Reposted from the web

Summary: This Jiangsu travel account revisits Huai an in 2017 through mosques, Hui Muslim community history, streets, and local food. It preserves the original notes on removed source material, place names, architectural details, and historical references.

Because the article was taken down, I have revised and reposted it.

On March 11, 2017, I went to Huai'an, Jiangsu, to explore the food and sights. I visited three places: Qingjiangpu, Hexia, and Wangjiaying. I will introduce them to you one by one.

Qingjiangpu

In 1415 (the 13th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty), Chen Xuan, the Earl of Pingjiang, dredged Qingjiangpu. He built the Changying Granary, which stretched for several miles, and the massive Qingjiang Shipyard. He conscripted over 6,000 craftsmen, and grain transport ships from every province were repaired and built here. As a hub for grain transport, the town of Qingjiangpu gradually took shape and became increasingly prosperous.

Because navigating the Yellow River section of the canal was very dangerous and waiting times to pass through locks in Shandong were too long, many merchants and travelers chose to leave their boats at Qingjiangpu. They would cross the Yellow River at Wangjiaying and switch to horse-drawn carriages to continue north. Qingjiangpu became a transportation hub known for "southern boats and northern horses."

In 1677 (the 16th year of the Kangxi reign), the Director-General of Grain Transport moved to Qingjiangpu, making it the center of the grain transport system. In his collection of notes and stories, "Seven Inks of the Golden Pot" (Jinhu Qimo), the Qing Dynasty writer Huang Junzai recorded: "Along the Qingjiang River for over ten miles, the markets were prosperous and filled with goods. People from all directions gathered here, with shoulders rubbing and carriage wheels touching; it was truly magnificent."

However, due to the dual impact of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom capturing Nanjing in 1853 (the third year of the Xianfeng reign) and the Yellow River bursting its banks and changing course at Tongwaxiang in 1855 (the fifth year of the Xianfeng reign), the canal began to fall into disrepair and silt up. In 1860, the Nian Army captured Qingjiangpu, and its twenty-mile-long bustling market streets were burned down. In 1873, the Qing government ordered the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company to transport grain from Shanghai to Tianjin by steamship, causing Qingjiangpu to decline rapidly. After the Jinpu Railway opened in 1912, Qingjiangpu declined even further. When the new Grand Canal was completed in 1959, Qingjiangpu finally ended its history as a transportation hub.







Qingjiang Mosque

The most important wharf in Qingjiangpu is next to Yuezha. It is called the Imperial Wharf (Yu Matou) because both the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors landed there during their southern inspection tours. This was once the most prosperous and lively place in Qingjiangpu.

Starting from the Ming Dynasty, Hui Muslims did business on Yuehe Street in front of the Imperial Wharf. This gradually formed the Yuehe Street Hui Muslim community in Qingjiangpu, and the center of this community is the Qingjiang Mosque.





Qingjiang Mosque was originally called Yuanpu Mosque. It was first built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and underwent large-scale renovations and expansions in 1799 (the 57th year of the Qianlong reign). In 1860 (the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign), the Nian Army captured Qingjiangpu and destroyed the mosque. The imam, Ma Huanwen, unfortunately passed away from illness while raising funds for its reconstruction. Fortunately, an elder from Nanjing named Jiang Hengqing took over. He organized everyone to raise funds, and they finally rebuilt the main prayer hall in 1870 (the 9th year of the Tongzhi reign).





















The 1870 (9th year of the Tongzhi reign) stele inscription titled 'Record of Rebuilding the Mosque Main Hall' inside the mosque tells the history of Qingjiang Mosque.





In 1910 (the 2nd year of the Xuantong reign), Qingjiang Mosque established Muying Primary School next to the mosque to teach both Chinese and Arabic. The famous historian Professor Pang Pu once studied there. Today, the school building is destroyed, and no traces remain.

To the west of the mosque once stood the former residence of Zuo Baogui, known as the Zuo Mansion. General Zuo Baogui led his troops to defend the Xuanwu Gate in Pyongyang during the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 (the 20th year of the Guangxu reign), dealing heavy blows to the Japanese army. On September 15, General Zuo Baogui personally lit a cannon to fire. His right arm was blown off, but he bandaged the wound and kept fighting. He was eventually hit in the chest by a shell and died a heroic death at the age of 57. That same year, the Yangzhou government followed an imperial decree to build a cenotaph for Zuo Baogui next to the Puhading Tomb in Yangzhou, which is still preserved today.

Qingjiang Mosque stopped its activities and was occupied in 1966. It was renovated in 1979 and has been open ever since.





Halal food in Qingjiangpu.

There are over ten halal restaurants in Qingjiangpu. Just on the Yuehe Snack Street in front of the mosque, there are eight, and each one has its own specialty.











Liu Si Noodle Shop serves chicken noodle soup with fish balls, beef balls, and squid. The fish balls are super delicious, and the soup is excellent. It feels great to finish a bowl. However, the owner said this area will be demolished in a year or two, so they will likely have to move.











Salted goose (yanshui e) from Sha's Beef Shop.









Wonton noodles (huntun mian) from Ding Si Wonton Noodle Shop.









Little sparrows (fried mini wontons).









Seman Cafe is run by local Hui Muslims. They serve tea in the afternoon and grilled skewers at night. I ordered Arabic coffee, dates, and date milk. The atmosphere is quite nice.

















Saudi perfume.







I read for a while in the cafe. There are many books on the shelves.









Finally, I bought some Dubai wheat soda.



Hexia Ancient Town.

Travel south along the Grand Canal from Qingjiangpu, and you will reach Hexia Ancient Town, not far northwest of the Huai'an Prefecture city. Hexia is the largest town in the suburbs of Huai'an. Its historical official name was Manpu. After Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty attacked the Southern Tang, he set up the Manpu Customs here and built dams and locks. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Hexia developed into an important canal town.







Because the salt fields along the coast of Huaibei produced high-quality salt, many salt merchants from the northwest and Anhui came to Huaibei during the late Ming Dynasty. The Huaibei Salt Transport Office was located in Hexia. Salt from the fields had to be shipped to Hexia for inspection before merchants sold it elsewhere. Hexia then entered its most prosperous period. Salt merchants built gardens and courtyards there. The Qing Dynasty record "Hexia Annals of Huai'an" states: "Wealthy salt merchants brought their capital and made their homes in Hexia, making the town extremely prosperous." The wealth brought by these merchants made the town's business thrive, and many Hui Muslims also came to settle in Hexia.

In 1831 (the 11th year of the Daoguang reign), Liangjiang Governor Tao Peng implemented the ticket salt law in Huaibei, requiring permits to transport salt. Many salt merchants went bankrupt quickly. This event is known as the "Salt Reform," and Hexia Ancient Town began to decline from then on.



Hexia Mosque was first built in the Ming Dynasty. In 1860 (the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign), when the Nian Army captured Huai'an, 10 rooms of the mosque were burned down, but it was later rebuilt. After 1966, Hexia Mosque stopped its activities and four rooms were damaged. It resumed activities in 1986 and recently underwent major renovations to reach its current state.













When we visited, the Hexia Mosque was empty. Imam Sha was running a beef and lamb shop on the other side of town and only goes to the mosque when needed.





In the early years of the Republic of China, a Hui Muslim named Zhang Bu'ao opened the Kaifuxingzhai Halal Restaurant in Hexia Town. It was a famous halal restaurant at the time with 11 rooms, two of which faced the street. The building still stands today and is listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Huai'an City.





Halal snacks in Hexia Town.

The second issue of Jiangsu Muslims in 2016 featured an article titled Famous Halal Products, Restaurants, and Snacks in Huai'an, provided by the Huai'an Islamic Association. The article mentions that in the late Qing Dynasty, a Hui Muslim named Li in Hexia Town applied noodle-pulling techniques to making fried dough twists (sanzi), creating a unique version of the snack. The Li family's fried dough twists (sanzi) are made with sesame oil and no alkaline additives, allowing them to be shaped into fans, combs, pagodas, and other patterns.

Halal tea-flavored fried dough twists (sanzi) in Hexia Town today.













There is also a type of sweet cake.



Hexia Town once had a teahouse opened by a Hui Muslim named Chen Yongyuan during the Xianfeng era. The lintel above the door was inscribed with the word Halal in red, Chen Yongyuan in the middle, and Teahouse at the bottom. This piece is now in the collection of the Chuzhou Museum. Every morning, someone was sent to fetch water from the Grand Canal. After returning, they used alum to clarify the water, then boiled it to brew famous teas like Longjing and Biluochun. People came to the teahouse every morning to drink tea and chat in a constant stream.

Today, there is still a halal snack shop on Zhugan Lane in Hexia Town, where we had some very delicious shredded chicken noodles.











Wangjiaying.

Wangjiaying, now called Wangying, is located between the old Yellow River course and the Yan River. During the Ming Dynasty, the Dahe Guard was established in Huai'an Prefecture, and ten military camps were built along the Yellow River. Wangjiaying was one of them.

Because travel on the Yellow River section of the canal was slow and passing through the locks was dangerous, often leading to broken cables and sunken boats, many merchants chose to leave their boats at Qingjiangpu. They would cross the Yellow River at Wangjiaying and switch to horse-drawn carriages to continue north. Wangjiaying and Qingjiangpu gradually grew into busy towns together.



The old Yellow River course before 1855.

Wangjiaying experienced many Yellow River floods, and the town moved east three times before reaching its current location. Wangjiaying became more prosperous in the early Qing Dynasty. The Wangjiaying Gazetteer records that it was a place where southern boats and northern horses met and crowds gathered. In 1831, the Viceroy of Liangjiang, Tao Peng, implemented a salt ticket system in Huaibei. Known as the salt reform, this meant sea salt from Huaibei salt fields no longer needed to be inspected and taxed in Hexia Town. Tao Peng chose Xiba in Wangjiaying as the new distribution center for Huai salt. Because of this, Wangjiaying became the center for eighteen salt warehouses and seventy-two salt bureaus. Salt boats traveled constantly along the three-hundred-mile waterway between the Huaibei salt fields and Wangjiaying.

The rise of Wangjiaying during the Qing Dynasty led to Hui Muslims settling there. The first Hui Muslims to arrive in Wangjiaying were the Ma and Sha families, who came from Lingzhou in Gansu by way of Shandong and Zhenjiang. Later, families named Jin, Dai, Chang, Ge, Fan, Li, and Yang also settled here.



The history of the Wangjiaying Mosque is documented in the book A Century-Old Mosque in the Ancient City of Huaiyin by Imam Fan Weiming and in The Past and Present of Wangying Mosque by Mao Lifa, the former director of the Huaiyin District CPPCC Cultural and Historical Committee. I have organized that information here.

The Wangjiaying Mosque was first built during the Yongzheng reign as three thatched rooms next to the lotus pond at Wangjiapo. At the end of the Daoguang reign, it moved to the south bank of the Salt River, with Imams Chang Tingzhang and Dai Mingxuan in charge of religious affairs. Imam Chang Tingzhang, known as Third Master Chang, was originally from Jining, Shandong. He was born in 1785 in Taoyuan County, Huai'an Prefecture, Jiangsu (now Siyang). In his youth, he studied in Lingzhou, Gansu (now Lingwu, Ningxia), and after completing his studies, he visited various places in Jining, Shandong, to continue his religious education. In 1810, at the age of 26, Imam Chang Tingzhang was invited to lead the Wangjiaying Mosque. Imam Chang Tingzhang had deep knowledge of Arabic classics, astronomy, and medical theory. According to the Wangjiaying Gazetteer, a man named Third Master Tao from Hangzhou died in Huai'an during the Daoguang reign. Because it was the heat of summer, Imam Chang Tingzhang personally bought a boat to transport the body south along the Grand Canal to Hangzhou to fulfill his duty to the family.

In 1860, the Nian Army entered Wangjiaying and burned the mosque. In 1867, Imam Dai Jingzhai, the son of Imam Dai Mingxuan, built a few thatched huts, and later, with donations from the community, a main prayer hall with three thatched rooms was constructed.

Imam Chang Tingzhang passed away in 1870, and Imam Dai Jingzhai took over religious affairs. In 1884, the thatched rooms were rebuilt with tile roofs. Because Imam Chang Tingzhang had studied at the Jahriyya order's Daotang in Lingzhou, Ningxia, in his youth, the Wangjiaying Mosque later invited five successive Jahriyya imams from Ningxia to lead religious affairs and teach. Subsequent imams also went to Ningxia for further study. This made the Wangjiaying Mosque one of the nine branch centers of the Banqiao Daotang in Ningxia, maintaining a very close relationship with the Banqiao Daotang in Wuzhong, Ningxia.

In 1912, the mosque built a new main gate, a south lecture hall, a kitchen, and a washroom. In 1920, with funding from the Jinshantang in Gansu and money from selling dozens of willow trees from the public cemetery, they rebuilt the three-room tiled eave structure in front of the main prayer hall and added a new three-room east lecture hall.

In 1958, the Wangjiaying Mosque moved to the east side of West Ma Road in Wangying, and in 1961, it moved to its current location because a bank needed the land to build. In 1966, during the campaign to destroy the Four Olds, the main hall's plaques reading "The Way Spreads to the Central Land," "The Faith Follows the Western Regions," and "Stop at the Ultimate Good," along with the gold-lettered Arabic plaques and the couplets reading "See the invisible, hear the soundless, rectify the mind and be sincere, become a sage or a worthy, original nature;" were all smashed or burned. The couplet continued, "The Way stands, movement brings harmony, reach others through oneself, help things and help the world, all is complete," and these were also destroyed, along with funeral equipment, while the main hall was taken over by a shoe and hat factory to use as a warehouse.

In 1979, under the leadership of Imam Ge Weili, the Wangjiaying Mosque was rebuilt in a traditional style, finishing in 1985, and after two more renovations and expansions in 2003 and 2006, it reached its current appearance.











Imam Ge Weili was born in 1924, went to Ningxia to study in 1937, became the imam of Wangjiaying Mosque after completing his training in 1945, served as the imam in 1966, and later became the vice president of the Jiangsu Islamic Association and president of the Huai'an Islamic Association. The religious affairs of the Wangjiaying Mosque are now handled by Imam Fan Weiming, a student of Imam Ge Weili.





Halal food in Wangjiaying.

The second issue of "Jiangsu Muslims" in 2016 featured an article titled "Famous Halal Products, Shops, and Foods in Huai'an," provided by the Huai'an Islamic Association, which wrote about the halal food in Wangjiaying.

In 1831 (the 11th year of the Daoguang reign), after the salt administration expanded at Xiba in Wangjiaying, Imam Dai Mingxuan of the Wangjiaying Mosque opened a halal restaurant at the north end of Yushan Street, hiring the best local chefs and making it a high-end spot where many Huai'an officials and nobles held banquets.

In 1860 (the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign), after the Nian Army broke through Wangjiaying, the halal restaurant and the mosque were both destroyed in the war. In 1886 (the 12th year of the Guangxu reign), with everyone's help, Imam Dai Jingzhai, the son of Imam Dai Mingxuan, reopened the halal restaurant at the North Weimen gate in Wangjiaying. The halal restaurant was forced to close after 1937, reopened after 1945, but struggled due to the following wars. After the public-private partnership in 1958, the halal restaurant merged into the Huaiyin Food and Beverage Company No. 2, with Ma Hengpu serving as manager. At the end of 1959, it moved to Beijing Road, featuring three storefront rooms in the front and four kitchen rooms in the back, with Wang Jinbiao taking over as manager. After the 1970s, Li Haiquan took over as manager and renamed it the Hui Muslims Restaurant (Huimin Fandian). In the 1980s, Ma Hengbao led the construction of a new two-story building, and Dai Peng took over as manager. In March 2003, the Hui Muslims Restaurant was restructured, the original staff were all bought out, and it became a private enterprise.

The beef jerky (niupu) made by Ma Wu in Wangjiaying is also very famous. Ma Wu's real name was Ma Guowu. During the Taiping Rebellion, his grandfather Ma Xingyuan moved from Shaanxi to Mule Horse Street (Luoma Jie) in Wangjiaying and supported his family with his ancestral beef jerky craft. By Ma Wu's generation, the business grew larger, and the storefront was rebuilt from three single-story rooms into a multi-story building. Ma Wu chose only the best lean yellow beef. After cutting it into pieces, he sprinkled it with salt and saltpeter brine, rubbed it thoroughly, and put it in a vat to cure. It took one week in winter, and a few days less in other seasons before it was ready to be taken out. After taking it out of the vat, he drained the brine and put the meat into a pot. He added old brine, rock sugar, fennel, soy sauce, almonds, galangal, and over ten other ingredients. He brought it to a boil and then simmered it over low heat for 7 hours until it was done.

In 1954, during the public-private partnership, Ma Wu became a worker at the Wangying Town Bean Products Factory. After the reform and opening up, he returned to his old trade until he passed away (guizhen) in February 1999 during Eid al-Adha (Jierbang Jie). None of his children inherited the family business, and the Wangjiaying Ma family beef jerky was lost from then on.

After this, another Hui Muslim from Wangjiaying, Fan Weishun, put up the sign for Fan's Beef Jerky (Fanji Niupu). Fan Weishun learned to make beef jerky from his father, Fan Degao, since he was a child. He innovated the traditional curing technique and figured out methods for making tender and firm beef, as well as techniques for using high, medium, low, simmering, and intense heat. This made Fan's Beef Jerky comparable to the Ma Wu beef jerky of the past.

Li's Fried Dough Sticks (Li Ji Youdatou) are an ancestral craft of the Li family, who are Hui Muslims in Wangjiaying. They put the prepared dough in a basin and use two bamboo sticks to pick it up and scrape it into a pot that is high on one side and low on the other. The finished fried dough sticks are less than 3 inches long and 3 centimeters thick. They are golden in color, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and have a soft texture. The dough for these fried dough sticks is softer than that used for regular fried dough sticks (youtiao), and it contains less alkali, alum, and salt.

In 1956, during the joint operation of individual enterprises and workshops, the Li's Fried Dough Sticks shop was merged into the Wangying Central Store, Dahua Restaurant. After the enterprise reform in 1984, the elder Mr. Li retired. No descendants inherited the craft, and Li's Fried Dough Sticks were lost from then on.

In the past, the halal pastries from the Huaiyin Hui Muslim Food Factory were very famous. They made over ten types of treats, including golden twisted dough sticks (jinsi mahua), pineapple cakes (boluo bing), and heart-shaped cakes (fanxin bing) that children loved. For the elderly, they had laughing cookies (kaikouxiao), red bean paste mooncakes (dousha yuebing), and black sesame and salt-and-pepper mooncakes (heizhima jiaoyan yuebing). Farmers also enjoyed their harvest mooncakes (fengshou yuebing) and rock sugar pastries (bingtang su).







A witness to the Grand Canal

Inside the courtyard of the Huaiyin District Library in Wangjiaying, there is a tomb for Zheng Wenying, a high-ranking official from the Ryukyu Kingdom. Zheng Wenying was a high-level translator for the Ryukyu Kingdom. His ancestors were among the thirty-six families of Fujian boatmen gifted to Ryukyu by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. After these Fujian boatmen arrived in Ryukyu, they handled navigation, shipbuilding, writing and translating diplomatic documents, and trade with China. Zheng Wenying was the fifteenth generation of this family.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, tribute envoys from Ryukyu traveled along the Grand Canal to reach Beijing. In 1761, the twenty-sixth year of the Qianlong reign, the Qingkou Post Station was established in Wangjiaying. It served as an important stop for Ryukyuan tribute envoys to rest and resupply. In 1793, the fifty-eighth year of the Qianlong reign, Zheng Wenying traveled with a tribute mission from the Ryukyu Kingdom. He fell ill and passed away while passing through the Qingkou Post Station in Wangjiaying, where he was buried.



The site of the Governor-General of Grain Transport Office in the center of Huai'an Prefecture. This location officially became the Governor-General of Grain Transport Office in 1579, the seventh year of the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty. In October 1945, the New Fourth Army captured Huai'an city and dismantled the main hall to transport the wood away. In August 2002, the site was excavated during urban renewal, leading to the construction of the Governor-General of Grain Transport Office Site Park.

Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Old Cairo travel account walks inside the northern gate of the historic city and follows its mosques, streets, gates, and layered Islamic history. It keeps the original place names, dates, buildings, and travel route without adding outside claims.

The history of Cairo as a city goes back over a thousand years. Back in the ancient Roman era, the Romans built the Babylon Fortress in the south of Cairo. After the Arabs took Cairo in 641 AD, they built the city of Fustat to the northeast of the Babylon Fortress. Over the next 300 years, Muslim rulers from different dynasties built several cities near Cairo, but none of them survived. In 969 AD, the Shia Fatimid dynasty conquered Egypt and spent four years building what is now the old city of Cairo. By this count, the old city of Cairo is now 1,055 years old.

The walls of old Cairo were started in 969 AD. They were first made of brick, then expanded with stone during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir Billah (reigned 1036-1094), and finally finished in 1087. The north gates of the old city, the Gate of Conquest (Bab al-Futuh) and the Gate of Victory (Bab al-Nasr), were both built during this time. In this article, I will take you through the north gate into old Cairo to experience its thousand-year history.

Gate of Conquest and Gate of Conquest: 1087

The Gate of Conquest is 22 meters high and has two round towers. The stone carving details may have been influenced by Syrian or Byzantine craftsmen. Above the arch, the surface is covered in diamond patterns containing rosettes and crosses. The parts of the towers that hang outward are carved with ram heads, which are symbols of Mars in the zodiac. Inside the gate, the dome and the rectangular space connect through a pendentive, which is a typical feature of Byzantine architecture.









The Gate of Victory is on the east side of the Gate of Conquest. Unlike the round towers of the Gate of Conquest, the towers of the Gate of Victory are square and contain guard rooms and living areas. There are shield carvings above the gate, which symbolize protecting the city from invasion. The shield features an Arabic inscription from its 1087 reconstruction, along with a Shia version of the Shahada that mentions Ali as the friend (wali) of Allah.











Al-Hakim Mosque: 1013.

Right next to the northern wall of Old Cairo stands the Al-Hakim Mosque, named after the sixth Fatimid caliph and the 16th imam of the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (reigned 996-1021). The mosque was started in 990 by the fifth Fatimid caliph, al-Aziz Billah (reigned 975-996), and finished in 1013 by Caliph al-Hakim, making it 1,010 years old today.

The Al-Hakim Mosque was originally outside the walls of Cairo, but it was brought inside the city after the walls were rebuilt in 1087. The mosque's architectural style is similar to the Al-Azhar Mosque, but it is twice as large. The most striking features inside are the two minarets built on square brick bases. When the minarets were first built in 1003, they were separate structures, and they were only encased in brick in 1010. Some scholars suggest this might be linked to the ruler of Mecca rejecting Fatimid authority in 1010, which weakened the dynasty's power. The outer wall of the southern brick base has marble Kufic Arabic inscriptions from the Fatimid period, while the Kufic inscriptions on the northern base were moved to the outside of the city wall when it was incorporated into the northern wall of Old Cairo in 1087.

During the Crusades, the mosque was used as a prison by the Franks and later as a stable by Saladin. It was renovated during the Mamluk period in the 14th century but later fell into ruins for a long time. The mosque was renovated in 1808, and a small, colorful marble mihrab added during that time still survives today.

In the 20th century, the mosque served as a school until 1980, when the Dawoodi Bohra branch of Shia Islam carried out a massive reconstruction and renovation using white marble. Inside the main hall after the reconstruction, only the original stucco carvings, wooden beams, and scriptures were preserved. This restoration caused a lack of authenticity that sparked criticism and widespread discussion among scholars. In 2017, the Dawoodi Bohra community and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities launched a new round of restoration, and it did not reopen until February 2023.



















Caravanserai of Qaitbay: 1481

Enter the old city of Cairo through the Gate of Victory (Bab al-Futuh) onto El-Gamaleya Street. The first thing you see is the caravanserai (wikala) of Sultan Qaitbay, which is currently under renovation. It was built in 1481 by Sultan Qaitbay (reigned 1468-1496) of the Mamluk dynasty. Qaitbay was one of the Mamluk sultans who sponsored the most architecture. Although the Mamluk dynasty was in decline, the situation remained relatively stable under his rule, and trade flourished.

Like other Mamluk caravanserais (wikala), this place not only provided short-term housing for passing caravans but also offered long-term rental apartment units (rab). It was used as apartments for hundreds of years until the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities began renovations in 2015. Work is still ongoing, and you can still see the wooden lattice windows (mashrabiya) facing the street.





Gate of the Caravanserai of Qawsun: 1341

Continuing south, you can see the remains of the gate of the caravanserai (wikala) of Emir Qawsun. This inn was built in 1341 by the famous Mamluk Emir Qawsun (1302-1342). It was used by soap and coffee merchants from Palestine in the 17th and 18th centuries, so it is also called the Soap Inn. The inn was demolished in 1960 to be rebuilt as a school, and only the gate remains. Above the gate is a stone carving of a pair of cups, because Emir Qawsun once served as the Sultan's cupbearer (saqi).

Qawsun was born on the Kipchak steppe under the rule of the Golden Horde and started out as a merchant. In 1320, Princess Tulunbay of the Golden Horde married the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. Qawsun came to Cairo as part of her entourage and stayed in Cairo to sell leather goods. Qawsun was highly valued by the Sultan in Cairo and became his personal attendant. He then rose quickly through the ranks and married the Sultan's daughter. After the old Sultan died in 1341, Qawsun became the regent and held actual power over the Mamluk dynasty. However, he was defeated by political rivals a few months later and was killed in prison.





Continuing south along El-Gamaleya Street, you can see several more historical buildings.









Khanqah of Baybars II: 1310

On the east side of the middle section of El-Gamaleya Street stands the Khanqah of Baybars II, built in 1310. Baybars II was the 12th Sultan of the Mamluk dynasty and reigned for only one year, from 1309 to 1310. Baybars II served as vice-sultan from 1299 to 1309 and led the Mamluk Sultanate against the Ilkhanate in the Battle of Marj al-Saffar in Syria in 1303. This battle resulted in the total defeat of the Mongol army that had marched west into Syria. People say the Sultan led his captives from the Gate of Victory along El-Gamaleya Street into the old city of Cairo. Singers and dancers from all over came to celebrate, and the city was decorated with lights for days of festivities.



















The exquisite Islamic geometric patterns (Girih) on the gate of the Khanqah of Baybars II form complex designs through overlapping and interlacing.



It is very interesting that the threshold of the gate is made of stone blocks carved with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, which is the first time I have ever seen this.



Bayt al-Suhaymi: 1648

Walking west from the Khanqah of Baybars II, you can see the Bayt al-Suhaymi on Darb al-Asfar Street. Built in 1648, it is the best-preserved private residence from the Ottoman period in old Cairo and is now open as a tourist site.

This residence is built around a courtyard (Sahn) with a small garden planted with palm trees in the center. You can see beautiful wooden lattice windows (Mashrabiya) in the courtyard. The south side of the mansion is the original 1648 structure, while the north side was expanded in 1797. It is now named after its last owner, Sheikh Muhammad Amin al-Suhaymi, who was a sheikh at Al-Azhar Mosque. In 1930, King Fuad I of Egypt provided funds to purchase the mansion and placed it under the management of the Committee for the Preservation of Arab Art Monuments.



















The ornate ceiling decorations of Bayt al-Suhaymi.



















The wood-carved furniture and colorful marble floors inside Bayt al-Suhaymi.



















Mosque-Sabil of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar: 1839

Continuing west back to the main road of old Cairo, Al-Mu'izz Street, the first thing you see is the Mosque-Sabil of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar, built in 1839. This fountain has a fancy Ottoman Baroque facade with floral patterns from the European Renaissance. The fountain is made of marble and was used to keep the water cool during the summer. Next to the fountain is a primary school (kuttab) that was once used to teach children how to read, write, and recite scripture. Here, we can also enter the huge underground water reservoir of the fountain, which is rarely seen in typical fountains.



















Aqmar Mosque: 1125-6

Walking south along Al-Muizz Street, we stop at the famous Fatimid-era Aqmar Mosque. The Aqmar Mosque was built in 1125-6 by order of the Fatimid vizier Al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi. It sits at the northeast corner of the former Eastern Fatimid Palace, right next to the palace grounds.

The Aqmar Mosque holds a groundbreaking place in Egyptian architectural history. It is the first mosque where the entrance is flush with the street rather than aligned with the qibla wall, making it the first mosque planned according to Cairo's street layout. It is also the first mosque to feature complex stone carvings. The facade of the Aqmar Mosque is very luxurious. Above the entrance is a large medallion surrounded by a grille, with the names of the Prophet and Ali in the center and verses written around them. This type of decoration is unique in Cairo.

At the top of the left facade, there are carvings of a door and a window. The window on the left symbolizes the ceremonial grille that the Fatimids took back from the palace of their rivals, the Abbasids in Baghdad, serving as a symbol of victory. Inside the window is a lamp and a six-pointed star, based on the Shia hadith: 'The stars are a promise to the world, and it will not be submerged.' Below the window, there is a carving of a plant growing out of a flower pot, which comes from the Prophet's reference to Hasan and Husayn as 'my two aromatic herbs in the world.' The door in the upper right corner comes from the famous Shia hadith: 'I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate.'

Because it was near the Fatimid palace, the Aqmar Mosque did not originally have a minaret. One was not added until the end of the 14th century by the Mamluk dynasty, and the cylindrical top was rebuilt during the Ottoman era.

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



















Madrasa of Emir Jamal al-Din al-Ustadar: 1407

Turn back into al-Gamaleya Street along the alley south of the Aqmar Mosque to see the Madrasa of Amir Jamal al-Din al-Ustadar, built in 1407 by the Mamluk general Amir Jamal al-Din al-Ustadar. Jamal al-Din built many structures in Cairo, and al-Gamaleya Street is named after him.

This is a classic cruciform madrasa structure with an open courtyard in the center and an iwan (arched hall) on each of the four sides, each used to teach one of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence. The decoration inside the main hall is very ornate, as People say Jamal al-Din modeled it after Mamluk palace designs and invested a large amount of money and materials. Jamal al-Din was executed just four years after the mosque was completed. The Sultan wanted to demolish the site, but a judge (Qadi) stopped him, and in the end, only Jamal al-Din's name was removed.

After the Ottoman Empire conquered Istanbul in 1517, many marble slabs from the inner walls of the madrasa were taken to Istanbul. The building was damaged again in the 1992 earthquake and was not fully restored until 2002.



















Dhu al-Fiqar Fountain-Primary School (Sabil-Kuttab): 1673

Opposite the Madrasa of Amir Jamal al-Din al-Ustadar is the Ottoman-era Dhu al-Fiqar Sabil-Kuttab, built in 1673 by Dhu al-Fiqar Katkhuda Mustahfizan and his brother Muhammad. This Sabil-Kuttab consists of two prominent wooden awnings, and the caravanserai (wikala) behind it was once a center for the coffee trade in 18th-century Cairo.





Maq’ad Mamay al-Sayfi Palace: 1496

Continue south to the Maq’ad Mamay al-Sayfi Palace on Beet Al Qadi Street, built in 1496 by the Mamluk general Sayf al-Din Mamay ibn Khadad, who served as a Mamluk diplomat to the Ottoman Empire in the early 1490s.

During the Ottoman period, this place served as a high court and the residence of judges, so it is also called Bayt al-Qadi. In the late 19th century, Egypt's ruler Isma'il Pasha (reigned 1863-79) carried out urban renewal in Cairo, and most of the palace was demolished, leaving only a large house used for summer retreats. The house consists of an upper pavilion and a lower storage room. The lotus capitals of the pavilion are the only example in Islamic architecture in Cairo that directly uses architectural forms from the ancient Egyptian pharaonic era. The interior of the pavilion has complex decorations and calligraphy, but unfortunately, it was not open when we visited.







Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda Sabil-Kuttab: 1744

Walk south from the Aqmar Mosque to see the Sabil-Kuttab of Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda, a fountain-school built in 1744 during the Ottoman era. It is a landmark building on Al-Muizz Street, the main road in Old Cairo. During the Mamluk and Ottoman dynasties, these fountain-schools were very common in Cairo. The ground floor fountain (sabil) provided free drinking water to passersby, while the second floor school (kuttab) taught children how to read and write.

Although this fountain-school was built in the Mamluk style, it incorporates many Ottoman architectural elements. The builder, Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda, was a high-ranking Mamluk emir officer known for his noble lifestyle and patronage of the arts. He renovated or built 33 structures in Cairo.















Across from the Khanqah of Baybars II stands the Qitas Bey fountain-school (sabil-kuttab), built in 1630 during the Ottoman period. In the Mamluk and Ottoman eras, most fountain-schools in the old city of Egypt were built on street corners.





Bashtak Palace: 1334-1339.

Southeast of the Sabil-Kuttab of Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda is the Mamluk-era Bashtak Palace (Qasr Bashtak), built between 1334 and 1339 by the Mamluk emir and general Sayf al-Din Bashtak al-Nasiri. Bashtak was a powerful Mamluk emir who married the daughter of a Mamluk sultan and held important positions in the royal court. He chose a section of the former Fatimid eastern palace to build his own palace and stables, which became a model of Mamluk architecture.

Only a portion of the Bashtak Palace remains today, the most important part being the reception hall (qa'a). The hall features a wooden paneled ceiling, stained glass, and an inlaid marble fountain. The upper level has wooden lattice windows (mashrabiyya), all of which are typical architectural styles of the Mamluk period.

















Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This first Singapore article introduces Indian Muslim culture through mosques, streets, migration history, food, and everyday community life. It keeps the original travel sequence and cultural facts while using simple English for global readers.

Since the British arrived in Singapore in 1819, Indian Muslims have continuously come to the island as laborers, merchants, and soldiers. After the 20th century, more Indian Muslims settled in Singapore. Most were Tamils from the Coromandel Coast in southeastern India, but there were also Gujaratis from western India, Malabaris from the southwest, and even Dawoodi Bohras and Ahmadis. Over time, the diverse and integrated Indian Muslim culture has become an important part of Singaporean culture. This time, I will take you to experience Singapore's Indian Muslim culture by visiting various Indian mosques, tasting Indian food, and touring the Indian Heritage Centre and the Indian Muslim Heritage Centre.

Indian mosques and shrines (gongbei) in Chinatown.

Al-Abrar Mosque is located on Telok Ayer Street in Singapore's Chinatown. It was built in 1827 by Tamil Muslims from the Coromandel Coast in southeastern India. They were also known as Chulias and mostly worked as merchants or money changers in Chinatown at the time, so this place is also called the Chulia Mosque.

Al-Abrar Mosque is one of Singapore's oldest mosques. It started as a thatched hut, was rebuilt as a brick building with Indian features between 1850 and 1855, and was renovated into its current appearance between 1986 and 1989. The mosque sits in a row of shophouses on Telok Ayer Street and blends seamlessly with the surrounding buildings. The main entrance has two octagonal minarets topped with star and crescent symbols. The interior features European neoclassical design elements, including Doric columns and French-style shutters. Today, the mosque continues to serve the Indian Muslim community. Muslims from other ethnic groups working nearby also come here for worship, especially during the Friday congregational prayer (Jumu'ah).



















Jamae Mosque is located on South Bridge Road in Singapore's Chinatown. It was the main congregational mosque built by the Chulias in Chinatown, and like Al-Abrar Mosque, it is also known as a Chulia mosque.

Jamae Mosque was founded in 1826 and rebuilt into its current form between 1830 and 1835. The mosque's main gate has a distinct South Indian style. It features two seven-story towers on either side, each with a pair of niches on every level, and a central design modeled after a traditional Indian fortress gate. The design is very intricate. The main prayer hall features the neoclassical style typical of Singapore's colonial era, the same style used for the Old Parliament House built during the same period.

Today, Jamae Mosque remains a place of worship for Chulia Muslims and is one of the few mosques in Singapore that offers religious classes in the Tamil language. This was also my first time seeing the walls of a main prayer hall inscribed in three languages: Arabic, English, and Tamil.



















The Nagore Dargha mosque (Nagore Dargha) is located on Telok Ayer Street, not far from the Al-Abrar Mosque. It was built by the Chulia people between 1828 and 1830 and serves as an important Sufi shrine (gongbei) for the Chulia community in Singapore.

The Nagore Dargha mosque was built to honor the famous 16th-century Indian Sufi saint, Syed Shahul Hamid. Shahul Hamid arrived in the town of Nagore in the Tamil Nadu state of southeastern India in 1533 to preach, and he passed away there in 1570. Legend says he performed many miracles in Nagore and even healed the king of the Vijayanagara Empire in India. To honor Shahul Hamid, locals built a shrine (gongbei) over his tomb. It later became an important Sufi center for Tamil Muslims, and many sailors and seafarers would visit the shrine to offer dua for a safe journey before heading out to sea.

After Tamil Muslims immigrated to Penang and Singapore in the 19th century, they built a shrine in each city to honor the saint, modeling the architecture after the original shrine in Nagore. The Singapore shrine uses an eclectic style, featuring a 14-tier square minaret with niches on the outside, and Doric-style pilasters, arches, and large French-style windows on the inside.

In 2011, the Nagore Dargha mosque became the Indian Muslim Heritage Centre, which provides a detailed introduction to the history and culture of Indian Muslims in Singapore.





















A Quran (Guerani) copied around 1900, which uses a rare linen binding method.



An introduction to the Arwi script. Arwi is a script that uses Arabic letters to write the Tamil language, similar to the Xiao'erjing (xiaojing) used by Hui Muslims. The Arwi script includes 13 additional letters not found in the Arabic alphabet.





Items from an Indian Muslim wedding in Singapore during the 20th century.





Tamil language works by Singaporean Tamil Muslims.



Daily items used by Indian Muslims in Singapore.



Items brought by Muslim families who arrived in Singapore from Kadayanallur and Tenkasi in South India after World War I.



The India of Little India

Mosques, food, and the Indian Heritage Centre

Little India is the busiest and most crowded place I visited in Singapore. It feels bigger and more like India than the Little Indias in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Along the sides of the covered walkways (qilou) are various Indian restaurants, flower shops, and grocery stores, with many people of Indian descent busy shopping.

Unlike Chinatown or Kampong Glam, Little India was not designated for the Indian community by Sir Stamford Raffles. It was known as Serangoon until the 1980s. In the 1820s, the British built lime pits and brick kilns along Serangoon Road, and Indian laborers began working there. After the brick kilns closed in 1860, Serangoon developed a cattle industry, followed by the establishment of slaughterhouses, tanneries, and milk vendors. These industries attracted more Indians to settle here, along with others who worked nearby as port laborers and junior office clerks.

The British colonial authorities began building covered walkways (qilou) in Serangoon in the 1920s. More Indian immigrants arrived to open shops selling Indian saris, spices, and flowers, and the layout of Little India was officially formed. After Singapore was established in 1965, the government carried out urban renewal in Serangoon to improve living conditions for the local Indian residents. In the 1980s, to promote tourism, Singapore officially named the area Little India.



















Abdul Gafoor Mosque is located at the southern end of Little India. It dates back to 1859, and in 1907, it was rebuilt into its current structure by Shaik Abdul Gafoor, a South Indian Tamil Muslim who worked as a chief clerk at a law firm. Abdul Gafoor raised funds by building shophouses near the mosque, some of which still stand today.

Abdul Gafoor Mosque blends Saracenic (Mughal Revival) style with Neoclassical style, featuring complex arch designs and a dome inspired by ancient Roman architecture. It is very interesting that you can see a basement inside the main prayer hall. It was only rediscovered in 1998, and after renovations, the hall can now accommodate 1,200 people.

The original congregation of Abdul Gafoor Mosque mainly consisted of Tamils from South India and Baweanese people from Bawean Island in East Java. At that time, many Tamils worked nearby as merchants and port laborers, while many Baweanese worked as horse trainers and grooms at the adjacent racecourse. The mosque installed electric lighting in 1928, making it the first mosque in Singapore to have electric lights.



















Today, Abdul Gafoor Mosque continues to serve the South Indian Tamil Muslim community in Singapore and offers religious classes in the Tamil language. This is also one of the few Hanafi mosques in Singapore, where the way of performing worship is the same as that of Hui Muslims, unlike the Shafi'i school followed by the Malay people. The prayer time here is one hour later than in other Shafi'i mosques. At other times, you can see some Muslims who follow the Shafi'i school forming their own separate prayer group at the back of the main hall, which is a very unique scene in Singapore.













At the Indian restaurant by the mosque entrance, everyone drinks lamb bone broth (yangtang) after namaz. It is very comfortable to have a bowl on a rainy day.







Opposite Abdul Gafoor Mosque, at the northern end of Little India, is Angullia Mosque, which was established by Gujarati Muslims from western India. The Angullia family came to Singapore from Gujarat state in the 19th century to do business. In the late 19th century, Mohammed Salleh Eussoofjee Angullia accumulated great wealth through the trade of spices, sugar, timber, and tableware, becoming a prominent figure in Singapore's Indian Muslim community. In 1890, the Angullia family donated the land, and Angullia Mosque was built in 1892. The Angullia family has managed the mosque ever since.

Angullia Mosque was rebuilt in 1970 and expanded again in 2020 to its current appearance. Only the gatehouse built in 1890 has been preserved to this day. Angullia Mosque is the mosque where I have seen the largest number of people praying in Singapore. As the time approached, a queue formed outside the ablution area. People filled the entire main hall, and those who arrived late had to wait outside because they could not get in. After namaz, the imam immediately told everyone to leave in an orderly manner, and the people waiting outside would form a new prayer group after everyone left.

















There are water-saving signs in the ablution area, and similar hadith are posted in several places. I think they are quite meaningful.



If you want to experience Indian halal food in Singapore's Little India, the most convenient place is Tekka Centre (zhujiao basha). It has a row of stalls all run by Indian Muslims, and the prices are very cheap. We first drank a bowl of lamb trotter curry soup, which was hot and perfect for a rainy day. Then we ate freshly made almond flatbread (badam naan) with minced lamb curry. Many people eat it this way, tearing off the flatbread to dip into the curry and eating it bit by bit, finally wiping up every last drop of the sauce.

Tekka Centre was first built in 1915. In the 1930s, it became popular for its wide variety of fresh meat, vegetables, and seafood, and was known to the public as the 'People's Market'. The current building was finished in 1981, and most of the stall owners inside have been running their businesses for two or three generations.



















I had a cup of pulled tea (teh tarik) at the Tekka Centre, then looked around at the Indian clothing on the second floor. The saris are all very sparkly, and there are tailor shops where you can buy fabric and have clothes made on the spot.















If you want to learn more about the history and culture of Singapore's Indian community, I highly recommend visiting the Indian Heritage Centre in Little India. The main exhibition hall is organized by timeline and covers five parts: early contact, origins and migration, early Indian communities in Singapore and Malaya, the social and political awakening of Indians in Singapore and Malaya, and the contributions of Indians to Singapore. Of course, this includes the culture of Singapore's Indian Muslims.





A map showing the migration of Tamils from the Coromandel Coast in southeastern India and Sri Lanka to Singapore and Malaya.



Several areas where Indian communities lived in Singapore during the 19th and 20th centuries.



A group portrait of Singaporean Indians with the Angullia Mosque in Little India in the background.



The luggage that Indian immigrants brought with them when they first arrived in Singapore, along with a passport and family photo belonging to a Muslim merchant who came to Singapore from Gujarat, India, in 1936.







A set of clay figurines of 19th-century Indian merchants.



Clothing worn by Tamil Muslims from the Coromandel Coast of southeastern India in the mid-18th century.





Velvet Arabic calligraphy embroidery from Andhra Pradesh, India, dating to the 20th century.



Indian book stands (rehal) from the 19th and 20th centuries.



Calligraphy from the Deccan region of India, dated 1600.



Various traditional Indian hats from the 20th century.



The Talapa of the Chetti people in Malacca, which is a type of batik headwrap.



The Khoja Turban worn by the Ismaili Shia Khoja people from Gujarat, India. Khoja comes from the Persian words 'Khwaja' or 'Hodja'. They began converting from Hinduism to Islam in the 13th century, and while they hold a Muslim identity, they have kept strong Indian caste customs.





Headwear worn by grooms and boys during circumcision in the mid-20th century.



A 19th-century portrait of Indian Muslims.



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



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





The tiled facade of a mosque in Multan, Pakistan, from 1897-1898, made using the traditional local Kashikari tile-firing technique. This type of tile decoration originated in the Mughal Empire and was influenced by Persian and Sufi cultures.









Indians in Kampong Glam.

Mosques and restaurants.

Kampong Glam is the first planned Muslim community in Singapore. In 1822, Sir Stamford Raffles gave Kampong Glam to Sultan Hussein Muhammad Shah of Johor. Besides the Sultan and his 600 family members, Kampong Glam was home to many Muslim groups at the time, including the Bugis, Arabs, Javanese, and Baweanese people. During the same period, Indian Muslims began moving to Kampong Glam for business. By the early 20th century, they opened restaurants here, the two most important being Victory and Zam Zam on North Bridge Road.

Zam Zam opened in 1908 and Victory in 1910. Both specialize in stuffed flatbread (murtabak) and have been competing for over 100 years. We tried the mutton murtabak at Victory. It tasted more like the griddle cakes (laobing) from Northern China and was not as crispy as the ones we had in Penang.









Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Harbin Tatar Mosque preserves part of the citys Muslim history, tied to Tatar migration, old neighborhoods, and religious life in northeast China. This article follows the story of the mosque and its community memory while keeping the original photos and facts in order.

After Russia occupied Vladivostok in 1860, they began planning a railway across the Qing Dynasty to reach this Pacific port more quickly. In 1896, Li Hongzhang signed the Secret Treaty of Alliance between the Qing Empire and the Russian Empire, naming the line the Great Qing Eastern Railway (Dongqing Railway). After 1920, it was renamed the Chinese Eastern Railway (Zhongdong Railway).

Construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway began in August 1897 with Harbin as the center, and it officially opened to traffic in 1903. During this time, many Tatars from Russia came to the railway line to make a living. They opened small shops, and after earning some money, other Tatars followed them there.

As the center of the Chinese Eastern Railway, Tatars began settling in Harbin in 1901 and built the first wooden mosque that same year. As the Tatar population grew, they rebuilt a brick mosque in 1906. In 1907, they hired İnayetullah Seli Ahmed as imam. He ordered books and magazines from Russia and opened the first Tatar community library.

Imam İnayetullah also served as the principal of the Harbin Tatar Elementary School. The school taught religious knowledge and general subjects, and offered courses in the Tatar and Russian languages. Teachers at the school included the Tatar poet and playwright Husain Gabdyush, who was actively involved in theatrical productions for the Harbin troupe during the 1920s and 1930s. Another teacher, Madina (Asyakaeva) Seliahmet, was a former instructor of higher women's natural science courses in Saint Petersburg. After immigrating to Harbin, she married the younger brother of Imam İnayetullah.

After the October Revolution broke out in 1917, the number of Tatars immigrating to Harbin increased, reaching over a thousand in the 1920s. Most of them made a living through the fur, textile, and clothing trades. To commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the conversion of their ancestors, the Volga Bulgars, to the faith in 922 AD, the Tatars in Harbin decided to build a new mosque. Construction of the new mosque began in 1923 under the leadership of Imam İnayetullah, but work stopped in September 1924 when the imam passed away. After that, construction stalled due to political instability and poor financial management by the Harbin Tatar Religious and National Association. In 1936, the new imam, Münir Hasibullah, traveled throughout all the Tatar settlements in the Far East to collect donations (niyat), finally allowing the Millennium Mosque to be officially completed and opened on October 8, 1937.



















An old photograph of the Harbin Tatar Mosque taken in 1940, now held in the Waseda University Library, preserves a precious image of the Tatars during Friday prayer (Jumu'ah).















Additionally, the author of the book The Harbin Files, Mara Moustafine, is of Tatar-Jewish-Russian descent and spent her childhood in Harbin. The book writes that her grandfather, Mukhammedzhan Mustafin, originally lived in a village near Kazan in the middle reaches of the Volga River. He came to Harbin in 1920 to work as an electrician and repairman for wealthy people and large companies. Every Friday, Mukhammedzhan went to the Harbin Tatar mosque to perform Jumu'ah. He was an active member of the Harbin Tatar community and served on the community association board for several years. Every year during Eid al-Adha (Qurban Festival), Mukhammedzhan would take his son Alimzhan to the mosque to perform Eid prayers, and then they would go to watch the traditional Tatar horse racing held at the Harbin racecourse.

After the Soviet Union marched into Northeast China in 1945, the Tatars who had immigrated to Harbin to escape the Soviet Union faced harsh treatment. Over the next 10 years, most chose to immigrate to the United States, Canada, and Turkey, while some, like Mara Mustafin's family, immigrated to Australia. By 1960, there were fewer than five Tatars left in Harbin, and the Harbin Tatar community was declared dissolved.





Further reading:

Specialty pastries of the Kazan Tatars

Kazan Kremlin and the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan

Tatars in the city of Kazan

Performing Jumu'ah at the Historical Mosque of the Tatars in Moscow

Thirteen traditional mosques of the Kazan Tatars in Russia Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Bangkok — Halal Food and Muslim Travel Tips is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I went to Thailand for the May Day holiday this year, my first trip abroad in three years. The account keeps its focus on Bangkok Halal Food, Mosques, Muslim Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

I went to Thailand for the May Day holiday this year, my first trip abroad in three years. Even though Thailand is in the middle of a hot summer, it didn't stop people's enthusiasm, and you could hear Chinese speakers everywhere on the streets of Bangkok. I visited 9 Yunnanese Hui Muslim mosques and 7 Indian-descendant mosques in Northern Thailand, along with 9 communities made up of different Muslim ethnic groups in Bangkok, and I will share these with you one by one. In this article, I will first share the various snacks I ate at halal food stalls in Bangkok and the Muslim hotel where I stayed.

Islamic Center of Thailand Foundation

I had breakfast at the Islamic Center of Thailand Foundation in the morning. The Islamic Center of Thailand Foundation is a modernist building designed by a young Bangladeshi-Thai Muslim architect named Paichit Pongpunluk. Construction began in 1970, but due to budget issues, it took 11 years to complete. Once finished, it became a landmark building and activity center for Thai Muslims.





We bought stir-fried holy basil chicken rice (gaprao gai), grilled chicken skewers (satay), and Thai red tea. Gaprao is also called holy basil. It originated in South Asia and is grown throughout the tropical regions of Southeast Asia. Stir-frying meat with gaprao leaves makes it go perfectly with rice. Thai red tea is made with Ceylon black tea, condensed milk, sugar, and milk. You can drink it hot for breakfast, but it is usually served iced. There are many halal stalls downstairs at the Islamic Center of Thailand, but we arrived early, so not all of them were open. Usually, there is not only food but also books, clothing, and various activities, making it well worth a visit.



















Snack stalls at the entrance of Haroon Mosque

After finishing the noon namaz, we had lunch at the entrance of Haroon Mosque by the Chao Phraya River, where there is a row of local halal snack stalls. Haroon Mosque is named after an Indonesian merchant named Toh Haroon Bafaden. He came to Bangkok from Indonesia with his father to do business in 1828 (some say 1837), then got married, had children, and settled down. He built Haroon Mosque shortly after, and a Muslim community gradually formed around the mosque.







We first ate stewed beef and chicken meatball glass noodle soup. The beef was incredibly fragrant, and Zainab and I both agreed it was the best thing we ate in Bangkok! Then I had basil chicken, meatballs, and chicken liver with rice. After that, I had a bowl of stewed chicken feet. They were soft and flavorful, but the soup was super spicy, haha.

















Two things are essential for eating street food in Bangkok's hot summer: a powerful electric fan and a cold drink with ice! Otherwise, I really don't think I could eat anything, haha.



We ate the classic street food, Pad Thai. Pad Thai is also called Thai stir-fried rice noodles. It contains rice noodles, scrambled eggs, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, and fresh shrimp, served with lime and chives. The style of stir-fried rice noodles was brought to Thailand by Chinese immigrants hundreds of years ago, but it didn't become popular until the mid-20th century. During World War II, rice was in short supply in Thailand. The Thai government began promoting a type of rice noodle from Chanthaburi Province in the east, which made stir-fried noodles a national snack in Thailand.









If stir-fried noodles are the first impression of Thai snacks, then Roti flatbread can be called the first impression of Thai halal snacks. Every night market in Thailand seems to have a cart where Thai Muslims sell Roti flatbread, and every stall is very popular.











ICONSIAM Food Court

I highly recommend SOOKSIAM, the food court on the first floor of ICONSIAM, to any friends (dosti) visiting Bangkok in the summer. It gathers specialty snacks from all over Thailand and has many halal stalls, many of which are run by Malay-Thai Muslims. The most important thing is that the indoor air conditioning is great. Once you go in during the hot summer, you won't want to leave!



















We first ate steamed egg with crab. It had plenty of crab roe and was very flavorful when paired with the signature spicy and sour dipping sauce (nam chim). They also have large shrimp, squid, and various other seafood. Malay-Thai Muslims are very skilled at cooking seafood.









Then we had the most classic Thai Muslim street snack: Roti with Thai milk tea. Roti originally meant bread in Sanskrit, and it was later brought to Thailand by South Asian and Malay Muslims. Unlike in South Asia, Thai-style roti is sweet. You can add bananas, eggs, and chocolate, and it is topped with sweetened condensed milk.













We ate the local Thai specialties of spicy chicken sausage with lotus root stems and spicy green mango with oysters (tam mamuang). These salads often include raw cowpeas, unlike our habit of blanching them first. Thai salads are known for their sour and spicy flavors, seasoned with lime and bird's eye chili. People who cannot handle spice might find the bird's eye chili too hot, so it is best to ask for less spice or no spice beforehand.

Spicy green mango salad belongs to the 'tam' category of the four main types of Thai salads, which means 'pounded.' The most famous version in Thailand is spicy green papaya salad. When making it, you pound the green mango with garlic, bird's eye chili, dried shrimp, fish sauce, and other seasonings to release the aroma, then add palm sugar and lime juice.







For our main course, we chose chicken fat rice (khao man gai). Thai chicken fat rice comes from the Wenchang chicken rice brought to Siam by Chinese workers who immigrated from Hainan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Cooking the rice in chicken broth makes it very fragrant. Unlike Hainanese chicken rice in Singapore and Malaysia, Thai chicken fat rice uses a chicken rice paste made from ginger, garlic, cilantro stems, and oil when stewing the chicken. It is served with a Thai sweet and spicy sauce (nam phrik), which contains chili, shallots, garlic, lime juice, fish sauce, and shrimp paste.













Mango sticky rice at Suvarnabhumi Airport

Before leaving, I bought the traditional Thai snack mango sticky rice (khao niao mamuang) at a halal fast-food restaurant in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. It is perfect for eating on the plane. Everyone loves this snack during the Thai mango season in April and May. The sticky rice is mixed with coconut milk and palm sugar, and it is usually served with two sweet local Thai yellow mango varieties, Nam Dok Mai and Ok rong.

Mango sticky rice can be traced back to poems from the late Ayutthaya period (17th-18th centuries). It later spread to other Southeast Asian countries, but it remains most famous in Thailand.









Muslim hotel Al Meroz

On this trip to Bangkok, I stayed at the best local Muslim hotel, Al Meroz. It is near the Ramkhamhaeng station along the Airport Rail Link, just 20 minutes from Suvarnabhumi Airport. There is a water taxi next to the hotel that goes to the old town, so you can get into the city without any traffic jams. The Thailand Islamic Centre Foundation is in the alley across the street, where you can get a firsthand look at Thai Muslim culture.

The hotel building has three high-end halal restaurants and a bakery. The breakfast buffet is also very extensive, featuring various halal flavors from Malay, South Asian, and local Thai traditions.



















The Ramadan buffet advertisement, prayer hall, wudu area (water room), and rooftop swimming pool at the Al Meroz Hotel.

















Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Delhi's Seventh City — Mughal Capital and Muslim History is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: In my last article, The Sixth City of Delhi: The Birth of the Mughal Empire, I wrote about how Humayun, the second Mughal emperor, fell to his death from his library in the sixth city of Delhi, Dinpanah, in 1556. The account keeps its focus on Delhi Travel, Mughal History, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

In my last article, The Sixth City of Delhi: The Birth of the Mughal Empire, I wrote about how Humayun, the second Mughal emperor, fell to his death from his library in the sixth city of Delhi, Dinpanah, in 1556. His son, Emperor Akbar, moved the Mughal capital to Agra in 1558, and Delhi lost its status as the capital.

In 1628, Shah Jahan became the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire. Under his rule, Mughal architectural aesthetics reached a new height, and this period is widely recognized as the golden age of Mughal architecture. Besides building the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan built the seventh city of Delhi between 1639 and 1648, naming it Shahjahanabad after himself. Shah Jahan made Shahjahanabad the capital of the Mughal Empire, aiming to show the grandeur and power of the empire.

Shahjahanabad is now known as Old Delhi and still keeps many historical sites and traditional neighborhoods. The most important site inside the city, the Red Fort, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2007.

The layout of Shahjahanabad was inspired by the ancient Persian city of Isfahan and inherited urban planning ideas from the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, which were built by the previous Mughal emperor, Akbar. The city has an irregular shape, with the eastern wall built along the course of the Yamuna River. The Yamuna River later changed its course and moved away from the walls, and the original riverbed is now the Delhi Inner Ring Road.

The city has two main roads: Chandni Chowk running east-west and Faiz Bazaar running north-south, with major commercial areas on both sides of the streets. The Red Fort, where the Mughal royal family lived, is located at the junction of these two main roads.



1858



1914

Table of Contents

1. Red Fort: 1639-1648

1. Lahore Gate

2. Chhatta Chowk (market)

3. Naubat Khana (drum house)

4. Diwan-i-Aam (public audience hall)

5. Rang Mahal (palace of the empresses)

6. Khas Mahal (emperor's private palace)

7. Diwan-i-Khas (private audience hall)

8. Hammam-e-Lal Qila (bathhouse)

9. Pearl Mosque (Moti Masjid)

10. King's Tower (Shah Burj)

11. Life-Giving Garden (Hayat Bakhsh Bagh)

2. Jama Mosque: 1650-1656

3. Fatehpuri Mosque: 1650

4. Golden Mosque (Sunehri Masjid): 1751

5. Great Mosque (Kalan Masjid): 1387

6. Hauzwali Mosque: 15th century

1. Red Fort: 1639-1648

Shah Jahan decided to move the capital from Agra back to Delhi in 1638. On May 12, 1639, he ordered the construction of the Red Fort. The designer was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, the architect who built the Taj Mahal.

On the north side of the Red Fort is the Salimgarh Fort, built by the Sur dynasty in 1546 (I introduced this in my previous article, 'The Sixth City of Delhi: The Birth of the Mughal Empire'). The Red Fort was designed to connect to Salimgarh Fort via a bridge, joining the two castles together.

In 1857, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, left the Red Fort and was arrested by the British army. He was tried at the Red Fort in 1858 and exiled to Yangon, marking the end of the Mughal Empire. Afterward, the Red Fort was used as a British military barracks. Most of the buildings were demolished. Only the marble structures in the far east survived because they were repurposed as barracks, offices, dormitories, and canteens.

After India's independence, the Red Fort continued to be used as an Indian Army barracks until 2003, when the Archaeological Survey of India was finally authorized to begin restoration. In 2009, the Archaeological Survey of India developed a comprehensive protection and management plan for the Red Fort under the direction of the Supreme Court.

The Red Fort viewed from east to west, painted in 1785.



The Red Fort viewed from east to west, painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.



1. Lahore Gate

The Lahore Gate is the west gate of the Red Fort. It is named for facing the city of Lahore. During the reign of the sixth Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb (reigned 1658-1707), a barbican was added to the outside of the gate. Since 1947, the Prime Minister of India has stood at the Lahore Gate to deliver a speech every Indian Independence Day.





Painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.











2. Chhatta Chowk (market)

After entering the Lahore Gate, you find a market called Chhatta Chowk. During the Mughal era, this was where silk and jewelry were sold to members of the royal family.







Painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.



(Optional) Image description

3. Naubat Khana (drum house)

After walking through the Chhatta Chowk market, you reach the outer courtyard of the Red Fort. The building in the center of the outer courtyard is called the Naubat Khana, which serves as the main gate to the inner court. Naubat Khana means 'drum house.' During the Mughal era, ceremonial music was played here five times a day, and everyone except members of the royal family had to dismount from their horses when they reached this point. After 1857, the British army destroyed the arcades on both sides of the Naubat Khana and the central pool, leaving only the central building.



Photographed in 1858 by British army officer Robert Christopher Tytler and his wife Harriet.













4. Diwan-i-Aam (public audience hall)

After passing through the Naubat Khana, you enter the inner courtyard of the Red Fort, where the Diwan-i-Aam stands directly in front of you. Diwan-i-Aam means 'Hall of Public Audience.' It was the place where the Mughal emperor met with the public to hear their concerns.







In the center of the hall is the throne where the emperor sat. The marble steps below the throne were where the prime minister (wazir) received petitions from the public.



The door behind the throne, painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.





5. Rang Mahal (palace of the empresses)

After entering the Diwan-i-Aam, you reach the harem section of the Red Fort. Rang Mahal means 'Palace of Colors.' It was the living quarters for the concubines of the Mughal emperor.







Painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.

A shallow canal called the Stream of Paradise (Nahr-i-Bihist) flows into the marble pool in front of the Rang Mahal. During the hot summer, the women of the Mughal royal family would stay in the basement of the Diwan-i-Aam to escape the heat.





Painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.

6. Khas Mahal (emperor's private palace)

To the north of the Rang Mahal is the Khass Mahal, which was the sleeping quarters of the Mughal emperor. The Rang Mahal was built of white marble. Its walls were originally inlaid with various jewels and the ceiling was gilded, but these features have not been preserved.







Painted by Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe in 1843.

The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, ascends the throne in the Khas Mahal, painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1837 and 1838.



7. Hall of Private Audience (Diwan-i-Khas)

North of the Khas Mahal is the Hall of Private Audience (Diwan-i-Khas), where the Mughal emperor met with courtiers and state guests. The Hall of Private Audience (Diwan-i-Khas) means "private reception room." It is built of white marble and was once inlaid with various jewels, featuring the exquisite Peacock Throne in the center. The hall once had a ceiling inlaid with gold and silver, but these were later removed. The current ceiling was installed in 1911.

Outside the hall, there used to be red awnings, and the arches below were inscribed with verses by the famous Sufi master Amir Khusrow:

If there is a paradise on earth,

It is this, it is this, it is this.





Painted by Ghulam 'Ali Khan in 1817.









Painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.



The Peacock Throne in 1850.

8. Hammam-e-Lal Qila (bathhouse)

North of the Hall of Private Audience (Diwan-i-Khas) is the Red Fort Bathhouse (Hammam-e-Lal Qila), which was used by the Mughal royal family. The Red Fort Bathhouse (Hammam-e-Lal Qila) is a Turkish-style bath consisting of three sections: a children's bath, a dressing room, and a hot bath. Legend has it that the water flowing from the taps at that time was mixed with rose perfume.





Painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.

9. Pearl Mosque (Moti Masjid)

The Pearl Mosque (Moti Masjid) is west of the bathhouse. It was built by the sixth Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, between 1659 and 1660 for his second wife, Nawab Bai. Pearl (Moti) means "pearl." It is built of white marble, and its three domes were originally covered with gilded copper plates, which were lost after 1857.









Painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.



Painted by Vasily Vereshchagin in the late 1880s.

10. King's Tower (Shah Burj)

The northernmost part of the harem is a white marble pavilion built during the Aurangzeb period. Behind the pavilion is the Shahi Burj, the northeast corner tower of the Red Fort, which means "Imperial Tower." Inside the tower is a hydraulic system that carries water from outside the Red Fort into its gardens and buildings.







Painted by Sir Thomas Metcalfe in 1843.

11. Life-Giving Garden (Hayat Bakhsh Bagh)

In the northwest part of the harem is the royal water garden Hayat Bakhsh Bagh, which means 'Life-Giving Garden'. Most of the garden's buildings were destroyed after 1857, and only three survive today.

At the center of the garden is the red sandstone building Zafar Mahal, built in 1842 by the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II. The building sits in a pool and was originally connected to the shore by a red sandstone bridge, but it was destroyed after 1857. After 1857, the British army used this area as a swimming pool.











Painted by Ghulam Ali Khan between 1852 and 1854.

To the north and south of the garden are two white marble pavilions called Sawan and Bhadon, named after the months of July and August in the Indian rainy season, as the ladies of the Mughal palace loved to visit the garden during these two months. The pavilions have wall niches that held vases with golden flowers during the day and small oil lamps at night.





To the west of Hayat Bakhsh Bagh, there was originally another water garden called Mehtab Bagh, meaning 'Moon Garden,' but after 1857, the site was turned into a British military barracks, and now only ruins remain.



2. Jama Mosque: 1650-1656

The Jama Masjid mosque is located southwest of the Red Fort; it was built between 1650 and 1656 by order of Shah Jahan and served as the royal mosque of the Mughal Empire.

The mosque was built by more than 5,000 workers under the leadership of Shah Jahan's vizier (wazir) Saadullah Khan, costing over 1 million rupees. The mosque stands on a platform more than 9 meters above the ground and is made of red sandstone and marble, featuring a main hall connected by colonnades, two 40-meter-high minarets, and three gates. The east gate was reserved for the Mughal royal family and had a path that connected directly to the Delhi Gate of the Red Fort.

After 1857, the British seized the Jama Masjid mosque and stationed troops inside. They originally wanted to demolish the mosque, but they failed due to strong opposition, though the madrasa (Islamic school) on the south side of the mosque was destroyed as a result.















The mihrab in the center of the main hall indicates the direction of prayer toward Mecca:





Besides the main mihrab in the center, there is a smaller mihrab on each side.



During Jumu'ah, the imam stands on this stone platform to deliver the khutbah.



There is a tower at each of the four corners of the colonnade.







The east gate is the main entrance:





South Gate



North Gate



The water pool in the courtyard for wudu:





Jama means Jumu'ah, which refers to the Friday congregational prayer. The Jumu'ah mosque is usually the largest in the community, and the most important weekly prayer is held here every Friday at noon. I was lucky enough to attend a Friday Jumu'ah prayer at the Jama Mosque.

On the morning of Jumu'ah, more prayer rugs were already laid out in the courtyard.



People are performing wudu for the Jumu'ah prayer:



More and more people are arriving.







The imam leading the prayer climbs onto the stone platform.



After the prayer, people take photos:





3. Fatehpuri Mosque: 1650

Fatehpuri Mosque is located at the western end of Chandni Chowk, the main east-west road in Shahjahanabad. It was built in 1650 under the direction of Fatehpuri Begum, the wife of Shah Jahan. The mosque is in the classic Mughal style, built with red sandstone, featuring minarets on both sides and a main prayer hall in the middle. The main hall has seven arched bays, and the central iwan arch is topped with a Mughal-style dome.

















4. Golden Mosque (Sunehri Masjid): 1751

Sunehri Mosque is located south of the Red Fort. It was built in 1751 by Qudsia Begum, the wife of the twelfth Mughal Emperor, Muhammad Shah. After Muhammad Shah died, Qudsia Begum's son, Ahmad Shah Bahadur, succeeded to the throne, making Qudsia Begum the de facto ruler of the Mughal Empire between 1748 and 1754.

During her rule, Qudsia Begum built a series of structures in Delhi, and the Sunehri Mosque is the most understated in its architectural style. The mosque's dome was originally copper-plated, but during renovations in 1852, sandstone replaced the damaged copper plates.













5. Great Mosque (Kalan Masjid): 1387

Kalan Mosque is one of the very few mosques in Shahjahanabad that existed before the city was built. It was constructed in 1387 by Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul, the vizier of Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq (reigned 1351-1388) of the Delhi Sultanate's Tughlaq dynasty. It is believed to have been built to commemorate a Sufi saint.

The mosque has been in continuous use, so the interior has changed significantly.









6. Hauzwali Mosque: 15th century

Hauzwali Mosque is another mosque that existed before the city of Shahjahanabad was built. Because the ground level has changed so much over time, the bottom half of the mosque is now underground, leaving only the top parts of the arches and the mihrab visible.





Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Urumqi Hui Muslim Home Cooking: 15 Halal Dishes is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: My mother-in-law came to Beijing in March and made us 15 Urumqi Hui Muslim dishes: big plate chicken with belt noodles (dapanji pidaimian), lamb hand-torn noodle soup (yangrou jiupianzi), Xinjiang meatball soup. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslim Food, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

My mother-in-law came to Beijing in March and made us 15 Urumqi Hui Muslim dishes: big plate chicken with belt noodles (dapanji pidaimian), lamb hand-torn noodle soup (yangrou jiupianzi), Xinjiang meatball soup (xinjiang wanzitang), dry-mixed noodles with lamb bean paste (yangrou zhajiang ganbanmian), lamb sour soup wontons (yangrou suantang huntun), Jingzhe oil tea eggs (jingzhe youcha dan), thin-skinned buns (baopi baozi), lamb vermicelli soup (yangrou fentang), cold-dressed chicken (liangban ji), diced stir-fried noodles (dingding chaomian), sour soup noodles with minced meat (suantang saozi mian), fragrant bean flower rolls (xiangdou huajuan), plate noodles (panzi mian), flavored fried starch jelly (fengwei zha menzi), and lamb and celery dumplings (yangrou qincai jiaozi). Since the official account can only insert 10 video channel clips, I will share the first 8 this time.

1. Big plate chicken with belt noodles (dapanji pidaimian)

My mother-in-law brought free-range chicken all the way from Urumqi. First, stir-fry the chicken with plenty of oil. Add chicken pieces, dried chili skins (lapizi), and ginger slices to the pot. Then add salt, Sichuan peppercorn powder, black pepper powder, tomato paste, bean paste, green onions, and garlic. Stir-fry until the blood is gone, then add soy sauce. Next, stew the chicken in a pressure cooker, adding water, the chicken, and potato chunks. After opening the pot, take out the potatoes, then add green onions, garlic, and vinegar.

Once finished, stretch the belt noodles; they taste best soaked in the big plate chicken broth.







2. Lamb hand-torn noodle soup (yangrou jiupianzi)

First, stir-fry lamb slices with tomatoes (yangshizi), green onions, and garlic. Add soy sauce and stir-fried potato slices, then add water. Stretch the dough and tear off small pieces into the pot. Finally, add black pepper powder and cilantro, and finish with a splash of vinegar.







3. Xinjiang meatball soup (xinjiang wanzitang)

For the Iftar meal, my mother-in-law made this Xinjiang specialty meatball soup using meat ground fresh at the Ma family shop in Douban Alley. The secret to the fried meatballs is pouring hot oil over the black pepper powder while mixing the filling. The best base for the meatball soup is broth made from beef marrow bones. You can add side dishes like spinach, king oyster mushrooms, tofu, carrots, or wood ear mushrooms.















4. Dry-mixed noodles with lamb bean paste (yangrou zhajiang ganbanmian)

Zainab said Urumqi has its own local version of bean paste noodles. I had never noticed it before and was very curious, so I finally got to eat it this time. These are hand-rolled cut noodles; our cutting board is still not quite big enough. Besides lamb, the bean paste sauce includes potatoes, carrots, and celery. It uses Pixian bean paste, so the flavor is completely different from Beijing-style bean paste noodles.

















5. Lamb sour soup wontons (yangrou suantang huntun)

I especially love the stewed lamb sour soup wontons (hong dong) made by Xinjiang Hui Muslims. After the lamb is stewed, add tomatoes, spinach, scallions, and cilantro. The wontons have the classic lamb and onion (piyazi) filling.













6. Jingzhe oil tea eggs (jingzhe youcha dan)

March 5th is the Awakening of Insects (Jingzhe), when all things come back to life. In the morning, we ate this seasonal Xinjiang Hui Muslim delicacy, Jingzhe oil tea eggs. Stir-fry eggs with dried fruits like raisins and walnut kernels, then pour in brewed brick tea and add rock sugar. Traditional oil tea with egg (youcha dan) must be stir-fried with mutton fat, but we use olive oil.













7. Thin-skinned steamed buns (baopi baozi)

Thin-skinned steamed buns (manti) filled with mutton and onions. Manti is a classic Silk Road snack. It spread to Central and West Asia with Turkic soldiers during the Mongol conquests and was later spread further by the Ottoman Empire. The word manti comes from mantou. Even today, the Wu dialect uses mantou to refer to meat-filled flour dishes. In 1330, the first year of the Zhishun era of the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial physician Hu Sihui wrote the Principles of Correct Diet (Yinshan Zhengyao). It records many ways to make mantou, all using mutton, mutton fat, green onions, dried tangerine peel, and salt for the filling. It even mentions the term thin-skinned mantou.











8. Mutton noodle soup (yangrou fentang)

This is the festive noodle soup made during the Mawlid (Zhuo Bailati). First, braise the mutton, then stir the pea starch and let it sit overnight before cutting it into starch blocks. Next, make a topping with cabbage, small radishes, mutton slices, and tomatoes. When you eat it, soak some fried dough (youxiang) in the soup.

















Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Winter Diary — Mosques, Halal Food and Muslim Heritage is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Everything I ate in Beijing between December 2021 and February 2022, starting with the resumption of Jumu'ah prayers in Beijing and ending with the Night Journey (Isra and Mi'raj) dinner. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Mosques, Halal Food, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Everything I ate in Beijing between December 2021 and February 2022, starting with the resumption of Jumu'ah prayers in Beijing and ending with the Night Journey (Isra and Mi'raj) dinner. Thinking about winter during the summer, it feels so good to dine in at restaurants.

December 3, Xinyuezhai at Douban Hutong.

Alhamdulillah, the mosques in Beijing have finally opened. I attended Jumu'ah at Nandouyacai Mosque, then went to the nearby Xinyuezhai for beef noodles and a small bowl of beef.











December 4, clear-stewed lamb spine (yangxiezi).

I bought some lamb spine at the entrance of the Chaoyangmen Life Supermarket and made clear-stewed lamb spine at home.









You can add green beans and mushrooms to the leftover clear-stewed lamb spine.



December 9, Gulou Chimian at Jinbao Street.

After work, I went to Gulou Chimian on Jinbao Street to have my favorite braised lamb and Sichuan peppercorn noodle soup (huajiao cuamian). I never get tired of it, and even though they have so many kinds of noodles, I rarely try anything else. I also had the newly added deep-fried crispy pork (xiaosurou), which was quite fragrant and worth ordering again.







December 10, Longxianghui's flatbread stew (hubo).

The Gansu Pingliang restaurant Longxianghui on Dongsi North Street added flatbread stew, meat sauce noodles (saozimian), and cold noodles to their menu. I tried the flatbread stew last night, and it really suits my taste. Pingliang flatbread stew is the opposite of lamb pita soup (yangrou paomo). For lamb pita soup, you have to eat the semi-leavened bread quickly after soaking it, but for flatbread stew, the longer the fried dough sticks (youbangzi) soak, the better they taste.









December 17, home-cooked meal.

I made braised pomfret with diced potatoes, carrots, and cucumbers. Zainabu made braised eggplant with green beans and onions (piyanzi) with wood ear mushrooms. Zainabu's braised eggplant and green beans capture the essence of our Beijing home cooking, and I love it so much.







December 18, Urumqi Office in Beijing.

After visiting the Xinqiao Market at noon, I went to the Urumqi Office in Beijing at Chegongzhuang. I realized I hadn't been there in seven years. This was the Xinjiang restaurant I visited most when I was a kid. Most of my childhood memories of Xinjiang food come from here. I definitely didn't expect back then that I would eventually become a son-in-law from Urumqi, haha.

I ordered horse sausage (machangzi) and vegetable pilaf (zhuafan) to make my own horse sausage pilaf. The pilaf was oily and delicious, but the horse sausage wasn't oily enough and felt a bit dry. The grilled meat (kaorou) tasted great. The baked buns (kaobaozi) weren't very crispy, and I finished by ordering a mixed vegetable stew (huicai).















December 26, chain restaurant Quanzhou Beef House Niujiufen.

Passing through Xihongmen in Daxing, I ate at the chain restaurant Quanzhou Beef House (Niujiufen) inside the Livat shopping center. The famous Xue Family (Xuejia), known as the number one hot pot in southern Beijing from the Hui Muslim village of Xueying in Daxing, has opened three halal restaurants in Livat: Speed Pizza, Niujiufen, and Lou Sanshao. They are all halal, though you cannot tell from the outside.

I ate Quanzhou-style beef ribs, beef soup, abalone sauce vermicelli (mianxian), and drank seaweed jelly (shihuagao) made from agar-agar. Zainab really likes the taste of the Quanzhou-style soy-braised beef; it is not greasy and a little sweet.



















December 27, Muyixuan Lamb Spine Hot Pot.

In the evening, I ate lamb spine hot pot at Muyixuan in Ping'anli.





January 9, Ali Restaurant on Shenlu Street.

Ali Restaurant on Shenlu Street uses pilaf (zhuafan) inside their rice sausages. It is the most authentic I have had in Beijing, and the other dishes were quite good too. The meat in the pilaf was very fragrant, though the liver slices were a bit tough.















Account.

January 10, Syrian restaurant One Thousand and One Nights.

It is my second wedding anniversary with Zainab, so we celebrated at One Thousand and One Nights after work. One Thousand and One Nights is a long-standing Arabic restaurant in Beijing. The owner is Syrian, and the shop opened in 2004, making it 17 years old now. When I was in middle school, I would pass by their place every time I went home from Chaoyang Park. Back then, they were the symbol of a high-end restaurant in my mind, perfectly matching the vibe of the embassy district. At that time, the major shopping malls in Sanlitun had not been built yet, so their place was really eye-catching. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and I can finally afford to eat at One Thousand and One Nights.

To this day, One Thousand and One Nights remains the highest-class, most diverse, and best-tasting Arabic restaurant in Beijing. We ordered seafood soup, Kofta meatball soup, pine nut hummus, mozzarella cheese salad, Kashkash kebab, lamb mandi rice in a tagine, and cauliflower with eggplant. Except for the cauliflower and eggplant being a bit oily, everything else was delicious. Their lamb mandi rice is definitely the best I have had in Beijing. The lamb is fresh and tender, and the rice is filled with saffron, raisins, cashews, and various spices, making it smell amazing. The Kashkash kebab is made with parsley, green and red peppers, and garlic, which I think is a Syrian specialty.

















January 14, Madeburg inside Chaoyangmen.

My second visit to Madeburg inside Chaoyangmen; I ordered a whole chicken, fries, and milk tea. I have fallen in love with their freshly made whole chicken. It is much better than burgers, haha. Putting on gloves and tearing it apart to eat is very satisfying. Freshly fried french fries are, of course, both fragrant and have a great texture. Boss Zhang said he found that pizza baked a little longer tastes even better than the standard way, so he shared one with me. I found that pizza baked a bit longer has a scent like naan bread and is both crispy and crunchy, haha.

Before leaving, I received a distributed Islamic calendar from Maidebao. When I got home, I took down the one from last year issued by the Grace Bookstore on Niujie Street and put up the new one. I feel that changing the Islamic calendar every year gives a special sense of ritual that a year has passed. The second month is Isra and Mi'raj, the third is Bara'at, the fourth is the start of Ramadan and Laylat al-Qadr, the fifth is Eid al-Fitr, the seventh is Arafah, Eid al-Adha, and the Islamic New Year, the eighth is Ashura, and the tenth is Mawlid. A new year begins just like that.











January 15, Indian food Mirch Masala.

I ate Indian food at Mirch Masala on Xiushui Street; the shop name 'mirch' means chili pepper. The restaurant is quite small, with two Indian guys, one as the chef and one as the waiter. It is not big but the food is delicious, reminding me of the South Asian eateries found everywhere in Dubai.

We ordered lamb korma curry, chicken biryani rice, masala tea, kadhai paneer (curry tofu), and their homemade yogurt. Putting the curry, rice, and yogurt on a plate and eating them together is especially fragrant. Finally, we packed the korma curry to take home, planning to add a little bit when we stir-fry dishes over the next few days.

Korma is a type of curry stewed with coconut milk or yogurt. The etymology of 'korma' comes from 'Qawirma' in Turkic, which originally meant to fry, but after evolving into the Urdu word 'Qormā', the meaning changed to stew. Korma is a classic Mughal court dish that started in the 16th century. People say Shah Jahan and his guests ate Korma at the banquet for the completion of the Taj Mahal.

Biryani is a Persian loanword in Urdu, also likely originating from the Mughal court. People say the Mughal imperial chefs created it by combining Indian spicy rice with Persian pilaf. In Mughal dynasty documents, the terms 'biryanis' and 'Pulao' (pilaf) appeared separately, and at that time, the two could be used interchangeably. It is generally believed that biryani is mixed with more spices than pilaf and has a stronger curry flavor.

The recipe for masala tea is not fixed, but it basically includes black tea, milk, sugar, cardamom, black pepper, and ginger. Other spices include cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, cloves, and so on.

Kadhai comes from 'Kataha' in the ancient Indian Prakrit dialect, meaning iron pot, which was even mentioned in the Ramayana. This cooking method is relatively popular in northern South Asia and Afghanistan.















January 16, Kashgar Mahmuti Restaurant.

In the afternoon, I went to the Kashgar Mahmuti Restaurant near Baiyun Temple. It is a restaurant that opened in 2005, yet this was my first time eating there. I used to stop at Jiasan and never walked any further. Who knew there was such a restaurant right next to Jiasan!

First, look at the shop name, then look at the freshly baked naan at the entrance, and then look at the interior decoration; it is absolutely like arriving in Erdaoqiao in a second. The staff are all Uyghurs, and when we walked in, a large Uyghur family was celebrating a birthday. We ordered yogurt, roasted lamb chops, lamb liver, lamb skewers (chuanr), Kashgar stew (Kashi duncai), and guirou langman. We wanted to order pigeon soup, but the waiter heard dough drop soup (gedatang) instead. Later, he told us they were out of pigeon soup and swapped it for lamb skewers.

Their yogurt is the most authentic thing on the menu! I have never had such authentic Xinjiang yogurt in Beijing. This homemade yogurt is twenty times better than the packaged Xinjiang brands in supermarket freezers, ten times better than the yogurt at chain restaurants like Bayi Laoye, and five times better than the yogurt at Uyghur spots like Baizuan. I would even say that many restaurants in Urumqi don't have yogurt as good as theirs.

The roasted meat is very fragrant and tender, and the liver is better than the one at Ali on Shenlu Street. The lamb chops are a bit tough, but some people love them that way. The meat in the guirou langman is very authentic; it is the kind that is a bit hard after being deep-fried. The noodles (langman) are a bit soft and average, not as good as the ones at Baizuan. The meat in the stew is a bit hard, maybe because they used air-dried meat, so we packed it to go to stew it again at home. Also, they didn't have the meat jelly (jiasha) listed on the menu and used fried tofu puffs instead, but the flavor was still very authentic.

Overall, I think this place is top-tier among Uyghur restaurants in Beijing, right up there with Ali and Baizuan. Next time I want to try their pilaf (zhuafan) to see how it tastes.

















January 19, Kuqa Uyghur Restaurant, Crescent Moon (Wanwan Yueliang)

I ate at the Kuqa Uyghur Restaurant, Crescent Moon, on Dongsi Liutiao before seeing a play in the evening. This is truly the oldest Uyghur restaurant in Dongsi; I have been eating here for over a decade, ever since I was in middle school. To be honest, their quality isn't as good as what I've had in Xinjiang. In Beijing, they only rank as mid-tier, behind Baizuan, Ali, and Maihemuti.

This time I ordered my usuals: kebabs (kawapu), pilaf (poluo), and stew (huo'erdun). The roasted meat is great, no complaints there. The rice in the pilaf is fine, but their minced meat has always been too dry. The stew is the opposite; the potatoes and carrots are delicious, but the lamb chops are too tough and have very little lean meat.

In short, if I want to satisfy my longing for Xinjiang, I would definitely choose Ali or Baizuan first. But if I am in the Dongsi area for an exhibition or a play, grabbing a meal at Crescent Moon is fine too.













January 21, Yangfang Shengli Hot Pot, Liujiayao branch

It rarely snows, so tonight we had a hot pot at Yangfang Shengli Shuanrou in Liujiayao, which opened in 2021! Although Yangfang Shengli Shuanrou is very famous, this was my first time eating there. I used to think they were mostly in the north, so I was surprised to see one open in the south.

To give a quick introduction, the main branch of Yangfang Shengli Shuanrou is located in a place called Xiguanshi. Hui Muslims from Xiguanshi followed Prince Yan north to Beijing in the early Ming Dynasty. Because they lived near the main trade route from Beijing to Zhangjiakou and were skilled in martial arts, many Xiguanshi Hui Muslims opened security escort agencies outside Qianmen during the Qing Dynasty. They specialized in protecting goods across the five northwestern provinces, mainly serving wealthy Shanxi merchants. People say Li Wuye, the master of the magic pellet in the novel 'Shi Gong An', was a Hui Muslim from Xiguanshi. The depictions of Li Guoliang, the 'Little Hero of the Golden Bow', and the Dongguangyu Escort Agency outside Qianmen in the novel 'Yongzheng Jianxia Tu' vividly show the life of the Xiguanshi Hui Muslim escort agencies during the Qing Dynasty. Because it sits on the essential path to the Mongolian grasslands, the mutton hot pot here is also very famous.

I feel that the Yangfang Shengli Shuanrou in Liujiayao is excellent in terms of environment, service, meat quality, and vegetable freshness. Our family was very satisfied, and we will come here often for gatherings. We ordered their whole lamb combo (lamb brain, 'half-side cloud' flank, lamb tendon, lamb spine, lamb 'emperor' cut, lamb rib, and lamb shoulder), a vegetable platter, crunchy tripe mushrooms, and frozen tofu. First, they opened a bottle of Nongfu Spring water and poured it into the pot, which felt very sincere, haha. They use 6-8 month old black-headed white lambs from Xilingol. The meat is truly fresh, and I personally feel the quality is better than the hot pot places I usually visit near Dongsi (I won't name them). Their pickled garlic (tangsuan) is also homemade, and the flavor is noticeably richer than the store-bought garlic at most hot pot restaurants.

Also, even though the place was very noisy during the dinner rush, the servers came immediately whenever we called. They never ignored us, so it feels like they really know how to run a business.



















January 27, Qiqihar BBQ at Toupiqi.

In the evening, we went to Toupiqi BBQ in the Weilaiyu area of Changying. It is a chain of Qiqihar-style BBQ, and this Changying branch is halal. We ordered freshly sliced family-style marinated meat, beef tongue, pickled cabbage (suancai), Dandong yellow clams, Jixi cold noodles (lengmian), and grilled vegetables. At the front desk, we helped ourselves to shredded tofu, peanuts, Korean kimchi, cantaloupe, oranges, and pumpkin porridge. The dipping sauces were also quite varied.

I really liked their yellow clams. When the cold noodles arrived, they were clumped together, likely because they had just come out of the fridge, but the taste was quite good. The marinated meat was okay, but the beef tongue felt a bit tough and the texture wasn't great. Overall, their food is decent, but I personally think their BBQ isn't as good as Qingu (though Qingu's fried chicken isn't great), I still prefer Qingu's BBQ. Speaking of which, Beijing now has Heilongjiang iron pot stew (Hao Shu) and BBQ, we are just missing a traditional Heilongjiang home-style restaurant! There used to be a Heilongjiang restaurant in Xihongmen called Xingyuege. I had their sweet and sour pork (guobaorou) and steamed dumplings (shaomai) there, but unfortunately, they have closed down.



















January 29, Uyghur restaurant Xiapuna.

After ice skating in the afternoon, I ate stir-fried lamb liver, braised lamb chops with green beans, and home-style mixed noodles (banmian) at the Uyghur restaurant Xiapuna on Shenlu Street. We arrived at Xinjiang lunch time, and sure enough, all the diners in the room were Uyghur, haha.

Their stir-fried lamb liver is super delicious and incredibly tender. It is better than any grilled liver I have had at restaurants in Beijing, and after eating it, I do not even want to eat grilled liver anymore. The braised lamb chops with green beans (jiangdou) are also great. The beans are actually yardlong beans, and they are crispy and fragrant after being fried. The lamb must be from Xinjiang because it lacks the gamey smell found in Beijing. The flatbread (nang) is an oily version that was fried again, and soaking it in the lamb chop sauce is so appetizing.

The meat in the home-style mixed noodles is delicious, but they give you too little. The overall flavor is a bit bland, and the noodles are so thin that I first thought they were dried noodles (guamian). But they taste chewy, so they must be hand-pulled.













January 31, New Year's Eve dinner.

A dish I made with simple stewed meat.





Stewed meat over rice.



Everyone worked together to knead the dough and mix the filling.











February 1, eating dumplings (jiaozi).

We ate the dumplings as we wrapped them, including lamb with lentils, beef with fennel, and beef with celery, using both Urumqi and Beijing wrapping styles. They were wrapped perfectly and tasted super delicious. Then we opened the Laba garlic (labasuan) that we pickled on Laba Festival, which also turned out great and smelled amazing. We used the leftover dough after finishing the filling to make hand-cut noodles.



















Then we had pan-fried dumplings (jianjiao) as well. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Winter Diary — Mosques, Halal Food and Muslim Heritage is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: After ice skating in the afternoon, we went to Hongbinlou on Zhanlan Road for dinner. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Mosques, Halal Food, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.



February 2, Hongbinlou Zhanlan Road branch.

After ice skating in the afternoon, we went to Hongbinlou on Zhanlan Road for dinner. We ordered stir-fried chicken with walnuts and bean paste (taoren jiangbao jiding), braised sheep eyes (du yangyan), stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and a mixed corn stew (yumi quanhui). It was my first time having the mixed corn stew. It contained fish maw, fish cartilage, diced chicken, and diced bamboo shoots. The texture was very rich, and everyone liked it. We actually came here for the roast lamb, but after arriving, we found that the roast lamb at the Zhanlan Road branch was more than twice as expensive as at the Chaoyangmen branch. It was a bit too pricey, so we didn't order it.

Hongbinlou has long been Beijing's most expensive traditional halal stir-fry restaurant. It has always used the title of "Beijing's Number One Halal Restaurant," and I think it really lives up to the name. Every time I come here to eat, I never order a bad dish. Everything is delicious and worth the price. I can usually eat two bowls of rice with their stir-fried dishes like the honey-glazed lamb (ta simi), braised meat strips (ba routiao), and stir-fried chicken with bean paste.

Hongbinlou was founded in Tianjin in 1853 and moved to Beijing in 1955. Its "beef and lamb cooking techniques (Hongbinlou whole sheep banquet production techniques)" are listed as a national intangible cultural heritage. During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era, the whole sheep banquet was a high-level feast in traditional Muslim restaurants in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Hongbinlou's famous chef Song Shaoshan created a signature banquet featuring 120 dishes.













Cracking melon seeds while watching a movie.



I used the leftover cut noodles from making dumplings to make minced meat and eggplant noodles.





February 4, 798 electric grilled skewers.

While walking around 798, I found an electric skewer shop run by Hui Muslims from Niujie. We ordered lamb skewers, chicken skewers, and grilled prawns. I wanted to try the boneless grilled hairtail, but unfortunately, it was sold out. The shop has many old photos of Niujie and some vintage items.













February 4, Kolkata restaurant Sadhu.

After seeing the exhibition at the Guanfu Museum, Zainab said she really wanted to drink yogurt, so we headed straight to the place Zainab thinks makes the best yogurt in Beijing—the Indian Kolkata Muslim restaurant Sadhu in Beiluogu Lane. Their thin yogurt drink (lassi) is well-deservedly the best in Beijing. For thick yogurt, I still have to say it's the Kashgar Mahmut Restaurant on Baiyunguan Street.

Lassi comes from the Sanskrit word Lasika, which originally meant serum. Lassi comes in sweet and salty versions. The sweet version is mainly found in the Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Sindh regions, while the salty version is widely distributed in other parts of North India. Sadhu's lassi tastes slightly sweet and is mainly defined by the aroma of the yogurt, which is why Zainab likes it the most.

Besides the thin lassi, I also ordered a vegetable yogurt called raita, which had diced cucumber and diced carrots in it. I think it is very refreshing when paired with curry. Raita is a Hindi word formed by combining the Sanskrit words "rajika" and "tiktaka," which originally meant "black mustard seeds" and "pungent," because making raita requires frying black mustard seeds and cumin before mixing them into chopped vegetables and then adding them to the yogurt.

We ordered two types of curry, beef Bhuna and vegetable Korma. Bhuna means 'fried' in Urdu. It usually includes onion, ginger, and garlic. The curry is fried in hot oil until it becomes a thick paste. I think it tastes better than regular curry. Korma is a type of curry stewed with coconut milk or yogurt. The word 'Korma' comes from the Turkic word 'Qawirma,' which originally meant fried. In Urdu, the meaning changed to stew. Korma is a classic Mughal court dish that started in the 16th century. People say Shah Jahan and his guests ate Korma at the banquet for the completion of the Taj Mahal.

When ordering a main dish at Saduli, I usually choose South Asian flatbread (Naan) or fried rice (Biryani). This time, I picked something I had never tried there before: raisin pilaf (Shejhani Pulao). The style of cooking rice in a large pot only became popular from Andalusia to Afghanistan during the Abbasid Caliphate. The word pilaf (Pilāv) comes from Persian. The earliest record of pilaf dates back to the 10th century in the writings of the Persian scholar Ibn Sina, so some people call him the father of modern pilaf. After the 16th century, pilaf became popular in India along with the rise of the Mughal Empire.

We also ordered grilled salmon (Tikka). Tikka comes from the Turkic word tikkü, which means 'piece.' The Mughal Empire brought this method of grilling spice-marinated boneless meat or vegetable chunks to India. The most common Tikka is chicken.

















February 5, Xilaisun

After listening to Wang Yuebo perform the Sword Hero Map (Jianxia Tu) at the Lao She Teahouse, I strolled to Xilaisun at Hepingmen for dinner. It was super busy after four o'clock. It seems Beijingers don't want to cook at home during the Chinese New Year, haha.

Zainab pushed me to try something new instead of always ordering their stir-fried chicken cubes with bean paste (jiangbao jiding) and Ma Lianliang duck. We ordered meatballs in sauce (liu wanzi), braised mixed vegetables (shao quansu), and dry-braised sturgeon (gan shao xunyu), plus our must-order bamboo shoot jasmine soup. I have to say, everything at Xilaisun tastes good. Their meatballs in sauce have a great texture! At least they are stuffed much better than the fillings at some unnamed restaurants where you can actually taste the meat, while other places just taste like starch. Their dry-braised sturgeon isn't the traditional Shandong cuisine (Lu cuisine) style. It's sweet, sour, and spicy, which feels a bit like the Southwest region. I really like it! The sturgeon has no bones, so it's great to eat with rice. I noticed that besides the Ma Lianliang duck, the dry-braised sturgeon was the most popular dish on every table. The chef has to go catch a fish from the tank every little while.



















February 7, Beef Stew

I made old-fashioned beef stew with green beans, button mushrooms, potatoes, and carrots. I personally think it tastes better than what you get in restaurants! It takes at least an hour and a half to make, so I don't usually have time for it.







February 8, Changying Equator Yakiniku Lunch Set

A twisty and surprising lunch experience in Changying at noon. First, we went to a Korean barbecue place, but it was closed for a break. Then we tried a Qiqihar-style barbecue place we like, but they had just stopped serving five minutes earlier so the staff could go for COVID testing, so we had to go to a Japanese-style restaurant called Chidao BBQ. To our surprise, Chidao BBQ now offers Japanese set meals (teishoku) for lunch! This must be the only halal Japanese set meal in Beijing.

We bought teriyaki chicken rice and beef sukiyaki, and also ordered matsutake mushroom soup and fried squid tentacles. The set meal comes with a salad, steamed egg custard (chawanmushi), miso soup, seaweed salad, and a mochi dessert (daifuku). The teriyaki chicken rice tasted pretty good! Next time I want to try the beef rice. Actually, you can also order the sukiyaki as a single dish that comes with rice.



















February 12, Maidebao

We ate steak pizza and a small whole chicken at Maidebao in Galaxy SOHO, Chaoyangmen. Their pizza is packed with toppings; the crust is crispy and the middle is tender, which gives it a great texture that both Zainab and I really love. The owners are very warm toward fellow Muslims (dosti), and if they aren't busy, we always chat about the faith, so visiting them is a treat for both the spirit and the stomach.









February 15, hand-pulled noodles (latiaozi) made by Zainab.

I just love the hand-pulled noodles Zainab makes; it's a real perk of being a Xinjiang son-in-law.







Sweet rice balls (yuanxiao) and almond tofu in Changying.







February 16, Yanlanlou at Dongsishitiao.

At Yanlanlou in Dongsishitiao, we ate a pound of lamb neck, hand-pulled noodles (lamian), sweet pea soup (huidouzi), three kinds of small mushrooms, pea sprout soup with beans, and corn steamed cake (fagao). I personally prefer their lamb neck because it is leaner than the rib meat. I think their meat is quite tender for Beijing standards! Of course, it still doesn't compare to the one I had at Fuyuan Noodle Restaurant in Yinchuan, which was the most tender lamb neck I have ever eaten.

Actually, every time I go to Yanlanlou, I order the lentil and sparrow-tongue noodles; the slightly sour, warm soup is perfect for winter, but this time I saw everyone at the next table eating hand-pulled noodles, so I got tempted and changed my order on the spot, haha. In the summer, I prefer their fermented vegetable noodles (jiangshuimian), as the fermented broth is very refreshing. They also serve sturgeon and mandarin fish made with fermented vegetable broth (jiangshui), though I am not sure how they taste.

Zainab likes their pea sprout soup with beans (doutang wandou miao), which is like a vegetable porridge and hard to find in other restaurants. We packed some corn steamed cake (yumi fagao) to take home, and it tastes even better when toasted in a pan the next day.















February 18: Made zucchini pancakes (hutazi) and stir-fried kohlrabi strips with meat at home.

I made zucchini pancakes (hutazi) and stir-fried kohlrabi strips with meat at home. The zucchini pancakes were a bit thick, but they still tasted good. The kohlrabi strips were stir-fried in lamb fat.









February 20: Turkish clay pot beef (Testikebabı) at Xiting Xiuse.

We had Turkish clay pot beef (Testikebabı) for lunch at Xiting Xiuse. The chef cracked the pot open when serving, just like when I last had it in Istanbul!

Testikebabı is a popular dish in central Anatolia and the western Black Sea region. It is made by putting beef, mushrooms, tomatoes, and shallots into a clay pot, sealing the opening with bread, and slow-cooking it in an oven. After it is cooked, they heat butter on an iron plate, crack the pot open, and pour the bread and stew onto the plate. It smells amazing!

Zainab and I both love Testikebabı. The tomato flavor is so rich, and it is delicious dipped with bread. The beef is quite lean, so those who prefer a mix of fat and lean meat might find it a bit dry.















We had a very rich Turkish brunch at Xiting Xiuse, and Zainab ordered her favorite chickpea dip (Hummus).

There were four types of cheese: Greek feta sheep milk cheese, Turkish Tulum goat milk cheese, Turkish Eski kaşar sheep and goat milk blend, and southern Italian Mozzarella buffalo milk cheese.

In Turkish, Tulum refers to cheese aged inside a goat skin. The traditional method involves stuffing the cheese into a goat skin, tying it tightly with rope, and keeping it in a cellar or cave at 10-12 degrees for up to 6 months. Eski kaşar is a hard yellow cheese that can be stored for up to 3 years after air-drying.

Then there were 3 types of Turkish jam, 2 types of Turkish olives, sesame paste (Tahini), grape molasses (Pekmez), clotted cream (Kaymak), Turkish honey, Turkish fried spring rolls (Sigara Böreği), Turkish beef sausage with eggs (Sucuklu yumurta), bread, cucumbers, and other dishes.

Tahini comes from Levantine Arabic and originally meant to grind. As the Ottoman Empire expanded, this sesame paste spread to the eastern Mediterranean, southern Caucasus, and North Africa, becoming a common bread dip in Middle Eastern restaurants. In Turkey, sesame paste (Tahini) is usually served with grape molasses (Pekmez). Pekmez comes from a Turkic language and first appeared in the Compendium of the Turkic Dialects written by Mahmud al-Kashgari in the 1070s. Pekmez is a syrup made by boiling grapes with crushed carob seeds, sometimes with added pomegranate or mulberry.

The word Kaymak comes from a Turkic language and originally meant to melt, also appearing first in the Compendium of the Turkic Dialects. Kaymak is made by simmering milk for 2 hours, then letting it cool and ferment for several days, resulting in a milk fat content as high as 60%.

The sujuk in sujuklu yumurta first appeared in the Compendium of the Turkic Dialects. It is made by grinding beef, adding tail fat and other fats, stuffing it into casings, tying it with string, and then letting it ferment slowly.













February 25: Mother-in-law's huoldun.

On my mother-in-law's first day in Beijing, we ate huoldun soaked in naan, made with a front leg of lamb she carried all the way from Urumqi!







February 25: Mother-in-law's big plate chicken with belt noodles.

The second meal my mother-in-law made was big plate chicken with belt noodles (dapanji pidaimian). She brought the free-range chicken with her from Urumqi.







February 26: Mother-in-law's lamb hand-torn noodles.

The third meal my mother-in-law made was lamb hand-torn noodles (jiupianzi).







February 26: The Syrian restaurant One Thousand and One Nights in Sanlitun.

We ate the famous Syrian snack, Arais beef pies, at the Syrian restaurant One Thousand and One Nights in Sanlitun. Arais is known as a Syrian sandwich. It is made by stuffing pita bread with meat, brushing it with oil, and grilling it. The grilled pita bread is very crispy, and the meat filling is very tender. Arais comes in chicken, lamb, and beef versions, and sometimes cheese is added.

Arais is the plural form of the Arabic word for bride. People think this dish symbolizes a wedding between the white pita bread, like a wedding dress, and the meat filling, so brides in some places eat Arais at their weddings.





We had kofta meatball yogurt, eggplant puree kebab, chickpeas with tomatoes and vegetables, rice porridge soup, lentil soup, and vegetable soup. The owner served every dish politely.



















February 28: Iftar for the Night of Ascension.

For the Iftar on the Night of Ascension, my mother-in-law made meatball soup using meat ground fresh on Douban Hutong. The secret to fried meatballs is to pour hot oil into the meat mixture first!











Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Halal Food Guide: Beijing Ramadan Iftar — Middle Eastern and South Asian Restaurants is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The iftar buffets in Beijing during Ramadan each year are a real highlight. This year, several restaurants are offering Middle Eastern and South Asian iftar buffets, making it a good chance for a food tour. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Ramadan Dining, Muslim Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

The iftar buffets in Beijing during Ramadan each year are a real highlight. This year, four restaurants from Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, and Pakistan are offering iftar buffets, making it the perfect chance for a food tour of the Middle East and South Asia.

1. Turkey

The first stop is Dardanelles, a long-standing Ramadan iftar buffet spot on Ritan Upper Street. It is a Turkish restaurant run by Azerbaijanis, so they serve both Turkish and Azerbaijani flavors.

The best part is the unlimited grilled meat from their open-flame oven, including roast chicken, lamb chops, and kebab meat paste—you can eat your fill! They also have all kinds of flatbread (nang) and bread, plus Levantine appetizers and stews. They serve lentil soup made from three colors of lentils. For drinks, they have lemonade, salty yogurt drink (ayran), and Turkish black tea. For dessert, there is classic baklava and milk pudding, along with various fruits. Overall, their selection is really rich.









Freshly grilled in an open oven





Baklava is the most famous dessert of the Ottoman Empire, developed by the royal chefs at the Ottoman Topkapi Palace. Every year on the 15th day of Ramadan, the Ottoman Sultan would attend a ceremony called Baklava Alayı, where trays of baklava were distributed to the Janissaries.

Baklava is a flaky pastry made by layering very thin unleavened dough (filo), topped with crushed pistachios, crushed walnuts, syrup, or honey.





Traditional Levantine appetizers were brought to Turkey and Azerbaijan following the Ottoman Empire.





Adana kebab served with yogurt.



Azerbaijani pilaf (plov) and saffron rice served with various stews.



Beef stewed with apricots and lamb liver are my favorites; eating them feels like being back in the Old City of Baku.







Stuffed vegetable rolls (dolma) can be made with grape leaves or cabbage, and this dish is very popular in former Ottoman regions.





2. Tunisia

The second stop is La Medina, a Tunisian restaurant on Liangma River. First, follow the Sunnah by eating dates, then drink harissa soup. The first plate includes North African sausage (merguez), grilled meat (kebab), six types of Levantine and Maghreb appetizers (meze), fried chickpea balls (falafel), and fried meat balls (kibbeh). You can put the appetizers (meze) and fried chickpea balls (falafel) inside pita bread.













Harissa is known as the national condiment of Tunisia. It is a signature spicy sauce from the Maghreb region made with Maghreb-style Baklouti peppers mixed with caraway, coriander seeds, cumin, garlic, and other spices. The name Baklouti comes from the coastal Tunisian city of Bekalta.



North African sausage (merguez) is made with lamb and beef, mixed with fennel seeds, harissa, chili, and various other spices, and is usually grilled. Merguez sausage (merguez) first appeared in 12th-century Andalusia and later spread across North Africa. In Beijing, you can only find it at La Medina.



Falafel is common in restaurants across the former Ottoman regions, but Kibbeh is not found everywhere. Kibbeh originated in the Levant. It is made of cracked wheat wrapped around a filling of minced meat, chopped onions, and Middle Eastern spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.



The Tunisian appetizer Mechouia is only available at this restaurant in Beijing. Mechouia is made by roasting onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and garlic in an oven, then seasoning them with caraway, salt, and black pepper. After it is prepared, it is drizzled with olive oil and garnished with olives, tuna, and boiled eggs.



Classic chickpea dip (hummus) is available in almost every Middle Eastern restaurant.



Tabbouleh (tabbouleh) is made of chopped parsley, tomatoes, mint, onions, and bulgur (cracked dried wheat). It is seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.



Roasted eggplant dip (mutabbal) is served with olive oil and lemon juice.



North African eggs (shakshouka) is a traditional Maghreb dish. It is made by poaching eggs in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onions, and garlic, seasoned with cumin and chili. This dish appeared in the mid-16th century after tomatoes and peppers were introduced to North Africa from the Americas during the Ottoman period.



The second dish was the classic North African Berber meal of couscous (couscous) served with a clay pot stew (tajine). Couscous is a staple food for the Berber people. It is made by rolling semolina flour into millet-sized grains and then drying them. A tagine (tajigu) is a clay pot with a flat, round bottom and a cone-shaped or domed lid. This design lets steam condense and drip back to the bottom, and you can also add water through a hole in the lid.







For dessert, we had Basbousa, which comes from Egypt. They let you add your own crushed pistachios, so I scooped on a big spoonful. Basbousa is a semolina cake soaked in syrup. It is baked in a pan and then soaked in orange blossom water, rose water, or simple syrup.



3. Jordan

Our third stop was Al Safir, a Levantine restaurant at Sanyuanqiao. The owner is a Palestinian from Jordan.

The three Ramadan iftar buffets I have tried so far each have their own style. Dardanelles has the most variety, and their open-flame grilled meat is unlimited. La Medina is the only place in Beijing where you can find a Maghreb buffet, which makes it very unique. Al Safir has the best selection of Levantine appetizers known as meze, and their falafel and grilled chicken wraps are the tastiest.













For a traditional Arab iftar, you follow the Sunnah by eating dates first, then drinking soup, usually lentil or chicken soup. Then you pray Maghrib, and after that, you start the main meal. At Al Safir, you can eat the most classic lamb fried dumplings (sambousek) that Arabs enjoy during Ramadan. This snack started as the Iranian sanbosag and later spread to many places along with Persian culture. It entered the Arab diet after the 10th century, reached South Asia with the Delhi Sultanate after the 13th century, and later traveled to China, Indonesia, and Africa with Muslim merchants.





The classic Levantine way to eat it is to put falafel and various sauces inside pita bread, or just dip the pita bread directly into the sauce. Among the various appetizers (meze), my favorite is the red tomato stew (qalayet bandora), which is probably only available at Al Safir in Beijing. This dish is made with tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, and olive oil. It is said to have originated in the villages near the Dead Sea, where the hot climate of the Jordan Valley is perfect for growing tomatoes. They also serve a walnut, red bell pepper, pomegranate molasses, and breadcrumb dip (muhammara), which is said to have originated in Aleppo, Syria.







Every year during the Ramadan iftar buffet, Al Safir makes dishes that are not on the regular menu. This time, I tried two types of lamb stewed with cheese for the first time, and there was also very tender lamb with potatoes, both of which go perfectly with long-grain rice.













Finally, they serve everyone a semolina cake (basbousa) for dessert. La Medina's buffet also has this dessert, but Al Safir's is less sweet, which I think tastes better.



4. Pakistan

The fourth stop is the Pakistani restaurant Khan Baba in Sanlitun. Because there are very few people lately, the meal today felt more relaxed, though the portion sizes are not as large as they used to be. We started with dates and water. For the main course, Zaynab chose flatbread (naan), and I picked the classic biryani rice with masala chicken, chicken tikka, and grilled fish. We had rose syrup water to drink. For dessert, we had milk pudding (kheer). Their yogurt tasted very authentic and sour. A few dishes here are worth mentioning.









The first is pea and minced beef curry (matar qeema). This dish was brought to South Asia by the Mughal Empire. The word qeema comes from the Chagatai language and means minced meat. Chagatai is an extinct Turkic language. It was once popular across the territory of the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia. It served as a literary language in Central Asia until the early 20th century and is the direct ancestor of modern Uzbek. Pea and minced beef curry (keema matar) was very popular in the Mughal court. It was a must-have dish at weddings and various Eid feasts.



The second is vegetable fritters (pakora). Pakora comes from Sanskrit and means a small cooked piece. It is a classic South Asian street snack made by dipping vegetables in spiced batter and deep-frying them.



The third is tempered lentil curry (tarka dal). Tempered lentil curry (tarka dal) is a popular vegetarian curry in North India. In South Asia, dal can refer to various dried beans like pigeon peas, yellow peas, or lentils. Tarka is a vegetarian curry cooking method where garlic, onions, and chili are quickly fried together.



The fourth is milk pudding (kheer). This is an ancient Indian dish that was mentioned in ancient Indian texts over two thousand years ago. Kheer comes from the Sanskrit word for milk. It is made with milk, sugar, and rice, and topped with shredded coconut, saffron, pistachios, raisins, and almonds.



Collapse Read »