuwei Grand Mosque is very unique and rarely seen elsewhere in the country.









Although Gansu feels like it has many Hui Muslims, they are mainly concentrated around Lanzhou, Linxia, and Pingliang. There are a few in the Gannan region, but they are more sparsely distributed in the northwest.





We had some Xinjiang mixed noodles (banmian) in Wuwei. Honestly, Xinjiang noodles just do not taste the same once you leave Xinjiang. After being away for so long, we were eager to get home and drove back to Beijing the next day. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This China mosque travel guide to Lanzhou covers Wuxingping Lingmingtang, one of China’s largest gongbei sites, Xinguan Mosque, halal Hyatt breakfast, Lanzhou beef noodles, hand-grabbed lamb, and local Muslim heritage.

A Halal Tour of Lanzhou: The Five-Star Terrace Spiritual Light Hall (Wuxingping Lingmingtang), the Largest Gongbei in China is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I wrote a map of halal food in Lanzhou in 2016. This is my fifth time in Lanzhou. The account keeps its focus on Qinghai Mosques, Chinese Muslims, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

I wrote a map of halal food in Lanzhou in 2016. This is my fifth time in Lanzhou. I flew the first four times, but this time I drove. It is about 1,400 kilometers from Beijing to Lanzhou, and the first city I stopped in after entering Gansu was Baiyin.



On the way, I took a highway called Wuma. It is named after the Wuhai to Maqin expressway, but it happens to sound like the Arabic word for nation.



After praying Maghrib (shamu) at the Great Mosque of Baiyin, I walked around the city looking for food, but I found there were not many choices.







I found this Chuntai Hand-Grabbed Meat Restaurant (Chuntai Shouzhua Meishicheng). Chuntai is a township in Dongxiang, Linxia, and it is famous for its delicious hand-grabbed lamb.





The food was really good. Both the hand-grabbed lamb and the firecracker noodles (paozhuang mian) were delicious.





I stayed in Baiyin for one night and walked around, but I did not find any places worth remembering.



When I saw the Yellow River Bridge, I knew I had arrived in Lanzhou. This time I stayed at the Hyatt Regency. I chose it because it is a halal Hyatt, which is rare in China. The owner is a Dongxiang person.



The promotional video for the Hyatt playing in the elevator features girls wearing headscarves.



The gym at the Lanzhou Hyatt is very large. It is rare for a five-star hotel in China to have such a big gym.



The gym faces the Yellow River, so the view is excellent.



What attracts me most about the Hyatt is the rich breakfast. Everything is halal, and you can choose whatever you want. Besides regular Western desserts, they also have local Northwest specialties.













The Lanzhou beef noodles at the Hyatt were the only beef noodles I ate on this trip to Lanzhou. They were truly delicious and just as good as any of the old, famous shops I have visited in Lanzhou.



Xinguan Mosque



Local elders in Lanzhou highly recommended I visit Xinguan Mosque. People say it is very popular with young people because the imam, Ma Jun, gives lively and vivid sermons (wa'az) in Mandarin.



The mosque gate is completely open to the public, and many children play at the entrance.





Yixiang Stir-fry



Next to Xinguan Mosque is a Lanzhou stir-fry shop that a long-time Lanzhou local specifically recommended to me as a place for authentic local dishes.



This shop has been open in Lanzhou for over ten years, and the customers are mostly local residents from the neighborhood.



I really enjoy eating at these popular local spots. You can taste the quality in the cooking here, and I probably would not have noticed this place if a friend had not shown me the way.



Lanzhou thick-sauce lamb (hu yang)

This was my first time eating thick-sauce lamb. I noticed that traditional Lanzhou stir-fry is mostly salty, fresh, and sweet, and the way they use starch to thicken sauces is similar to Beijing cuisine.



Sweet and sour meat-stuffed crepes (suanla jiasha)



Sweet and sour pork tenderloin (tangcu liji)

If you get tired of eating Northwest-style noodles, remember to stop by Yixiang Stir-fry when you are in Lanzhou.

Miaotanzi Gadan



Local elders picked this Miaotanzi Gadan as another special Lanzhou barbecue stall for me. The environment is basically non-existent. It has been open for over a decade and is full of locals. People sit on stools by the roadside to eat, or just stand and dip their skewers.



Lanzhou barbecue is known for using iron skewers over an open flame with plenty of seasoning. They come in bundles of 20, and it is easy for one person to eat 30 or 50. I like these small skewers. Large ones fill me up after one or two, which feels less satisfying.

Aliya Art Restaurant



After spending a long time in Northwest cities, I cannot handle heavy dishes anymore. I specifically chose this refreshing art restaurant to meet a friend. You can have afternoon tea here, or choose from light meals.



Aliya Lanzhou Center branch. Their desserts are excellent. They also serve sushi and salads, which are rare, light food options in the Northwest.



Things like sushi and spring rolls are much easier to eat.





Hongyunxuan Macau Charcoal Hot Pot



I have had this halal hot pot (dabanlu) place saved in my Beijing list for a long time as a Lanzhou specialty. Hongyunxuan previously ran a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant in Macau, but it closed during the pandemic. I did not expect them to open a hot pot place in Lanzhou.



The restaurant decor is very Cantonese. It has not been open long, so I wonder how long it will last.





We chose two types of seafood porridge bases. You can drink the porridge first, then cook the meat.





Fish maw (huajiao) porridge base







This Cantonese-style hot pot (dabanlu) tastes good and is light. I hope it stays open because it really helps add variety to the food scene in the Northwest.

Shancheng Hand-Grabbed Lamb (Shancheng shouzhuo)



I met an elder (xianglao) from the Lingming Hall (Lingmingtang) in Lanzhou at Shancheng Hand-Grabbed Lamb. Shancheng is a village in Linxia, and many friends in Lanzhou recommend this place. Most people working in the halal restaurant business in Lanzhou are from Linxia.



Before eating, they serve tea. You can grab whatever you like from the Three-Fortress Tea (sanpaotai) platter. The rose inside is a local Lanzhou specialty, and you must add it.



The hand-grabbed lamb is tender with a good mix of fat and lean meat, mostly lean, which is how I like it.



Yogurt with fermented oat grains (tianpei) is a creative new combination. Fermented oat grains are a popular Lanzhou snack.



Soup made with hair moss (facai). Hair moss is a specialty of the Northwest and can be used as medicine.



The lily bulbs in the assorted shrimp dish are another Lanzhou specialty. You must try lily bulbs when you come to Lanzhou.



Hot and sour stuffed meat (suanla jiasha). The outer layer of the stuffed meat is made of egg, similar to Beijing's fried meat strips (songrou), but those use bean curd skin.



Cold tossed wild onion (shacong). This is a wild vegetable from the Northwest, and it has become more common in Beijing over the last two years.



Sugar oil cake (tangyougao) is a bit like the Qinghai dog-pissing pancake (goujiaoniao). It is hollow inside. My friends chose these local specialties for me, and Shancheng Hand-Grabbed Lamb lives up to its reputation. It is worth recommending.



After the meal, we visited the home of the elder from Lingming Hall and saw this biography, The Brief Biography of Master Lingming (Lingming Shangren Zhuanlue).



On the way to Lingmingtang Gongbei, I passed through Gongbei Gully and saw several gongbei built halfway up the mountain.





The Lingmingtang Gongbei sits on the top of Wuxingping Mountain in Lanzhou, covering an area of over 30,000 square meters, and it is the largest gongbei I have ever seen.



The founding master of Lingmingtang Gongbei was Ma Yilong (1853-1925), whose courtesy name was Lingming. He once studied under the Great Incense Master of the Kashgar Daotang and accepted the teachings of the Qadiriyya. In his final words, he mentioned being the 'answerer promised by the Bab gate,' which led some to believe he was influenced by the Babi faith. However, some descendants of Lingmingtang deny this, as detailed in the article 'A Discussion on the Possibility of Historical Contact Between Lingmingtang and the Babi Sect'.



During his lifetime, Ma Lingming lived a life of poverty and appeared eccentric, remaining unmoved even when children played around him or passersby mocked him. People often asked him questions, and he would sometimes give hints without taking a penny. Over time, some felt his guidance came true, and they began to respect him.



Whenever a Sufi elder gains the support of the public, they must have some extraordinary qualities. This is especially true for local illiterate believers, as it is hard to win hearts through reasoning and education alone.



As Ma Lingming's followers grew, he caught the attention of local officials, who supported him to keep other menhuan in check.



Ma Lingming himself remained indifferent to fame and wealth. He had no sons, only two daughters, and his noble character earned him the support of many believers.



The religious authority of Lingmingtang is passed to the worthy rather than to one's own children. Before Ma Lingming passed away, he publicly gathered his followers to elect a second-generation successor. They finally chose Shan Zijiu (1888-1953) from Lanzhou. The election process was very complex and required many rituals to complete the succession.



After Shan Zijiu, the religious authority was passed to Wang Shoutian (1924-2021), an elder from Tangwangchuan in Dongxiang County.



Between 1958 and 1979, Wang Shoutian was imprisoned during the anti-religious and anti-feudal movements. After his release, he began leading the construction of the Lingmingtang Gongbei, and the current Wuxingping site was allocated to Lingmingtang by the government in 1982.



Wang Shoutian valued education, and in 1993, he took the lead in donating money to convert Tangwang Primary School into a middle school.



At the same time, Wang Shoutian also valued business and encouraged followers to develop production. He even believed that young people should focus on their careers, which is why Lingmingtang has better economic strength than other menhuan and the financial resources to build such a grand gongbei.



Ma Lingming left behind no personal property. The construction of the Lingmingtang gongbei cost over 100 million yuan, all of which came from donations by believers.



Currently, there are Lingmingtang branch gongbei in Guyuan, Linxia, Hami, and Luoyang. The current fourth-generation leader is named Su Zhilin. He is in his thirties and was elected by the community elders.





The election of the leader is only considered complete after it is approved by the relevant authorities.

































The former residence of the elder Wang Shoutian is inside the Lingmingtang gongbei. During his lifetime, he often sat in the courtyard with people gathered around him to listen to his teachings. Because he had a strong Tangwang accent—or perhaps he was speaking the Dongxiang language—someone would sit by his side to translate for him.









The elder did not know Chinese characters, but he was fluent in the mosque language (jingtangyu), so he usually read scriptures in Arabic.





Our Lingmingtang elder did not want to enter the former residence because it reminded him of the elder when he was alive. His eyes turned red instantly, so he waited outside the hall.



There is an exhibition room inside the gongbei that houses some antiques, paintings, and personal items used by the elder during his lifetime.







It is clear that the elder was very high-profile during his life. He was passionate about public welfare, open-minded, and progressive. This felt completely different from my visits to other menhuan gongbei. Some menhuan do not want outside attention; they allow visits but do not want publicity. Others focus on spiritual practice and stay away from the world. Lingmingtang is the opposite. It is more like a family business that encourages people to focus on their careers before the age of 60. These ideas have gained support from a significant number of wealthy believers.







Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows the route from Ruoqiang to Yarkand, with halal food stops, mosque visits, Altun Mosque, Yarkand Khanate royal tombs, Turdi Haji Manor, Uyghur history, and road trip notes.

A Southern Xinjiang Muslim Journey: The Yarkand Khanate Tombs and the Turdi Haji Manor is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: We entered Xinjiang from Mangya City in Qinghai, and the first city we reached was Ruoqiang. The account keeps its focus on Yarkand Travel, Chagatai Khanate, Uyghur History while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

We entered Xinjiang from Mangya City in Qinghai, and the first city we reached was Ruoqiang. Since we planned to drive from southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang, we hit a sandstorm as soon as we crossed the border. Yellow sand filled the sky, making it impossible to keep our eyes open, and the highway was covered in shifting sand, creating an instantly eerie atmosphere.



Starting from Ruoqiang, we could no longer find restaurants with halal signs.



To know if a restaurant is okay to eat at, you either have to guess or ask. This Yangyangyang Pilaf (zhuafan) shop is an old establishment, and it is safe to eat there.



Our first meal in Xinjiang was the pilaf from this shop. To be honest, their pilaf was just as good as any other I had in later cities.





Next door to Yangyangyang, we found an Azhen Rice Noodles (mifen) shop. This chain also has locations in Beijing and is halal.



Since we couldn't find it on domestic maps, we had to ask passersby for the location of the mosque. After finding it, we discovered it wasn't open. Ruoqiang Mosque was the first mosque we passed on our Xinjiang trip.





After a short break, we continued to the next city, Qiemo. We checked into the Qiemo Hotel in the evening and learned from the staff that the breakfast is halal.



Qiemo Hotel is considered a relatively good state-run guesthouse in the area. Most prefectures in Xinjiang have these types of state-run hotels, so stay in one if you want to avoid bad accommodation experiences.



On the inside of the hotel room door, there was a sign that read, 'Walls have ears, watch your words.' This made me wonder what must have happened here before; otherwise, why would they need such a warning?



Qiemo has a grand bazaar and two night markets. We visited both. They aren't very large, but the food at the night markets is delicious.



We ate baked buns (kaobaozi), roasted pigeon, and red willow skewer meat (hongliu kaorou) at the Yudu Night Market.





Roasted meat (kaorou) tastes good everywhere in Xinjiang, even at highway rest stops.





I had my first bowl of mixed noodles (banmian) in Xinjiang at Ma's Barbecue (Ma Ji Shaokao), and I have never had a bad bowl of mixed noodles in this region.





Wusu carbonated drink.



I found a Flaming Mountain Restaurant (Huoyanshan Canting) in Qiemo. This chain used to have locations in Beijing, but they have all closed down now.



I searched for a mosque on Google Maps for a long time without success, then I suddenly realized this plot of land might be it.



It is now a construction site.



The next day we continued driving west to Yutian County because there is an Id Kah Mosque (Aitiga'er Qingzhensi) there.



Unfortunately, photography is not allowed at the mosque. The security guard deleted the photo I took of the main gate, so I only have one photo of the side.



The image above shows the original appearance of the Id Kah Mosque, taken from the second volume of 'Architectural Art of Islam in China'.



With nowhere else to go, we had to find a nearby restaurant to eat. We happened to see this Hotan Canteen (Hetian Shitang). Yutian County is part of the Hotan region, and since there are Hotan Canteens in Beijing, I wanted to see how this one was different.



The restaurant environment was quite nice, but the food was not good and the prices were high. Combined with my earlier unpleasant experience, I just wanted to leave this city as soon as possible.







I left Yutian and arrived at Hotan Tuancheng. Because I was told not to take photos earlier, I was very careful when I first got to Hotan. I started by taking a few secret photos from inside the car. Later, I saw tourists everywhere and no one was stopping them, so I became bolder. Strangely, I never ran into any more photo restrictions during the rest of my trip in Xinjiang.







Hotan Tuancheng is just like the Old City of Kashgar; it has been renovated and contains both homes and shops. It is worth walking around and eating there. The girls in Hotan are even prettier, and I feel they are better looking than the ones in Kashgar.



A kind girl in Hotan warned us not to drive the wrong way on a one-way street. We were embarrassed because we first thought she was trying to chat us up.





I had my first bowl of yogurt shaved ice (suannai baobing) at this shop in Tuancheng. My first impression of Hotan is really good.









Jiaman Mosque is in the center of Hotan Tuancheng. It was first built during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1875).



I asked the Uyghur grandfather at the entrance if I could go inside, but he shook his head.



Pishan County is a place I have always wanted to visit. When I arrived, it was completely different from what I expected. The city was built with help from Anhui Province. There is almost no local ethnic character, and the buildings use the Anhui style, making me feel like I was in Anhui.





The Pishan County Guest House is state-run, like guest houses in other parts of Xinjiang. They are usually the best hotels in the area. If you do not know where to stay, choosing the guest house is a safe bet, and the breakfast is always halal.



I ate at a beef noodle shop run by Uyghurs in Pishan County. It is really hard to find halal restaurants here, and none of them looked like one, but this place called Magake seemed reliable.



I specifically walked around the supermarket and could not find a single halal food item. Even these sausages had no halal label.



A niche spot worth visiting in Pishan County is the Turdi Haji Manor.



Turdi Haji was a wealthy landlord (bai) in Xinjiang during the Republic of China era. He built this manor in 1916. It covers 2,500 square meters and is now a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.



The gate was locked when we arrived at the manor. We made a phone call, and the local tourism bureau sent a worker to open it for us. Admission was free.



What drew me to the manor were the painted decorations inside. They still have Arabic script, including the Shahada and excerpts from the Quran, along with some Uyghur script.



This is very rare to see in a private home today. The manor blends styles from Central Asia, West Asia, and the Middle East, so I just thought of it as a mosque.

































Leaving Hotan Prefecture for Kashgar Prefecture, you pass through Yarkant County (Shache), which was once the site of the Yarkant Khanate palace.



The old mosque district, with the Jiaman Mosque at its center, is currently undergoing renovations.



We ate Nurgul cold jelly noodles (liangfen liangpi) in Yarkant County. The whole room was full of women, and we were the only table of men.



But these cold noodles were really delicious, and they even added chickpeas.



The Yarkant Khanate Palace is a must-visit spot for tourists with a 40 yuan ticket, but it is a new building modeled after the original, so it is optional. However, the Amanisahan and Yarkant Khanate Royal Mausoleum across the street is worth a visit.











Next to the royal mausoleum is the Altun Mosque. It was open, but not for visitors, and there was someone guarding the entrance.



Altun Mosque



Amanisahan (1526-1560) was the master who compiled the Twelve Muqam art. She married into the palace at 13 and died during childbirth at 34.











The Yarkant Khanate Royal Mausoleum holds the remains of generations of the royal family. Yarkant County was formerly known as Yarkant City and served as the capital of the Khanate, which followed the Black Mountain sect.













The tomb of Sultan Said, the founder of the Khanate.









I had a shaved ice (baobing) in the square. The summer heat in southern Xinjiang is intense, and shaved ice is the perfect way to cool down and quench your thirst.



Azina Mosque

Azina Mosque appeared, and I carefully took a quick photo from the car. I haven't had enough of the beauty of Yarkant (Shache) and Hotan yet, so I think I will come back again. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim travel guide to northern Xinjiang follows the Duku Highway, Bayanbulak Grassland, Nalati, Yining Shaanxi Mosque, Sayram Lake, Hui and Uyghur prayer life, and local halal food on the road.

A Halal Trip to Northern Xinjiang: Is Sayram Lake Actually Called Sailimai? is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Driving from Urumqi in Northern Xinjiang to Southern Xinjiang via the Duku Highway is a classic road trip, but I chose to drive from south to north. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Driving from Urumqi in Northern Xinjiang to Southern Xinjiang via the Duku Highway is a classic road trip, but I chose to drive from south to north. Going in reverse helps avoid the heavy traffic of the peak tourist season. The route passes through the Bayanbulak Grassland and the Nalati Grassland. The 560-kilometer drive from Kuqa to Yili includes about half on the Duku Highway, taking nine hours in total. You can experience all four seasons in a single day.



Having an electronic toll collection (ETC) tag saves time. Not many cars in Xinjiang have them, even though highways have ETC lanes. Most drivers get stuck in lines at the manual toll booths. Using an ETC tag on the Duku Highway costs 19 yuan, while the manual toll is 20 yuan.



The Duku Highway has an average elevation of 2,000 meters. You can see high-altitude snow-capped mountains, vast grasslands, deep canyons, and lakes. The scenery is truly beautiful. There are many rest areas along the way for sightseeing. A few spots are paid attractions, but I skipped those as they did not seem necessary.











Before reaching Yining County in Yili, you pass through the Bayanbulak Grassland and the Nalati Grassland. The Bayanbulak Grassland stretches for hundreds of kilometers. The endless sea of green grass and the blue sky wiped away all the fatigue from driving.



You can drive your own car into the Nalati Scenic Area, but you must book tickets on their official WeChat account a few days in advance. Self-driving tickets are in high demand, so it is best to get them early. We did not plan to enter the scenic area and just drove past it. These photos were taken with a phone, and the scenery inside is basically the same.





After a long day of travel, we arrived in Yining County, Yili Prefecture, after 10 p.m., just in time for the Maghrib (shamu) prayer.



This was our first time joining a congregational prayer at a mosque since arriving in Xinjiang, and I felt incredibly moved.



The elders at the mosque were very welcoming and told us about the Shaanxi Grand Mosque. The Yining Shaanxi Grand Mosque was built in 1751 during the 16th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. The main hall has two floors; the first floor has Uyghur-style interiors, while the second floor is in a traditional Chinese style. Currently, only the first floor is open.



Many places in Xinjiang have Shaanxi mosques, which were usually built by Hui Muslims who moved from inland China. During prayer time, I saw Uyghur elders and Hui Muslims praying together. After the prayer, everyone greeted each other, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.









The Shaanxi Grand Mosque is located in the Kazanqi Old Town in the center of Yining, which is also a popular spot for tourists.



Another national cultural heritage site in Yining is the minaret of the Jiefang South Road Mosque, also known as the Baitula Mosque. It was built in 1773 during the 38th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. The main building was demolished and rebuilt in 1996, but the minaret was preserved.







This street is also a night market packed with food, and it stays busy until after one in the morning.



I spent 10 yuan at the night market on three pieces of milk tofu (naidoufu). I took a bite, and it was sour and smelly; I think I ate it the wrong way.



For dinner, I had mixed noodles (banmian) and wontons (huntun) at Wuziqiaokelike on Jiefang South Road. The place was full of people, and the food tasted good.











Another food bazaar in Yining is on Hanren Street. I used to hear that there were no Han people on Hanren Street. That might have been true at one time, but it is definitely not the case now, as there are plenty of Han tourists there.



I had a bowl of starch noodle soup (fentang) at a Uyghur stall.







Aibaoersake Kazakh Theme Restaurant

I had Kazakh breakfast twice in Six-Star Street in Yining. Kazakh people eat stir-fried dishes for breakfast, which is very hardcore.



The staff clearly looked Kazakh, with facial features similar to Mongolians.





Baorsak is the fried dough food shown below. It is fluffy and soft, and you can dip it in various sauces. It is a Kazakh specialty, a bit like the fried dough (youxiang) eaten by Hui Muslims.



Baorsak





Kazakh potatoes

You definitely have to drink milk tea in the morning. It is salty and served with Kazakh potatoes, stir-fried meat with chili peppers, and a side of smoked horse sausage. Having such a special breakfast in Yili is very satisfying.











For a main meal, try traditional Yili stir-fry. I recommend Yimaisi, located not far from Six Star Street. It is owned by the same people as the Lari Hot Pot next door. This restaurant has been open for nearly eight years and is one of the few places in Xinjiang that does not serve alcohol or allow smoking. Staying open for eight years means the food must be good enough to win over the locals.



I tried their stir-fried dishes and every single one was delicious. The owner told me that they make as many ingredients as possible from scratch instead of buying pre-made items. Even their yogurt shaved ice (suannai baobing) is made with great care.





Yogurt shaved ice (suannai baobing)



Fermented vegetable noodle soup (jiangshui mian)

This was my first time eating fermented vegetable noodle soup (jiangshui mian) served hot. I had only eaten it cold before in Gansu.



Freshly fried dough fritters (youxiang)

It is worth noting that not only are the meat dishes good, but their vegetable dishes are also very flavorful. It is no wonder the owner can keep the business booming without selling alcohol, which is not an easy thing to do in Xinjiang. This was the most impressive restaurant we ate at in Yining.





Another place in Six Star Street, Laoha Fast Food, was recommended by a friend for breakfast. The environment is simple, but it feels very authentic and the prices are much cheaper.



The interesting thing about this shop is that breakfast is self-service. You take what you want to eat, and when you finish, you go to the owner to pay. You just tell them what you ate based on your own memory. The owner cannot keep track of everyone, and I believe very few people would lie about what they ate.





There is a popular restaurant in Six Star Street called Blue Wall Mianfeizi that many friends recommended I try. It is called Blue Wall because the walls are painted blue, which is a common color for houses in Yili.





The lung and noodle dish (mianfeizi) is truly delicious and business is very good, but their operating hours are short and they close as soon as it gets dark.



Lung noodles (mianfeizi)



Mudanhan ice cream

Across from the blue-walled lung noodles (mianfeizi) shop is a beautiful ice cream parlor called Mudanhan. Ice cream shops are popular spots for people in Yili to relax and chat, and you can find them everywhere. However, Mudanhan uses better ingredients than the others I have tried. Their ice cream is made with pure milk, has no ice crystals, and tastes rich and smooth.









Six Star Street also has a long-standing ice cream shop called Gulandamu. It is an old shop with a traditional residential style and a nice atmosphere, but the ice cream is not as pure in texture as Mudanhan. Mudanhan is a better fit for young people.







The buildings on Six Star Street are mostly in a Russian style because the area was influenced by Tsarist Russia in the past. This Russian-style neighborhood look is at least a hundred years old. Even the mosque on Six Star Street is in a Russian style and is very beautiful. The young men and women in Yili also dress with a Russian flair. This is part of Yili's charm, where you can experience the collision of different cultures.













Dongguan West Mosque in Yangbulake Village

Leaving Yining, we saw the Kazakh Dongguan West Mosque in Yangbulake Village on the way to the Horgos border crossing, but it was not open.



Horgos has two national gates. The first is the old gate, and below it is the new gate. If you have a passport, you can take a visa-free one-day trip to Kazakhstan.



We set off from Yining to Shuiding Town in Huocheng to visit the gongbei of the wife of Ma Mingxin, the founding master of the Jahriyya order.



The wife's gongbei in Shuiding Town

The Zhang family wife's gongbei has been closed for all activities for many years, and the inside is overgrown with weeds.



Ma Mingxin, the founding master of the Jahriyya order, had two wives. One was a Salar grandmother who committed suicide after learning that Ma Mingxin had been killed. The other was this Zhang family wife from Caoyagou, Tongwei, Gansu. She and her three daughters were exiled to Xinjiang, and the three daughters died on the way.

Mrs. Zhang's daughter, Mrs. Hagu, drowned herself in a lake on her way to Yili. According to an imam from the Jahriyya (Zhepai) order, the name Sayram Lake comes from Mrs. Hagu's religious name, Salima. Mrs. Zhang was exiled alone to work as a slave in an official residence in Yili.



In the 46th year of the Qianlong reign, Mrs. Zhang killed an official's entire family with a knife in the middle of the night. She later turned herself in, was sentenced to death by the Qing court, and was buried by the Yili River.



After visiting this shrine (gongbei), I have now been to all the main shrines of the Jahriyya order. Although I am not a member of a Sufi order (menhuan) and only knew about them from books before, visiting them in person and talking with the families has given me a lot to think about. The information in books about these orders is still quite one-sided.



I left Shuiding Town and headed toward Urumqi. On the way, I passed Sayram Lake and accidentally found a rest area in Guozigou. There is a path that leads directly to the Sayram Lake scenic area, so I didn't have to buy a ticket and saved the 300 yuan self-driving fee.



Remember this entrance: navigate to the Guozigou pasture in Huocheng County. Go up the mountain from this point, and you can reach the top in about an hour to look down at the full view of Sayram Lake.



The horses along the way are raised by Kazakh people. You can also ride a horse up the mountain, but they charge by the hour, and the actual cost is about the same as the scenic area entrance ticket.





We reached the top of the mountain in no time. The scenery in front of us was beautiful, and it was free, too.













The beauty of Sayram Lake is just as good as Kanas Lake, which I have visited before. Plus, after hearing the stories of the Jahriyya order on this trip, I feel it has even more meaning. As for whether it should be called Sayram Lake or Salima Lake, it really doesn't matter to the Jahriyya.

I remember the imam saying that in winter, one part of the lake never freezes, which seems to be a sign. The imam had tears in his eyes when he mentioned that history, a scene I could never have felt just by reading a book. Collapse Read »