Reposted from the web

Summary: The early capital of the Crimean Khanate is covered through palace sites, mosques, old streets, and Crimean Tatar history. This account keeps the original historical context, place names, architectural details, food notes, and photographs.

The Crimean Peninsula is in the northern Black Sea. It was conquered by the Mongol army in 1238 and later ruled by the Golden Horde. In 1313, Khan Uzbeg officially made Islam the state religion and built mosques (masjid) on the Crimean Peninsula.

At first, the Golden Horde's capital in Crimea was the city of Old Crimea (Stary Krym) in the southeast of the peninsula. In 1441, Haji Giray, a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest son Jochi, minted coins with his own name at the Jewish Fortress (Chufut-Kale) on a cliff in the southwest of the peninsula, officially establishing the Crimean Khanate. The Jewish Fortress was first built by the Byzantines in the 5th to 6th centuries, and was later inhabited by Alans, Tatars, and Karaites. Today, the fortress still has city walls, gates, mosque ruins, and the tomb of a Golden Horde princess.

After Haji Giray died in 1466, his sixth son, Mengli Giray, eventually won the struggle for the throne. Around 1500, Mengli Giray built a new capital called Salachik. Salachik once had a complex of buildings including a palace, court, baths, and a mosque, but now only a madrasa and the tomb of the founding Crimean Khan, Haji Giray, remain.

Also, to the west of Bakhchysarai is Eski Yurt, a large trading town that was very prosperous during the Golden Horde period. It became a religious center for Crimea because of the gongbei of the religious elder Malik Ashtar. Today, it preserves several 14th to 16th-century tombs, including that of the Crimean Khan Mehmed II Giray.

Jewish Fortress (Chufut-Kale)

Between the 13th and 17th centuries, the Jewish Fortress was called Kyrk-Or, which means forty fortresses. After the mid-16th century, the Crimean Khan Sahib Giray (reigned 1532-1551) moved the capital to Bakhchysarai in the valley west of the Jewish Fortress, and the Tatars in the fortress gradually moved to Bakhchysarai. After the wells in the fortress dried up in the mid-17th century, all the Tatars left. Only the Karaite Jews continued to live there, and the fortress was gradually called the Jewish Fortress by the Crimean Tatars. After the 19th century, the Karaite Jews also left, and the fortress eventually became a ruin.

The walls of the Jewish Fortress were first built during the Byzantine period; some say they were built in the 5th to 6th centuries, while others say the 10th to 11th centuries. In 1299, General Nogai Khan of the Golden Horde led a Tatar army to attack the Crimean Peninsula. Byzantine soldiers used the strong walls of the Jewish fortress to hold off the Golden Horde's attack. The Tatar soldiers reportedly played harsh, loud music for three days and nights to disturb the Byzantine defenders inside the city. On the fourth day, the exhausted Byzantine defenders could no longer hold off a new round of attacks, and the Jewish fortress was captured by the Tatars of the Golden Horde.

Currently, the original walls consist of two sections, the south wall and the middle wall, along with two gates, the south gate and the middle gate. The south wall is built on the cliff in the southern part of the fortress, weaving between the rocks. The south gate is built in a pocket shape, allowing defenders to surround enemies from above if they break in. The middle wall runs across the space between the north and south cliffs of the fortress and is a typical example of Byzantine wall architecture.





There is no wall on the north cliff, but the steepness of the cliff itself is as effective as a wall. It was very windy when I visited, and I felt nervous just standing by the cliff edge.





The east wall was built between 1396 and 1433, and there is a lively bazaar outside the gate. Outside the east gate, there is still a preserved water collection area that merchants used to wash and water their livestock.







The Khan Jani Beg mosque is located on the west side of the Jewish fortress. It was first built in 1346 during the reign of Khan Jani Beg (reigned 1342-1357) of the Golden Horde. Khan Jani Beg was the son of Öz Beg Khan. During his father's reign, the Golden Horde fully converted to the faith, and Khan Jani Beg continued to develop the faith within the Khanate. The Khan Jani Beg mosque in the Jewish fortress stands as a witness to this.

In 1455, Haji Giray, the founding Khan of the Crimean Khanate, rebuilt the Khan Jani Beg mosque. An inscription about the reconstruction was once carved above the mosque door and was discovered during an archaeological excavation in 1928.

After the mid-17th century, the mosque was eventually abandoned as the Crimean Tatars moved from the Jewish fortress to Bakhchisaray. Today, only ruined walls, a mihrab niche, and some stone carvings remain at the mosque site. From these existing ruins, we can infer that it was a fairly typical traditional Crimean mosque building.





The tomb of Golden Horde Princess Dzhanike Khanym was built in 1437. It is the best-preserved Islamic building inside the Jewish fortress. The princess was the daughter of Tokhtamysh (reigned 1380-1397), the Great Khan of the Golden Horde. Tokhtamysh was the last Great Khan to unite the Golden Horde, but he was eventually defeated by Tamerlane the Great. After Tokhtamysh passed away, Dzhanike Khanym returned to her mother's homeland, Crimea.

The tomb is octagonal. The door is decorated with a classic Seljuk knot, a signature pattern from the Golden Horde period.







The roads inside the fortress vary in width, and you can see deep cart ruts on the main path.







The Tatar people gradually left the city after the water wells dried up in the 17th century.



The Gazi Mansur gongbei (shrine) and daotang (religious hall) are located in the valley on the west side of the Jewish fortress.

Legend says that Malik Ashter and Gazi Mansur, two of the first disciples of the Prophet Muhammad, came to the Crimean Peninsula in the 7th century to spread the faith and lived in a valley at the foot of the Jewish fortress. Not long after, Malik Ashter was killed by a giant, and Gazi Mansur died defending the Jewish fortress. They were both buried at the foot of the mountain. They remained unknown for a long time until, centuries later, a sheikh living in the ancient Central Asian city of Bukhara repeatedly dreamed of a narrow valley filled with shrubs. To understand his dream, the sheikh followed the guidance of an elder and began a pilgrimage to the Crimean Peninsula.

The sheikh arrived in Crimea in 1434. He recognized the valley from his dream at the foot of the Jewish cave and eventually discovered the tomb of Gazi Mansur. The sheikh then built a gongbei and a daotang at the site of the tomb. Because of this legendary karamat (miracle), pilgrims flocked to the site, and it even gained the favor of the Crimean Khan.

The Gazi Mansur gongbei and daotang stood until the 1930s, but were destroyed during the Soviet era. Today, only broken walls and a few surviving tombstones remain.











Salachik

The Salachik (Salaçıq) historical and archaeological complex was built between the late 15th and early 16th centuries and served as one of the capitals of the Crimean Khanate.

After Haji Giray died in 1466, his sixth son, Mengli I Giray, and his second son, Nur Devlet, fought repeatedly for the throne until Mengli I Giray finally won. Around 1500, Mengli I Giray built the new capital of Salachik in the valley west of the Jewish fortress.

In the 17th century, Salachik included a palace, a high court, baths, the Mengli Giray Mosque, and guard rooms. Genoese records mention that it also had a customs house, but most of these buildings were likely destroyed in an earthquake in 1698.

Today, only the Chain (Zıncırlı) madrasa, built in 1500, and the Haji Giray mausoleum, built in 1501, remain. The madrasa stayed open until the early 20th century. Archaeological excavations in 2008 uncovered the ruins of the baths and identified the general location of the Mengli Giray Mosque.

The Haji Giray mausoleum (Dürbe Hacı I Giray) is an octagonal building with a lead dome, built in 1501 by Mengli I Giray for his father, the founding Khan of Crimea, Haji Giray.

Archaeological digs between 2006 and 2007 examined 18 graves inside the mausoleum, including 13 adults and 5 children. They were wrapped in silk, and some rested on pillows stuffed with fabric scraps and fruit seeds. The mausoleum contains 8 stone sarcophagi covered in velvet, silk, and silver-threaded fabric. These likely include four Crimean Khans: Haji Giray himself, Mengli I Giray, Haji Giray's other son Nur Devlet—who fought Mengli I Giray for the throne for years before losing—and Sahib I Giray, the son of Mengli I Giray and the builder of Bakhchisaray.

These individuals were reburied after research was completed in 2009.







The Chain (Zıncırlı) madrasa was built in 1500 by order of the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray. The name of the madrasa comes from the Turkic word "zyngyr," which means chain. A chain hangs above the main gate of the madrasa, forcing everyone who enters to bow their head.

The madrasa is rectangular with a central courtyard, an entrance on one side, and 11 rooms on the other three sides. At the time, the madrasa taught Turkish and Arabic grammar, calligraphy, arithmetic, ethics, logic, proof, Islamic law (sharia), and the study of the Quran and Hadith, with the full course of study taking ten years.





In 1909, influenced by the Crimean Tatar enlightenment movement, Gaspirali built a two-story modern Islamic school (madrasa) next to the old one. The school closed in 1917 and became the Mengli Giray Research Institute. The institute was shut down in 1923, then it served as a teacher training college, a medical school, a sanatorium for German soldiers, and a post-war psychiatric clinic. Today, the site is managed by the Bakhchisaray Historical, Cultural and Archaeological Museum.



During excavations at the Salachik historical and archaeological complex in 2008, researchers found 15th-century urban ruins including a bathhouse, a well, and a courtyard.

The bathhouse is a typical Turkish bath (hamam) with separate sections for men and women, each containing five rooms and a heating system. The heating system used clay pipes in the walls and under the floors to circulate warm air, keeping the bath at a constant temperature year-round and saving firewood. Each section also included a steam room, a washing area, a toilet, a lounge, and a changing room.

Archaeologists found many ceramics from the 15th to 18th centuries, mostly architectural tiles and pipes, along with some kitchenware, Turkish pottery, Chinese porcelain, and silver coins from the Crimean Khanate.



Ismail Gaspirali (1851-1914), the founder of the Crimean Tatar enlightenment movement, is buried in the backyard of the Zincirli Madrasa.

Gaspirali was a Crimean Tatar intellectual, educator, and publisher. He was the first to realize that Turkic Muslim society needed education and cultural reform to modernize, so he created the new Jadid education system and became known as the founder of the Crimean Tatar enlightenment.

In 1883, Gaspirali received permission to publish Tercüman, the first Turkic-language newspaper in Russia. Tercüman ran for 35 years. For a long time, it was the only Turkic-language publication in Russia and one of the earliest religious newspapers, influencing the entire Turkic-speaking world.

In the newspaper, he advocated for modernization through education and designed a new teaching method called Jadid. He taught the Arabic alphabet using a new phonetic method, which cut the time it took for students to learn to read from three years down to just a few months.

In 1909, Gaspirali built a two-story modern school next to the Zincirli Madrasa, which operated until it closed in 1917.

After Gasprinsky died in his hometown in 1914, he was buried in the cemetery behind the "Zincirli" (Chain) Madrasa. The original tombstone was lost in the second half of the 20th century, and the current one was rebuilt in the late 1990s.



Eski Yurt Old City

Eski Yurt means "old city." During the Golden Horde era, it was a large trading town and a transportation hub connecting the east and west ends of the Crimean Peninsula. After the Crimean Khanate was established in 1441, Eski Yurt remained an economic center. It was not until 1532, when the Khanate built its new capital, Bakhchisaray, in the valley right next to Eski Yurt, that the status of Eski Yurt was replaced and it began to be called the "old city." Even so, because the city once housed a gongbei (shrine) for the sage Malik Ashtar, Eski Yurt remained a religious center for Crimean Tatars until the Soviet era.

According to legend, Malik Ashtar was a cousin of the noble Prophet and a loyal companion of Imam Ali. In Crimean Tatar legends, Malik Ashtar was a brave warrior and the first person to come to Crimea to spread the faith. He eventually died in battle while fighting a giant in Eski Yurt. Many years later, some Sufi practitioners miraculously discovered his grave in Eski Yurt and built a gongbei there. In reality, Malik Ashtar passed away in Egypt, and the gongbei in Eski Yurt is a place where his karamat (miraculous signs) were manifested. Crimean Tatars believe that if you are bitten by a snake, you can recover by making dua at the Malik Ashtar gongbei.

Due to the importance of the Malik Ashtar gongbei, a complex of hundreds of tombs formed around it. This includes the tombs of three Khans of the Crimean Khanate: Mehmed II Giray (reigned 1577–1584), Saadet II Giray (reigned 1584), and Mehmed III Giray (reigned 1623–1628).

From the era of the Crimean Khanate until the early 20th century, a dhikr ceremony was held every Thursday night at the Malik Ashtar gongbei. After all Crimean Tatars were forced into exile in Central Asia in 1948, the central square of the Malik Ashtar gongbei was turned into a market. After Crimean Tatars began returning in the late 1980s, many demanded that the market be removed from the holy site, and it was finally moved in 2006.

The existing structures in the Malik Ashtar gongbei tomb complex include the 14th-15th century Bey Yude Sultan tomb and Ahmed Bey tomb, the 16th-century Mehmed Bey tomb and the tomb of Khan Mehmed II Giray, as well as the minbar (pulpit) of the Malik Ashtar shrine mosque.



The tomb of Crimean Khan Mehmed II Giray is also known as the Great Octagonal Tomb. During his reign, Mehmed II Giray attacked the Persian Safavid dynasty three times under orders from the Ottoman Empire.

The tomb of Mehmed II Giray is the largest one still standing in Eski Yurt and clearly shows Ottoman influence. Some speculate it was built by a student of the master Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, but no records about the architect have been found.



The Malik Ashtar gongbei (a shrine for a Sufi saint) was built during the Crimean Khanate era with a minbar (pulpit) for sermons, but the mosque was destroyed in 1955. This place was once where Sufi practitioners performed dhikr (remembrance of Allah), and it served as a Sufi center on the Crimean Peninsula.



Ahmed Bey died in 1577, and his tombstone was found near the entrance of the tomb in 1924. Although Ahmed Bey died in the 16th century, the architectural style of the tomb itself does not match the Ottoman-influenced tombs of that time; instead, it follows the earlier Golden Horde tomb style. Other buildings similar to Ahmed Bey's tomb date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Therefore, it is more likely that this tomb was built during the Golden Horde era.



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Summary: Wangjiaying in Huai'an, Jiangsu, sits between the old Yellow River course and the Salt River and has long been an important Hui Muslim town. This account covers its mosque history, family stories, streets, food, and photographs as recorded in the source visit.

Wangjiaying in Huai'an, Jiangsu, sits between the old Yellow River course and the Salt River. During the Ming Dynasty, the government set up the Dahe Guard in Huai'an and built ten military camps along the Yellow River. Wangjiaying was one of them. Travel on the Yellow River section of the canal was slow and dangerous, often leading to broken ropes and sunken boats. Many merchants chose to leave their boats at Qingjiangpu, cross the Yellow River at Wangjiaying, and switch to horse-drawn carriages to head north. Together, Wangjiaying and Qingjiangpu grew into a busy town.

Wangjiaying survived many floods from the Yellow River and moved east three times to reach its current location. In 1831, the Viceroy of Liangjiang, Tao Peng, chose Wangjiaying as a new hub for Huai salt distribution. After that, eighteen salt warehouses and seventy-two salt offices opened in Wangjiaying. Salt boats traveled constantly along the three-hundred-mile waterway from the Huaibei salt fields to Wangjiaying.

The prosperity of Wangjiaying attracted Hui Muslims to settle there. The first Hui Muslims to arrive were the Ma and Sha families, who came from Lingwu County in Ningxia by way of Shandong and Zhenjiang. Later, families named Jin, Dai, Chang, Ge, Fan, Li, and Yang also settled here.

The Wangjiaying Mosque was first built during the Yongzheng era. It started as three thatched rooms next to the Lotus Pond (Hehuawang) in Wangjiapo. After Wangjiaying became a salt hub in the late Daoguang era, the mosque moved to the south bank of the Salt River. Two imams, Chang Tingzhang and Dai Mingxuan, led the religious affairs. Imam Chang Tingzhang was known as 'Third Master Chang.' He was from Jining, Shandong, and was born in 1785 in Taoyuan County, Huai'an Prefecture (now Siyang, Jiangsu). In his youth, he studied in Lingzhou (now Lingwu County, Ningxia). After finishing his studies, he traveled to Jining, Shandong, to continue learning. In 1810, the 26-year-old Imam Chang Tingzhang was invited to lead the Wangjiaying Mosque. Imam Chang Tingzhang had deep knowledge of Arabic classics, astronomy, and medicine. According to the 'Wangjiaying Records,' a man named Third Master Tao from Hangzhou died in Huai'an during the Daoguang era. Because it was the heat of summer, Imam Chang Tingzhang personally bought a boat and traveled south along the canal to take the body back to Hangzhou for the family.

In 1860, the Nian Army burned down the Wangjiaying Mosque. In 1867, Imam Dai Jingzhai, the son of Imam Dai Mingxuan, led the construction of a few thatched huts. Later, with donations from the community, they built a main hall with three thatched rooms.

Imam Chang Tingzhang passed away in 1870. Imam Dai Jingzhai took over, and in 1884, they replaced the thatched rooms with tiled ones. Because Imam Chang Tingzhang had studied at the Jahriyya Banqiao Daotang in Jinjipu, Ningxia, in his youth, the Wangjiaying Mosque later invited five successive imams from the Jahriyya order in Jinjipu to lead the mosque and teach. Future imams also went to Ningxia for advanced study, making the Wangjiaying Mosque one of the nine major branches of the Banqiao Daotang.

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

In 1958, the Wangjiaying Mosque moved to the east of West Horse Road in Wangying. In 1961, it moved to its current site because a bank needed the land for a building. During the destruction of the Four Olds, the main hall's plaques reading 'The Way Spreads to the Middle Land,' 'The Religion Follows the Western Regions,' and 'Striving for Perfection,' along with gold-lettered Arabic plaques and couplets, were all smashed and burned. The couplets read: 'See the invisible, hear the silent, rectify the intention and sincerity, become a saint or a sage, the original nature; The Way is established, movement brings harmony, reach others through oneself, benefit the world, all is complete.' Funeral tools were also destroyed, and the main hall was used as a warehouse by a shoe and hat factory.

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

Imam Ge Weili was born in 1924. He went to Ningxia to study in 1937. In 1945, after completing his religious training and receiving his robe, he became the imam of Wangjiaying Mosque. He took on the role of imam in 1966. Today, the religious affairs at Wangjiaying Mosque are led by Imam Fan Weiming, a student of Imam Ge Weili.

















The inscription from the Republic of China era reads as follows:



Wangying Mosque was founded during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty. By the end of the Daoguang reign, our community was at its peak. Our population grew, our businesses thrived, and we had elders like Chang and Dai Mingxuan leading our religious affairs. They taught many students, and this history is recorded in local chronicles for all to verify. In the tenth year of the Xianfeng reign, the Nian Rebellion broke out. The mosque was burned to the ground, our people fled or died, and our community dwindled.

In the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign, Dai Jingzhai, the son of Elder Dai Mingxuan, followed his father's teachings and took over the leadership. He first built a few thatched huts to hold prayers morning and evening. However, the space was too simple for proper worship. It was too small to hold gatherings. The imam was deeply worried. He raised funds from many sources and built a main hall with three rooms made of grass. Later, he consulted with Yang Xuting, Ma Yunfeng, and Guo Daosheng. With their help, they rebuilt the main tiled hall and lecture hall in the tenth year of the Guangxu reign, and things began to return to normal. As more of our people moved here, the original public cemetery became so full there was almost no space left. The imam was concerned that our community lacked its own burial ground, which made things very difficult during times of loss. He planned to buy land to solve this, and Mr. Ma Yunfeng agreed to help. Sadly, Mr. Ma passed away before the task was finished. Fortunately, Mr. Ma's brother, Runzhi, carried on his brother's wishes. With the strong support of local elder Li Yunpo, they set aside differences and raised enough money to buy two new cemetery plots. The imam's kindness to our community was thorough. This was due to the support of many public-spirited people, but it was also the result of the imam's decades of hard work and sincere devotion.

In the first year of the Republic of China, we worked to continue the efforts of our predecessors by adding a main gate, a south lecture hall, and a kitchen. Mr. Ge Ziming built a washroom (shuifang) and donated hundreds of thousands in currency. We also invited Imam Wang Pinqing from Gansu Province to teach the scriptures. Visitors from all over praised the work. In recent years, wind and rain damage made the halls look like they might collapse. We met and decided to sell dozens of willow trees around the cemetery, raising over two hundred thousand. The Jinshan Hall in Gansu also kindly donated many wooden beams and tiles. We then built a three-room tiled hall with curved eaves in front of the main hall, and repaired the surrounding walls, the three-room east lecture hall, and the courtyard gates. This was a massive project funded by public property and donations. We are humble about our own contributions, but we record these details because, despite two hundred years of change, our mosque still stands. This is largely due to the efforts of our ancestors and elders. We hope future generations will remember how hard it was to build this place and will protect it forever so it never falls into ruin. This is our deepest wish. We record this history here.

July, the ninth year of the Republic of China.

Jin Jiasheng, Jin Jialin, Guo Chunlin, Yang Fangtian

Chang Bingkui, Li Shunjie, Chang Guanying, Mu Hongbin

Jin Jiayuan, Ma Jianong, Fan Zhaofeng, Yang Guiyuan

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

Ma Jialin, Ge Zhenqing, He Wenquan, Zhou Fengling

Sha Faxiang, Liu Lianyuan, Zhou Riyang, Mu Hongye

The most famous Hui Muslim food in Wangjiaying is the fried dough snack (youtoutou) from the Hui Muslim Restaurant, made by Old Li Ku. Their version was added to the Huaiyin District intangible cultural heritage list in 2016. In 1942, Li Dongtian from Shandong brought his family to Wangjiaying to make a living. He and his son, Li Haiquan, sold their homemade fried dough snacks (youtoutou) near the Yanhe Bridge in Huaiyin while carrying trays. That is how the Huaiyin fried dough snack (youtoutou) became popular.

The fried dough snack (youtoutou) is three inches long. It turns golden yellow when fried. It is delicious when wrapped in an egg and served with wheat porridge. Wheat porridge is rare in other places. It has a unique taste and includes peanuts. In Huai'an, breakfast is usually served with several types of pickles, such as pickled mustard greens (datoucai), cold tossed eggplant, tossed snow cabbage (xuelihong), and tossed green peppers. They all go well with porridge.

The history of the Wangjiaying Hui Muslim Restaurant dates back to the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. After the salt administration expanded at the West Dam in Wangjiaying in 1831 (the 11th year of Daoguang), Imam Dai Mingxuan of the Wangjiaying Mosque opened a halal restaurant at the north end of Yushan Street. He hired the best chefs in Wangjiaying, making it a high-end establishment where many Huai'an officials and dignitaries held banquets.

In 1860 (the 10th year of Xianfeng), after the Nian Army broke through Wangjiaying, the halal restaurant and the Wangjiaying Mosque were both destroyed in the war. In 1886 (the 12th year of Guangxu), with everyone's help, Imam Dai Jingzhai, the son of Imam Dai Mingxuan, reopened the restaurant at the North Weimen Gate of Wangjiaying. It was forced to close after 1937 due to the Japanese invasion of China, but it reopened after 1945. After the public-private partnership in 1958, the halal restaurant was 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. It had 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 Muslim Restaurant. After the 1980s, Ma Hengbao led the construction of a new two-story building, and Dai Peng took over as manager. In 2003, the Hui Muslim Restaurant was restructured into a private enterprise and has continued to operate to this day.



















Besides the fried dough snack (youtoutou), you should also try Huai'an spicy soup (latang) when visiting Wangjiaying. Many restaurants here serve it. Compared to Henan spicy soup (hulatang), the Huai'an spicy soup (latang) has a milder taste. It uses less ginger and pepper. It contains shredded kelp, gluten, dried tofu strips (gansi), and glass noodles (fensi). Those who prefer a light flavor can drink it as is, while those who like it stronger can add chili sauce.

We drank the spicy soup (latang) at the Dachong Small Restaurant in front of the Wangjiaying Mosque and also ate beef potstickers (guotie), beef soup, and beef noodles. The potstickers (guotie) here are quite small. One serving has five, so you can order two servings. They are all pan-fried to order.













The Hui Muslim shops near Wangjiaying are likely the most concentrated in all of Jiangsu Province, which shows the strength of the local faith.















Shops opened by Hui Muslims from Matou Town near Wangjiaying. Matou Town was once the meeting point of the Middle Grand Canal and the Li Canal. Many Hui Muslims have lived there since the Qing Dynasty. They built three mosques over time at Xiyuba Village, the mouth of the Li Canal, and the old long street at the south end of town. The current Matou Mosque was moved and rebuilt in 2008, but I did not have time to visit it on this trip.



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Summary: Changying Hui Township in Beijing has a lively weekend market with halal food, local snacks, and vendors from the Hui Muslim community. This account keeps the market route, dishes, prices where given, and photographs in the original order.

I went to the big market in Changying on Sunday morning. I worked near Changying for nine years and only changed jobs last year, and then the big market opened there. The market is open every day until noon, and it is busiest on weekends.

In the morning, I first had breakfast at Qingyanfang on Changying Middle Road, where I ordered steamed buns (xiaolongbao), lucky bags (fudai), pumpkin porridge, and purple rice porridge. Lucky bags are similar to egg fritters (jidan guozi), but they are rarely seen in Beijing. There were no halal steamed buns before, but some shops have started making them in recent years.







After breakfast, I walked north along the Changying intersection to reach the big market at the southeast corner of Changying Sports Park. There are many halal shops at the market.

We first bought beef head meat at Chen's to take home for a stir-fry. Their shop's water kettle sign (tangping pai) was made by my friend Dong Yidong, and this traditional style of sign is very rare now.











The market also has crispy fried dough snacks (gezhihe) from Hui Muslims in Tongzhou, and they also sell fermented mung bean milk (douzhier) from Baoji; many people buy it, but it was sold out when we got there.



There is a Huadu chicken stall at the market, and we bought a free-range chicken to take home for a big plate chicken (dapanji) dish. Huadu has a halal chicken slaughter and processing plant in Luanping, Hebei, which supplies the Beijing market and also exports to Japan. They have opened online shops in recent years, and much of the halal chicken you can buy online now comes from them.





The market also has all kinds of beef, mutton, fruits, and vegetables, especially free samples; we tried muskmelon, nectarines, apples, and watermelon, which made my son very happy.















The northernmost row of the market is the snack area, where a noodle shop sells cold noodles, which are perfect for summer.



The two most popular snacks at the market are crispy fried cakes (cuipi zhagao) and freshly baked naan bread (kaonang), both of which have long lines. The naan shop uses a bamboo charcoal oven, and the naan they make is especially fragrant with a texture different from electric-baked ones. We arrived a bit late and missed the freshly baked meat pies (kaobaozi), but if you go earlier, they are surely very fragrant when they come out of the oven.













After visiting the Changying market, we took the bus for three stops to Guanzhuang Road to eat at Bu Hui Qiqihar Barbecue. I haven't been here for several years, and it is very popular on weekend afternoons now; we waited for half an hour to get a table. They now offer a nine-grid set meal with meat and shrimp, which is quite rich, and the set also includes almond tofu, sliced frozen pears, and small sticky bean buns (niandoubao). It was my first time eating Northeast-style sticky bean buns, which are made of yellow rice flour wrapped around a kidney bean filling; they aren't sweet, with a light flavor of yellow rice and kidney beans that everyone liked. For our main course, we ordered stone pot bibimbap, basin bibimbap, and cold noodles. My mother-in-law tried stone pot rice (bibimbap) for the first time and really liked the taste. The side dishes inside were also very nutritious. Cold noodles (lengmian) are the main reason I come to this restaurant. The weather is getting hotter now, and a bowl of these sweet and sour noodles is especially refreshing.





















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Summary: Hexia Ancient Town in Huai'an, Jiangsu, connects mosque history, local fried tea snacks (sanzi), and the tomb of Zuo Baogui. This account keeps the town, food, cemetery, and mosque details together as one walking travel note.

Hexia Ancient Town in Huai'an, Jiangsu, is the largest town on the outskirts of Huai'an Prefecture. Because the salt fields along the coast of Huaibei produced high-quality salt, many salt merchants from the northwest and Anhui came to Huaibei in the late Ming Dynasty to work in the salt trade. The Huaibei Salt Transport Office was located in Hexia Town. Salt from the fields had to be shipped to Hexia for inspection before merchants could sell it elsewhere. Hexia Town then entered its most prosperous period. Salt merchants built gardens and courtyards there. The Qing Dynasty record 'Huai'an Hexia Annals' states: 'Wealthy salt merchants brought their fortunes and made their homes in Hexia, and Hexia became extremely prosperous.' The wealth brought by these merchants made the town's commerce thrive, and many Hui Muslims also came to settle in Hexia.

Hexia Mosque (Hexia Si) is located south of Luojia Bridge in Hexia Town. It was first built during the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. In 1860, during the tenth year of the Xianfeng reign, the Nian Rebellion captured Huai'an and burned down ten rooms of the mosque, which were later rebuilt. The main hall of the mosque is a Qing Dynasty structure with blue bricks, dark tiles, and upturned eaves. It is a typical Jianghuai architectural style and was listed as a Huai'an cultural heritage site in 2006.

Above the main hall door hangs a chestnut wood plaque inscribed with 'Si Wu Xie' (Think No Evil) by Tian Rui, the prefect of Huai'an in the tenth year of the Daoguang reign. The sides originally held plaques from anti-Japanese hero Zuo Baogui and Yunnan commander Ma Chang'an, but these were destroyed after the 1960s.

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

















An ancient well dug in the early Qing Dynasty.































When I visited Huai'an in 2017, there was still a large Hui Muslim restaurant in Hexia, but it has since closed. Only Chen's Halal Sesame Oil Fried Dough Twists (Chenji Qingzhen Mayou Chagou) remain on the old street. Huai'an fried dough twists (chagou) are very thin, light yellow, crispy, and delicious. Children especially love them.











In the early years of the Republic of China, a Hui Muslim named Zhang Bugao opened the Kaifuxingzhai Halal Restaurant in Hexia, which was a famous Hui Muslim eatery at the time. The restaurant had 11 rooms, with two facing the street as the storefront. The building still stands today. It was listed as a Huai'an cultural heritage site in 2009 and now serves as a Hanfu clothing shop and a private residence.









There is a tomb of Zuo Baogui in the Xiaohu Renjia residential area of Hexia Town.

Zuo Baogui was born in 1837 in the Yimeng Mountains of Linyi, Shandong. In 1856, due to severe local disasters, his parents passed away one after another. Zuo Baogui took his two younger brothers and left home. They spent several months traveling to Hexia Town in Huai'an, Jiangsu, by repairing shoes along the way. In Hexia, Zuo Baogui married a local Hui Muslim woman named Tao Erjie. Shortly after, he joined the army, commanded troops in Fengtian for 20 years, and eventually died heroically while fighting the Japanese invaders in Pyongyang.

After Zuo Baogui died, his body could not be recovered. His soldiers brought his blood-stained clothes and one of his boots back to Huai'an. His wife, Madam Tao, and his three sons buried them in their own field by the river near Luojia Bridge in Hexia. Madam Tao and one of their sons were also buried next to the tomb after they passed away (gui zhen). In 1895, the twenty-first year of the Guangxu reign, his descendants built the 'Zuo Zhongzhuang Gong Shrine' on the south side of the tomb, which was later demolished by Japanese and puppet forces during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Additionally, the main hall of the Hexia Mosque once featured a gold-inlaid couplet written by the Guangxu Emperor as a memorial for Zuo Baogui, but it was destroyed in the 1960s.













Luojia Bridge in Hexia Ancient Town is a gathering place for local Hui Muslims. The old houses are still there, but it is now difficult to see the Hui Muslim character in the decorations.





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Reposted from the web

Summary: This is the first part of a walk through the Medina of Tunis, with attention to historic guesthouses, food, markets, and daily street scenes. It keeps the original place names, cultural notes, and photographs in source order.

The Medina of Tunis was founded in 698. It grew to its current size after becoming the capital of the Hafsid dynasty in 1228. At that time, the Medina of Tunis was one of the grandest cities in Africa, with a population of 100,000, including many Andalusians who fled Spain. During the rule of the Muradids in 1613, the city of Tunis underwent large-scale construction, and many of those buildings still stand today. In 1979, the Medina of Tunis was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The main gate of the Medina of Tunis is Bab al-Bhar on the east side. Tourists visiting the old city usually take a taxi to this spot. There are stalls selling cactus fruit at the gate. It was my first time trying it; they cut it up and sell it by the piece for a cheap price.

Inside the east gate is the main market of the old city. The items sold here are geared toward tourists, and it is the only place in the old city where you will see Chinese tourists.



















Accommodation

Just inside the east gate of the old city is the Hotel Royal Victoria, built in 1914. This was the site of the British Consulate in Tunis, founded in 1662. It was rebuilt in the Moorish Revival style in 1914. After Tunisia gained independence in 1956, it became an embassy. It opened as the Hotel Royal Victoria after the embassy moved in 2004. Many guesthouses in the Medina of Tunis do not allow check-ins in the middle of the night. If you arrive in Tunis on a late-night flight, I recommend this hotel, as it is also very easy to reach.

The hotel decor is very retro. Once you step inside, it feels like you have traveled back a hundred years. A plaque on the hotel's outer wall mentions the Treaty of Peace and Commerce between Great Britain and Tunis signed in 1662. In the late 17th century, Tunisia was a regency of the Ottoman Empire. At that time, Tunisia was nominally loyal to the Ottoman Sultan and provided military support, but it actually held the initiative in foreign trade and diplomacy, and it practiced state-sanctioned piracy. In 1662, Britain and Tunisia signed a treaty. Britain would redeem all slaves at the price they were first sold for in the market. At the same time, British ships would not be attacked, British merchants could practice their religion freely and be free from persecution, and all trade would be subject to fixed taxes. From then on, British merchants began to build trade networks in Tunisia. Imported British cloth began to be sold in Tunisian markets, and the British also ate grain products produced in Tunisia.



















The hallways, elevators, and ceilings of the Hotel Royal Victoria are decorated with traditional patterns and are very ornate.



















The traditional houses inside the old city are definitely worth staying in. There are several traditional houses in the old city where you can stay, but most are private guesthouses. Only a very small number are run by formal hotels, and the prices are very high. The environment of these guesthouses is certainly not as good as high-end hotels, but you can experience the real living environment of the Medina, so it is worth staying for a night.

We stayed at Dar Zyne this time. It is less than a 10-minute walk from the east gate of the old city along the bazaar. The interior decoration is very traditional, just like the old city scenery you would imagine. The room size listed on the booking website is fake; the rooms are actually quite small. Eating breakfast leisurely in the courtyard in the morning feels very worth it.



















Inside and outside Dar Zyne, you meet history.



















Food

There is a famous Tunisian restaurant called Bab Tounès in a small alley just inside the east gate of the old city, but it does not have the trendy vibe you see back home, and there are not many customers at night. They do not accept credit cards, so remember to bring cash.

They follow the typical Tunisian way of ordering: after you choose your main course, they automatically bring out appetizers and baguette bread. The appetizers are the common Tunisian green pepper salad (Mechouia) and Tunisian salad. Tunisian salad is made of diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions mixed with olive oil, topped with boiled eggs and tuna. Mechouia salad contains green peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and other ingredients; Tunisians love it, and it is rich in vitamins and very healthy.









The snack Brik pastry is a North African Berber dish. The filling usually contains eggs, tuna, harissa chili paste (Harissa), and parsley, then it is wrapped in a crispy dough called Malsouka or Warka and deep-fried.







The main course is lamb couscous (Couscous). Couscous is a staple food for the Berber people, made by rubbing semolina into millet-sized grains and then drying them.



The Tunisian specialty dessert Assidat Zgougou is something every family makes during the Prophet's Birthday, then shares with relatives and neighbors.

Assidat Zgougou is made from Mediterranean pine nut powder, flour, milk, and sugar. The dark layer at the bottom is made by grinding Mediterranean pine nuts and cooking them with wheat flour. The top layer is a milk pudding made from milk, starch, sugar, eggs, and orange blossom essence, topped with crushed nuts.



Near our homestay, there is a Tunisian family restaurant called Dar Essafa located in an old house. A grandmother is the owner and chef, and a young Black man is the waiter who speaks English. The shop also has an English menu and follows the same classic set meal style, where you can choose couscous or spaghetti. We had the couscous, served with Tunisian salad, tuna Brik pastry, and baguette, followed by tea and Makroudh cookies, which felt like a real home-cooked Tunisian meal. Makroudh is a classic dessert for breaking the fast in the North African Maghreb region. The outside is made of semolina, and the inside is filled with date paste and dried fruits, then baked and soaked in syrup.



















Except for the first day when I had breakfast in the homestay courtyard, I chose restaurants in the Medina old city for breakfast for the following days. This Cafe Restaurant M'rabet is located just west of the Great Mosque of Kairouan (Zaytuna Mosque). The environment inside is excellent, and it is very popular with locals and tourists; if it were back home, it would definitely be a trendy spot for photos.

The ancient building where M'rabet is located was founded in the early 17th century by Ali Thabet, who was a close advisor to Youssef Dey, the ruler of the Ottoman dynasty in Tunisia. This place was a long-time meeting spot for the Ottoman Janissaries and features unique stone pillars and stone benches. The breakfast at the shop is very hearty, with many options ranging from small to large portions. We actually chose the large single-person meal, which includes coffee, fruit, juice, egg pancakes, sausages, various cheeses, and various breads; it is a true example of a healthy Mediterranean diet.





















El Ali Restaurant & Cafe in the old town is also inside an old building, but the rooftop terrace is very bright and perfect for a relaxing brunch. We ordered the single-person breakfast set, which comes with various cheeses, bread, fried eggs, a large sausage and cheese wrap, lemonade, and coffee; it was just the right amount for two people.



















Essaraya Restaurant is likely the most ornately decorated restaurant in the old town, styled entirely after the 18th and 19th-century Husainid dynasty, with very old-school waiters and live oud music performances. The entrance is inside the old town market and is very easy to miss; we happened to run into a waiter guiding people at the door when we arrived. I also recommend coming during the day, as they turn on purple mood lighting in the hall at night, which does not look good in photos.



















At Essaraya Restaurant, we ordered a Tunisian-style tomato fish stew called Kabkabou, seasoned with onions, black olives, tomatoes, harissa, saffron, and capers. Capers are native to the Mediterranean coast, and the unique aroma in smoked salmon comes from capers. We also ordered an appetizer platter, which is quite worth it; it includes a little bit of everything so you can try them all at once.



















When wandering around the old town, you must have a cup of mint tea on the street. El Qobba, located inside the West Gate, has a great atmosphere with very traditional interior decor and wonderful outdoor views. Ordering a cup of mint tea to chat and enjoy the scenery is very pleasant.



















Tunisian chapati flatbread on the streets of the old town. Tunisian chapati flatbread has the same name as Indian chapati bread but is very different. Tunisian chapati flatbread is filled with eggs, minced tuna, and harissa; the ones in the north are round, while the Chapati Mahdia in the eastern coastal regions are semi-circular.















Desserts and lemonade in the market; eat while you walk to experience the charm of the old town.







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Reposted from the web

Summary: This article looks back at Ramadan 2025 at Balizhuang Mosque in Beijing. It keeps the original community scenes, iftar details, prayers, people, and photographs in a clean English layout.

This is my third Ramadan at the Balizhuang mosque in Beijing. The atmosphere at the mosque is great and the food is delicious, so it feels worth it even when I have to squeeze onto the subway during the evening rush hour on workdays.



This year, the mosque put the post-prayer recitations for Taraweeh on a large whiteboard, which helps everyone recite together more smoothly. The benefit of praying Taraweeh at the mosque is that you follow the imam and do not make mistakes, whereas I sometimes lose focus when praying alone. Another benefit is the strong sense of community when we break our fast together, and it is very powerful when we all recite the post-prayer words together.























First, let me share the snacks and fruits for breaking the fast. You can eat various traditional Beijing snacks carefully made by the elders here, such as steamed rice cakes (aiwowo), candied yam rolls (tangjuanguo), glutinous rice rolls with bean flour (lvdagun), fried sweet potato (zha baishu), ginger juice fried dough crisps (jiangzhi paicha), salt and pepper fried dough crisps (jiaoyan paicha), lotus root with glutinous rice (nuomi ou), sticky rice cake (niangao), yellow rice cake (huangmi gao), jujube corn buns (zao wotou), pea flour cake (wandouhuang), and sugar ear pastries (tang erduo).











































The dinner after the sunset prayer (maghrib) is also wonderful, featuring rice with stir-fried dishes, noodles with gravy (dalu mian), steamed buns (baozi), and fish head with flatbread (yutou paobing), which rotate daily.

Side dishes for the rice include fried meat (songrou), braised chicken legs (huangmen jitu), minced meat with green beans, braised eggplant, and braised meatballs. For soups and porridge, there is winter melon meatball soup, tofu puff soup, and mung bean porridge. Of course, fermented bean drink (douzhi) with fermented bean curd (ma doufu) is also a major Beijing specialty!









































Once a week, we have noodles with gravy (dalu mian) and noodles with eggplant (qieding mian). The vegetable toppings include blanched cabbage, celery, cowpeas, bean sprouts, soybeans, cucumber, and garlic sprouts. The gravy is not too salty, which is perfect for breaking the fast.



















The steamed buns (baozi) served once a week come in beef and green onion, beef and cabbage, and beef and fennel fillings. My favorite is the beef and fennel filling. Many shops now only sell fennel and egg steamed buns, so it is not easy to find beef and fennel ones.















Fish head with flatbread (yutou paobing) is also a Beijing specialty. The flatbreads (laobing) are made by the elders themselves and are very dense; they are delicious when dipped in the fish head broth.









After eating the fish head with flatbread, the leftover flatbread can be made into stir-fried flatbread (chaobing), which is also a favorite for Beijingers.



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Reposted from the web

Summary: This article shares 106 different visual styles for writing the Tasmiya, the phrase used by Muslims before beginning an act in the name of Allah. The English version preserves the source order, labels, and images while keeping the text simple and direct.

Happy Eid al-Fitr. I am sharing 106 styles of the Basmala that I have photographed before.

Jiangsu

Plaque at Jingjue Mosque in Nanjing



Plaque at Shanxiang Mosque in Zhenjiang



Brick carving at Shanxiang Mosque in Zhenjiang



Stele head at Gurun Mosque in Zhenjiang (formerly located at Siyaowo outside the South Gate of Zhenjiang)



Henan

Brick carving at the women's school of Dongda Mosque in Kaifeng



Plaque at Dongda Mosque in Kaifeng



Plaque at Beida Mosque in Zhengzhou, Henan



Niche (yaowo) at Beida Mosque in Zhengzhou, Henan



Plaque at Xiguan Mosque in Bo'ai, Henan



Wood carving at Xiguan Mosque in Bo'ai, Henan



Niche (yaowo) at Beida Mosque in Qinyang, Henan



Stele head at Beida Mosque in Qinyang, Henan



Plaque at Erxianmiao Mosque in Bo'ai, Henan



Niche (yaowo) at Erxianmiao Mosque in Bo'ai, Henan



Wood carving at the West Mosque in Daxinzhuang, Bo'ai, Henan



Niche (yaowo) at Dongda Mosque in Daxinzhuang, Bo'ai, Henan



Shandong

Brick carving at Dangdong Mosque in Jinan, Shandong



Minbar wood carving at Dangdong Mosque in Jinan, Shandong



Niche (yaowo) at the West Mosque in Liaocheng, Shandong



Calligraphy at the East Mosque in Linqing, Shandong.



Wood carvings at the North Mosque in Linqing, Shandong.



Brick carvings at the North Mosque in Linqing, Shandong.



Stele head at the South Great Mosque in Jinan, Shandong.



Stele head at the South Great Mosque in Jinan, Shandong.







Calligraphy at the South Great Mosque in Jinan, Shandong.



Brick carvings at the Taicheng Mosque in Tai'an, Shandong.



Kiln pit (yaowo) at the Taicheng Mosque in Tai'an, Shandong.



Beijing.

Plaque at the Niujie Mosque in Beijing.



Glazed tiles (liuli) at the Niujie Mosque in Beijing.



Plaque at the Dongsi Mosque in Beijing.



Plaque at the Shahe Mosque in Beijing.



Plaque at the Xiguanshi Mosque in Beijing.



Plaque at the Dewai Fayuan Mosque in Beijing.



Plaque at the Funei Zhengyuan Mosque in Beijing.



Plaque at the Xihui Mosque in Beijing.



Tianjin.

Plaque at the Yangcun North Great Mosque in Wuqing, Tianjin.



Plaque at the East Great Mosque in Tianjin.



Plaque at the North Mosque (Beidasi) in Tianmu, Tianjin



Hebei.

Plaque at the Zhuozhou Mosque in Hebei.



Plaque at the Zhuozhou Mosque in Hebei.



Sichuan

Plaque at the mosque in Langzhong, Sichuan



Stele head at the Shanghe Street Mosque in Guangyuan, Sichuan



Stele head at the Shanghe Street Mosque in Guangyuan, Sichuan



Kiln site at the Ma Family Mosque in Yankou, Wusheng, Sichuan



Kiln site at the West Mosque in Xichang, Sichuan



Shaanxi

Plaque at the Shuhe Mosque in Shaanxi



Stele head at the Shuhe Mosque in Shaanxi



Stele head at the Shuhe Mosque in Shaanxi



Calligraphy at the ancient mosque in Ankang, Shaanxi



Stele head at the ancient mosque in Ankang, Shaanxi



Stele head at the ancient mosque in Ankang, Shaanxi



Stele head at the ancient mosque in Ankang, Shaanxi



Stele head at the North Mosque in Ankang, Shaanxi



Calligraphy plaque by Imam Ma Qianyi at the Great Mosque on Huajue Lane in Xi'an, Shaanxi



Kiln site at the Nancheng Mosque in Xi'an, Shaanxi



Stele head at the Xiaopiyuan Mosque in Xi'an



Plaque at the Great Mosque on Huajue Lane in Xi'an



Liaoning

Plaque at the mosque in Lingyuan, Liaoning



Stele head at the ancient mosque in Kaiyuan, Liaoning



Plaque at the mosque in Beizhen, Jinzhou, Liaoning



Plaque at the mosque in Dalian, Liaoning



Calligraphy at Fengcheng Mosque in Dandong, Liaoning



Kiln niche (yaowo) at Xinmin Mosque in Shenyang, Liaoning



Plaque at Xinmin Mosque in Shenyang, Liaoning



Jilin

Plaque at Changtong Road Mosque in Changchun, Jilin



Heilongjiang

Brick carving at Bukui Mosque in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang





Restaurant entrance in Harbin, Heilongjiang



Plaque at Acheng Mosque in Harbin, Heilongjiang



Macau

Wood carving at the mosque in Macau



Guangdong

Stele head at the Ancient Tomb of the Worthies in Guangzhou



Stele head at the Ancient Tomb of the Worthies in Guangzhou



Stele head at the Ancient Tomb of the Worthies in Guangzhou



Plaque at Haopan Mosque in Guangzhou



Stone pillar at Chengxi Mosque in Zhaoqing, Guangdong



Kiln niche (yaowo) at Chengdong Mosque in Zhaoqing, Guangdong



Yunnan

Kiln niche (yaowo) at Shang Mosque in Yangbi, Dali, Yunnan



Calligraphy in the main hall of the Ma Ruqi courtyard in Donglianhua Village, Weishan, Dali, Yunnan



Kiln niche (yaowo) at Donglianhua Mosque in Weishan, Dali, Yunnan



Kiln niche (yaowo) at Fengyi Mosque in Dali, Yunnan



Kiln niche (yaowo) at Binchuan Mosque in Dali, Yunnan



Inner Mongolia

Stele head at the North Mosque (Beidasi) in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia



Singapore

Calligraphy by Chen Jinhui in the collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore



Zhejiang

Mosque kiln niche (yaowo) in Lishui, Zhejiang





Fujian

Main gate of the Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou



Stone carvings at the Ding Family Ancestral Hall in Chendai, Quanzhou



Wood carving of an auspicious bird from the Ding family of Chendai, held at the Quanzhou Maritime Museum



Tombstone of the 'Master Huang and the Hundred Clans' from Quanzhou, held at the Fujian Museum; the person buried died in 1315



Song and Yuan dynasty tomb roof stone at the Lingshan Holy Tomb in Quanzhou



Song and Yuan dynasty tombstone in the collection of the Quanzhou Maritime Museum



Song and Yuan dynasty tombstone in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum for Shams al-Din ibn Nur al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Shahristani, who died in 1325 and came from Shahristan, Iran



Song and Yuan dynasty tombstone in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum for Fatima bint Naina, who died in 1306



Song and Yuan dynasty tombstone in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum for Mansur ibn Haji Qasim Jajermi, who died in 1277 and came from Jajarm in the North Khorasan province of Iran



Song and Yuan dynasty tombstone in the collection of the Quanzhou Maritime Museum



Song and Yuan dynasty tomb roof stone in the collection of the Quanzhou Maritime Museum





Quanzhou Song and Yuan dynasty tombstone in the collection of the Xiamen University Anthropology Museum



Quanzhou Song and Yuan dynasty tomb roof stone in the collection of the Xiamen University Anthropology Museum



Gansu

Mosque kiln niche (yaowo) in Qinan, Gansu



Xinjiang

Wood carvings on the door panels of the Shaanxi Grand Mosque in Urumqi



Thailand

Yao Wo at the Jingzhen Mosque in Chiang Mai, Thailand



Wanyang Restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand

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Reposted from the web

Summary: This 2017 mosque-visit record follows 27 historic mosques and Muslim heritage sites across different places. The English version keeps the original route, mosque names, photos, and local details while making the long record easier to read.

In 2017, I continued visiting Hui Muslim communities along the Grand Canal and started visiting those along the Yangtze River. That year, I traveled to Cangzhou in Hebei, Linqing, Liaocheng, Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang in Jiangsu, and Jiaxing and Hangzhou in Zhejiang along the Grand Canal. Along the Yangtze, I visited Shanghai, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Wuhu, Hexian, and Anqing in Anhui, Jiujiang in Jiangxi, and Wuhan and Jingzhou in Hubei. I recorded the scenes of these Hui Muslim communities and visited some of their ancient mosques and historical sites. Some of these communities, like those in Wuhan and Jingzhou, have since been demolished, making these records a piece of history. In the summer, I also went to Dali to visit some ancient mosques in Weishan and Eryuan. I actually visited many ancient mosques in 2017, but some were revisited later and included in previous articles, so they were not counted here. This article includes 27 of them.

January: 3 mosques in Jiangsu.

Yangzhou Puhading Tomb Mosque: Puhading is said to be a 16th-generation descendant of the Prophet. He came to Yangzhou during the Southern Song dynasty (1265-1274) and passed away in 1275 during the Yuan dynasty. He was buried on a high ridge east of the Dongguan River in the new city, a place later called Huihui Tang (commonly known as Baba Yao). The main prayer hall of the mosque is next to the gate of the Puhading tomb complex. Stone carvings inside the gate record that in 1845, people of various surnames donated funds to build a stone embankment and renovate the hall.



Zhenjiang Xinhe Street Mosque: Built in 1930, it was originally a private residence purchased with donations from Hui Muslims in both Shanghai and Zhenjiang. It is a traditional Jiangnan-style house with three courtyards and two side wings. In 1926, Fa Jiesan, who moved from Zhenjiang to Shanghai, discussed theology with Imam Ha Cheng of the Xiaotaoyuan Mosque. After accepting the teachings of the Ikhwan sect, he returned to Zhenjiang and began practicing his faith at home according to Ikhwan rituals. Later, funds were raised in Shanghai and Zhenjiang to build an Ikhwan-style mosque on Xinhe Street. In 1958, the Xinhe Street Mosque merged with the Dashan Lane Mosque. It later became a dormitory for a forestry machinery factory and has been abandoned ever since.



Zhenjiang Gurun Mosque: First built in the Yuan dynasty, it was destroyed at the end of the Yuan and beginning of the Ming dynasty. It was rebuilt during the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty and moved to Jianzi Lane in the city in 1602. It was occupied after 1958, destroyed in the 1970s and 1980s, and completely demolished in 2005 before being rebuilt at its current location. The site preserves a stone tablet from the Ming dynasty renovation, an ancient well railing, three Qing dynasty renovation tablets, and the mihrab from the original mosque outside the south gate of Zhenjiang.



February: 2 mosques in Zhejiang.

Jiaxing Mosque: First built in 1602, it was renovated in 1747 when a lecture hall was added to the east side of the main hall. The gate was rebuilt in 1774. After the Taiping Rebellion, it fell into ruin until it was reused by Hui Muslims who moved there from Henan after the Republic of China was established.



Hangzhou Phoenix Mosque: Originally named Zhenjiao Mosque, it was destroyed at the end of the Southern Song dynasty and rebuilt in the early Yuan dynasty. When Zhongshan Road was widened in 1929, the gate and the Moon-Watching Tower (Wangyue Lou) were demolished. The main hall was torn down in 1953. Today, only the kiln-style hall (yaodian) remains from the Yuan and Ming dynasties.



March: 3 mosques in Jiangsu.

Huai'an Hexia Mosque: Located in the ancient town of Hexia, it was built between the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Ten of its rooms were burned down by the Nian Army in the late Qing dynasty, but it was later repaired.



Huai'an Qingjiang Mosque: First built during the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, it was renovated and expanded twice during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns. It was destroyed by the Nian Army in 1860 and rebuilt in 1870.



Huai'an Wangjiaying Mosque: Located on the north bank of the old Yellow River course, it was built during the Yongzheng reign. It was destroyed in the war with the Nian Army in 1860 and rebuilt in 1867. It was damaged in 1966, with the main hall used as a warehouse for a shoe and hat factory, and was rebuilt in 1979. The old imam of the Wangying Mosque, Chang Tingzhang, studied at a daotang in Lingwu County (Lingzhou), Ningxia, during the Qianlong reign. Subsequent imams also went to Ningxia to study, making it a mosque of the Jahriyya (Zhe) sect.



March: 2 mosques in Hebei.

Cangzhou North Mosque: The area near the south gate of Cangzhou was a key path to the Grand Canal. Most Hui Muslims, who were mostly craftspeople and small traders, chose to live here. In 1420 (the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty), the Cangzhou North Mosque was officially built in the south of the city, with land donated and construction led by Wu Yongzuo.



Cangzhou Botou Mosque: In 1404 (the second year of the Yongle reign), the Ming Emperor Chengzu, Zhu Di, ordered residents to move to Cangzhou. Many Hui Muslims arrived in Botou because of this. Records show that Hui Muslims with the seven surnames of Yang, Cao, Dai, Hui, Zhang, Wang, and Shi all moved to Botou in 1404 by imperial decree from Erlanggang, Shangyuan County, Yingtian Prefecture, Nanjing. Research shows that Erlanggang was a camp for Semu people who surrendered to the Ming from the Yuan Dynasty. The Botou Mosque was officially completed that year. The Botou Mosque underwent large-scale expansion during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, reaching its current form.



April, 1 mosque in Hubei

Wuhan Qiyi Street Mosque: The first mosque in Wuchang with a recorded history is the Qingjing Mosque, built in the early Ming Dynasty. Because it was located at the east gate of the Huguang Governor's Office inside the Wangshan Gate in the south of Wuchang city, it was later called the Yuanmenkou Mosque. It was also commonly known as the Shanqian Mosque because it sat south of Snake Hill. According to the Kangxi edition of the Wuchang Prefecture Gazetteer of Huguang, the Yuanmenkou Mosque once held the famous 'Imperial Praise of the Prophet in One Hundred Words' stone tablet by the Ming Emperor Taizu. The courtyard of the current Qiyi Street Mosque holds three 'One Hundred Word Praise' tablets. Besides one carved in the Qing Dynasty, the other two broken tablets are very likely the originals from the Yuanmenkou Mosque.



May, 1 mosque in Jiangxi

Jiujiang Mosque: In 1450 (the first year of the Jingtai reign of the Ming Dynasty), Hui Muslim general Ma Hazhi was transferred to be the commander-in-chief of Jiujiang. He led three imams and over 1,500 Hui Muslim officers and soldiers, along with their families, to station in Jiujiang. They built the first Jiujiang Mosque next to the military camp at Jiwan outside the West Gate. During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the political situation was unstable, so many Hui Muslims left Jiujiang and the mosque was destroyed. It is said the mosque was rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty, and two imperial tablets were carved during the Qianlong reign, but they were later destroyed in war. In 1821 (the first year of the Daoguang reign), Hui Muslim generals Tao Kuichen and Zhao Zhenqing from Shouzhou, Anhui, were transferred to be the garrison commander and city defense battalion leader in Jiujiang. They brought 500 Hui Muslim Flying Tiger Battalion soldiers and their families to station in Jiujiang. After that, many Hui Muslims from Anhui and Henan came to Jiujiang to do business and settle down. In 1850 (the 30th year of the Daoguang reign), Qian Baochang, an antique dealer from Huaining, Anhui, took the lead in donating timber to build two rooms and renovate the Jiujiang Mosque. In 1898 (the 24th year of the Guangxu reign), Hui Muslim general Zhu Tianqing from Shouzhou, Anhui, who served as the Jiujiang garrison commander, and Jiujiang commander-in-chief Tao Zhan led an expansion of the Jiujiang Mosque. The boundary stone set during this renovation remains today.



June, 2 mosques in Anhui

Anqing Nanguan Mosque: In 1469 (the fifth year of the Chenghua reign), the hereditary Cavalry General Ma Yi built the Anqing Nanguan Mosque on Zhongxiao Street inside the Zhenhai Gate (South Gate) of Anqing. The main gate faced the city wall, and he also built the Ma Family Muslim Dunyue Hall as a residence next to the mosque. In 1643 (the 16th year of the Chongzhen reign), the late Ming warlord Zuo Liangyu led his troops through Anqing, and the Nanguan Mosque was damaged. It was renovated during the Kangxi reign. In 1853 (the third year of the Xianfeng reign), the Nanguan Mosque was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion. In 1876 (the second year of the Guangxu reign), the main hall was built in the style of the Wanshou Palace and Fengzhi Guild Hall with a round ridge, and the reconstruction was finally completed in 1897 (the 23rd year of the Guangxu reign).



Anqing Xiguan Mosque: During the Qianlong reign, the number of Hui Muslims outside the West Gate of Anqing grew, but the prayer times did not match the city gate opening and closing times, making it very inconvenient to go to the Nanguan Mosque. Therefore, Ma Tianrong, a 12th-generation descendant of the Ma family of the Dunyue Hall in Huaining, donated two public houses outside the South Gate to build a new mosque at Gou'erkou outside the West Gate. In 1877 (the 13th year of the Guangxu reign), the Xiguan Mosque moved to the street behind Gou'er Mountain outside the West Gate. In 1995, Xiguan Mosque was renovated and expanded into a kindergarten for ethnic minorities, and today only the main gate remains.



Three mosques in Shanghai in June.

Shanghai Fuyou Road Mosque: It was first called Chuanxin Street Prayer Hall, later renamed Chuanxin Street Mosque, and is commonly known as the North Mosque. In 1863 (the second year of the Tongzhi reign), Hui Muslims from Nanjing living near the Old North Gate of Shanghai rented two single-story houses on Xiaopi Lane as a temporary place for namaz. In 1870 (the ninth year of the Tongzhi reign), 31 community elders including Ma Hanzhang, Ha Qingtang, and Jin Lanpo raised funds under the name Wubentang to rebuild it into a main prayer hall on Chuanxin Street. In 1897 (the 23rd year of the Guangxu reign), 22 elders including Ha Shaofu and Jiang Xingjie raised money to buy land and expand the mosque by two halls, completing the work in 1900 (the 26th year of the Guangxu reign). In 1905 (the 31st year of the Guangxu reign), 31 elders including Ha Shaofu, Jiang Xingjie, Sha Yunjun, Jin Dongxu, and Yang Zhuping raised funds again to buy land and expand the mosque to three halls. In 1935, the famous Hui Muslim merchant Ha Shaofu initiated the conversion of the street-facing stone-gate (shikumen) residence into a three-story reinforced concrete building, with a moon-viewing pavilion built on the rooftop terrace.



Shanghai Xiaotaoyuan Mosque: Formerly known as the West City Mosque, it is commonly known as the West Mosque. In 1917, the famous Hui Muslim merchant Jin Ziyun bought a garden residence on Xiaotaoyuan Street in Xicang and donated the land to build the mosque. In 1925, Jin Ziyun initiated another fundraising campaign, including donations from places like Hong Kong, to rebuild the mosque into its current form.



Shanghai Zhejiang Road Mosque: Formerly known as the Concession Mosque, it is commonly known as the Foreign Mosque. In 1855 (the fifth year of the Xianfeng reign), an Indian named Dosti, who worked as a chef at the Indian Bapali Trading Company in Shanghai, bought land to serve as a cemetery for foreign nationals and built a prayer hall. In 1870 (the ninth year of the Tongzhi reign), the Bapali Trading Company funded the construction of an official Concession Mosque and appointed an Indian named Wuliamu Ali as the first imam. At that time, many Hui Muslim fur and cotton merchants from Henan and Hubei provinces had shops around the Concession Mosque and visited it frequently. In 1880 (the sixth year of the Guangxu reign), Wuliamu Ali traveled to Henan, Hubei, and other places to raise funds to rebuild the mosque. Later, the mosque was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt in 1900 (the 26th year of the Guangxu reign) with more than 10 buildings constructed along the street to collect rent for the mosque's upkeep.



Six mosques in Yunnan in July.

Dali Xiaoweigeng Mosque: Built at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was destroyed in the first month of the 12th year of the Tongzhi reign (1873), rebuilt in 1908, expanded in 1976, and rebuilt again in 1990.



Dali Kelizhuang Mosque: Located in Xizhou Town, it was rebuilt in 1908, with a significant portion of the funding coming from overseas Chinese in Myanmar. Kelizhuang is a famous hometown for overseas Chinese. Historically, it had powerful horse caravans that traveled throughout Yunnan to Kunming, Simao, and Zhongdian, and connected south to cities in Myanmar like Mandalay, Mawlamyine, and Lashio. Since the end of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era, hundreds of families from Kelizhuang have moved to Myanmar, and people from Kelizhuang have often served as the imam at the Chinese mosque in Yangon's Chinatown.



Dali Sanmei Mosque: The Sanmei Mosque on the Dengchuan Plain was built in 1908. The Hui Muslims here speak the Bai language and wear Bai ethnic clothing, and their architectural style is very similar to that of the Bai people, so outsiders call them the White Hui Muslims.



Dali Huihuideng Mosque: The front part of the main hall is a reinforced concrete structure built in 1993, while the back part is a wooden structure built in 1944, so it looks like a new mosque from the front and an old one from the back.



Dali Shenhe Village Mosque: The main hall was rebuilt in 1995, and the minaret was built in 1946.



Dalishi Pang Mosque: Built in 1896, with its minaret added in 1920, this is also a white-style mosque (baihuisi).



August, 1 mosque in Jiangsu.

Liuhe Changjiang Road Mosque: Originally named Chengqingfang Mosque, it is also called Liuhe North Mosque and Dashi Mosque. It was built during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. Its architectural style mimics the Liuhe South Gate Mosque. It was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion and rebuilt during the Guangxu reign. In 1928, Lady Da (the aunt of Da Pusheng), the widow of wealthy merchant Wang Zuochen, donated funds to build the Wuxin Pavilion on the original site of the Wangyue Tower.



August, 2 mosques in Anhui.

Wuhu Mosque: Hui Muslims began settling in Wuhu no later than the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The earliest mosque was built in the early Qing Dynasty near Jixiang Mosque at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Qingyi River. It was burned down during the Taiping Rebellion. In 1864, migrants purchased land outside the North Gate at Beilangpu to rebuild it, and it was expanded again in 1902.



Hexian Mosque: The Great Mosque of Hezhou was first built in 1368 (the first year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty). According to the Records of Rebuilding the Confucian School in Hezhou, in 1525 (the fourth year of the Jiajing reign), the newly appointed Hezhou magistrate Yi Luan visited the Confucian Mosque and declared that the "licentious shrine" was indulging the Hui people too much, so he ordered the destruction of the Hezhou Mosque. It was not until 1637 (the tenth year of the Chongzhen reign) that the Hezhou Mosque was rebuilt, after the insurgent army of Ma Shouying, a Hui Muslim from Shaanxi, joined forces with other late Ming rebel groups to capture Hezhou. It was rebuilt into its current structure in 1837 (the seventeenth year of the Daoguang reign).



December, 1 mosque in Shanghai.

Songjiang Mosque: Originally named Zhenjiao Mosque, it was built during the Zhizheng years of the Yuan Dynasty, rebuilt in 1391, and later expanded and renovated many times.



In 2018, I visited 101 ancient mosques across 5 countries and 8 provinces. It was a very fulfilling year. In February, I went to Shanhaiguan. During the Spring Festival holiday, I visited the Cham community in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and then traveled to Delhi, India, to visit many historical sites from the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire periods. During the Qingming holiday, I went to Xinjiang to search for the history of the Yarkent Khanate. During the May Day holiday, I went to Lhasa to visit the Tibetan Hui Muslim community. In June, I went to the UAE for Eid al-Fitr, and then I went to Tianjin to eat and explore. In July, I used my weekends to visit Nanjing and Suizhong in Liaoning to eat and explore. In September, I went to Taiyuan to do the same. At the end of September, I used my annual leave and the National Day holiday to visit Azerbaijan and Turkey, where I saw over a hundred old buildings. In November, I went to Kaifeng for sightseeing and food. See "101 Ancient Mosques Visited in 2018".

By 2019, I had mastered the skill of using holidays to visit ancient mosques abroad. I would first research a lot of information, pick the mosques worth seeing, and then use map websites to plan my route to visit as many as possible in the limited time. I visited a total of 64 ancient mosques across 7 countries and 2 provinces. See '64 Ancient Mosques Visited in 2019'.

At the start of 2020, I went to Urumqi for the Spring Festival holiday and visited the Shaanxi Old Quarter mosque. Later, I was almost locked down and unable to return to Beijing. I worked from home during the first half of the year. Once restrictions were lifted in early July, we spent a weekend visiting the Hongshuiquan Grand Mosque in Qinghai. In August, we took our honeymoon and visited 18 ancient mosques in Yunnan and Sichuan. During the National Day holiday, we traveled upstream along the Han River and visited 3 ancient mosques in southern Shaanxi. In total, I visited 23 ancient mosques across 5 provinces in 2020. See '23 Ancient Mosques Visited in 2020'.

In January 2021, mosques in Beijing were closed. In mid-March, travel restrictions were lifted, so I rushed to visit ancient mosques in Henan, Jiangsu, Hebei, Xinjiang, Liaoning, Shanxi, Tianjin, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia. By July, travel out of Beijing was restricted again. During the National Day holiday, there were no new cases nationwide, so we went on a road trip to Yunnan to visit ancient mosques. After the holiday, I could not leave Beijing again. In 2021, with less than half a year of actual freedom, I visited 47 ancient mosques across 11 provinces and cities. See '47 Ancient Mosques Visited in 2021'.

2022 was the most difficult year, as I was unable to leave Beijing for the entire year. That year, I visited some ruins of former ancient mosques in Beijing and some mosques I had never been to before, totaling 25 ancient mosques for the year. See "Visiting 25 Ancient Mosques in Beijing in 2022."

Travel restrictions within Beijing were lifted in early 2023, and international travel restrictions were lifted in May. This year saw an explosion of travel, covering 11 provinces and cities, 6 countries, and three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—for a total of 124 ancient mosques. See "Visiting 124 Ancient Mosques in 2023."

Life gradually returned to normal in 2024, and the number of ancient mosques I visited dropped due to work changes and spending time with my children. This year I went to 6 provinces and 3 countries, visiting 63 ancient mosques. I visited Malaysia three times, touring 24 ancient mosques, which covers almost all the ancient mosques in Malaysia. See "Visiting 63 Ancient Mosques in 2024." Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This first part of the 2018 mosque-visit record covers a wide route through historic mosques, local Muslim communities, and Islamic heritage sites. It preserves the original mosque names, photos, dates, and travel observations in clear English.

In 2018, I visited 101 ancient mosques across 5 countries and 8 provinces. It was a very fulfilling year. In February, I went to Shanhaiguan to see the winter sea and visit the ancient mosque there. During the Spring Festival holiday, I visited the Cham community in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Then I went to Delhi, India, to see many historical sites from the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire periods. During the Qingming Festival holiday, I went to Yarkant (Shache) in Xinjiang to listen to Muqam music and look for the history of the Yarkand Khanate. During the May Day holiday, I went to Lhasa to visit the Tibetan Hui Muslim community. In June, I went to the UAE for Eid al-Fitr, and then I went to Tianjin to eat and explore. In July, I used my weekends to visit Nanjing and Suizhong in Liaoning to eat and explore. In September, I went to Taiyuan to do the same. At the end of September, I used my annual leave and the National Day holiday to visit Azerbaijan and Turkey, where I saw over a hundred old buildings. In November, I went to Kaifeng to eat and explore.

By 2019, I had mastered the skill of using holidays to visit ancient mosques abroad. I would first research a lot of information, pick the mosques worth seeing, and then use map websites to plan my route to visit as many as possible in the limited time. I visited a total of 64 ancient mosques across 7 countries and 2 provinces. See '64 Ancient Mosques Visited in 2019'.

At the start of 2020, I went to Urumqi for the Spring Festival holiday and visited the Shaanxi Old Quarter mosque. Later, I was almost locked down and unable to return to Beijing. I worked from home during the first half of the year. Once restrictions were lifted in early July, we spent a weekend visiting the Hongshuiquan Grand Mosque in Qinghai. In August, we took our honeymoon and visited 18 ancient mosques in Yunnan and Sichuan. During the National Day holiday, we traveled upstream along the Han River and visited 3 ancient mosques in southern Shaanxi. In total, I visited 23 ancient mosques across 5 provinces in 2020. See '23 Ancient Mosques Visited in 2020'.

In January 2021, mosques in Beijing were closed. In mid-March, travel restrictions were lifted, so I rushed to visit ancient mosques in Henan, Jiangsu, Hebei, Xinjiang, Liaoning, Shanxi, Tianjin, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia. By July, travel out of Beijing was restricted again. During the National Day holiday, there were no new cases nationwide, so we went on a road trip to Yunnan to visit ancient mosques. After the holiday, I could not leave Beijing again. In 2021, with less than half a year of actual freedom, I visited 47 ancient mosques across 11 provinces and cities. See '47 Ancient Mosques Visited in 2021'.

2022 was the most difficult year, as I was unable to leave Beijing for the entire year. That year, I visited some ruins of former ancient mosques in Beijing and some mosques I had never been to before, totaling 25 ancient mosques for the year. See "Visiting 25 Ancient Mosques in Beijing in 2022."

Travel restrictions within Beijing were lifted in early 2023, and international travel restrictions were lifted in May. This year saw an explosion of travel, covering 11 provinces and cities, 6 countries, and three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—for a total of 124 ancient mosques. See "Visiting 124 Ancient Mosques in 2023."

Life gradually returned to normal in 2024, and the number of ancient mosques I visited dropped due to work changes and spending time with my children. This year I went to 6 provinces and 3 countries, visiting 63 ancient mosques. I visited Malaysia three times, touring 24 ancient mosques, which covers almost all the ancient mosques in Malaysia. See "Visiting 63 Ancient Mosques in 2024."

February: 1 in Hebei.

Shanhaiguan Mosque: Located outside the west gate of Shanhaiguan city. According to the Kangxi-era "Shanhaiguan Gazetteer," in the first month of 1381 (the 14th year of the Hongwu reign), "General Xu Da sent 15,100 soldiers from the Yanshan Guard to build 32 passes, including Yongping and Jieling." According to the "Veritable Records of the Ming Emperor Taizu," in September of the same year, the "Beiping Shanhaiguan Guard Command" was established, marking the beginning of Shanhaiguan. People say the Shanhaiguan Mosque was built by Muslim officers and soldiers under Xu Da.



February: 24 in India.

Delhi Qutb Mosque: This is the first mosque in Delhi, started in 1193. After the Ghurid dynasty general Qutb occupied Delhi, many building components from Hindu and Jain temples were reused.



Delhi Jamaat Khana Mosque: Located at the heart of the Sufi holy site of Nizamuddin, it is likely the second mosque in Delhi after the Qutb Mosque, with an architectural style very close to the Khalji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.



Delhi Tohfe Wala Gumbad Mosque: In 1303, the Chagatai Khanate besieged the military fortress of Siri in Delhi for two months but could not break the city and eventually retreated. After this, Sultan Alauddin Khalji of the Delhi Sultanate's Khalji dynasty began to focus on building up Siri, which included the Tohfe Wala Gumbad Mosque. This mosque is very different from other buildings constructed during the Alauddin period, but some of its wall structures have the characteristics of Khalji dynasty architecture.



Delhi Begampur Mosque: This is the most important mosque in the city of Jahanpanah in Delhi and the most representative mosque of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate that still exists today. It is said to have been designed by the Iranian architect Zahir al-Din al-Jayush. The building is very grand but relatively simple, with only a small amount of carving inside the main hall.



Delhi Feroz Shah Kotla Mosque: Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty built the fifth city of Delhi, Ferozabad, in 1354. The mosque is the main building in the fortress and has a typical Tughlaq dynasty style. Some scholars believe that the great emperor Timur prayed here in 1398 and later built a mosque of the same design in Samarkand.



Delhi Khirki Mosque: Another important mosque in the city of Jahanpanah, besides the Begampur Mosque. This building looks very different from the Begumpur mosque, but it is almost certainly one of the seven mosques built by Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul, the prime minister to Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq, and was likely built in the 1370s.



Delhi Kali Mosque: This is also one of the seven mosques built by Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq's prime minister, Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul, and it stands near the Sufi shrine of Nizamuddin. This mosque and the Khirki Mosque are very similar in design and construction date, and both were once abandoned. The difference is that this mosque returned to use in the early 20th century, with some changes made to its original design.



Delhi Kalan Mosque: This is the northernmost of the seven mosques built by Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq's prime minister, Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul. It is thought to have been built to honor a Sufi saint, and it has been in use ever since.



Delhi Bara Bumbad Mosque: Located inside Lodi Gardens, the inscriptions carved inside show it was built on November 30, 1494, by a man named Mughal Abdu Amjad. The mosque features very intricate carvings, which are a great example of the lime plaster and stone-cutting techniques used for decoration during the Lodi dynasty.



Delhi Madhi Mosque: Found in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park in Delhi, its exact construction date is unknown, but its design clearly shows the Lodi dynasty style. The main hall of this mosque is open-air and consists only of a qibla wall. There are many other mosques in Delhi made of just one wall, but this one is the largest.



Delhi Nili Mosque: Located between the city of Siri and the Hauz Khas reservoir area, this is a Lodi-era mosque that is still in use.



Delhi Rajon ki Baoli Mosque: Located in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, it features what is considered the most beautiful stepwell (baoli) in Delhi, said to have been built by Daulat Khan Khwaja Muhammad in 1506 during the reign of Sultan Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517).



Delhi Muhammad Wali Mosque: Situated right next to the northwest wall of the city of Siri, it features a typical Lodi dynasty style.



Delhi Jamali Kamali Mosque: Located in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, this is a tomb-mosque for two men, Jamali and Kamali. Jamali, whose full name was Jamali Kamboh, was a famous 16th-century Persian poet and Sufi saint in India who was highly regarded by the Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun.



Delhi Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque: Located inside the Old Fort (Purana Qila), which was the sixth city of Delhi. After Sher Shah Suri, the ruler of the Suri dynasty, defeated the Mughal emperor Humayun and took Delhi in 1540, he used the Old Fort as his royal court and built this royal mosque in 1541.



Delhi Salimgarh Fort Mosque: Located north of the Red Fort, it was built in 1546 by Salim Shah Suri (reigned 1545-1554), the son of the Suri dynasty ruler Sher Shah Suri.



Delhi Isa Khan Mosque: Located within the Humayun's Tomb complex, this is a tomb-mosque for the Pashtun noble Isa Khan of the Suri dynasty.



Delhi Khairul Manazil Mosque: Located across from the Purana Qila fort, it was commissioned in 1561 by Maham Anga, the chief nurse to the Mughal Emperor Akbar and the actual power behind the throne from 1560 to 1562.



Delhi Afsarwala Mosque: Located southwest of Humayun's Tomb, it was built between 1566 and 1567 as a tomb-mosque for an official in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.



Delhi Jama Mosque: Located in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi), the seventh city of Delhi, it once served as the main Friday mosque for the Mughal Empire. The Jama Mosque was built between 1650 and 1656 by order of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658), who also built the Taj Mahal.



Fatehpuri Mosque in Delhi: Located in the northwest of Old Delhi (Shahjahanabad), directly facing the Red Fort, it was built in 1650 by Fatehpuri Begum, the wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.



Pearl Mosque (Moti Masjid) in Delhi: Located inside the Delhi Red Fort, it was built in 1659 by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (reigned 1658-1707) to serve as a private mosque for the royal family.



Sunehri Mosque in Delhi: Located in the eastern part of Old Delhi's Shahjahanabad, it was built in 1751 by order of Qudsia Begum.



Safdarjung Mosque in Delhi: Located west of Lodi Gardens, this is the mosque attached to the tomb of Safdarjung. Safdarjung became the Prime Minister of the Mughal Empire in 1748 and was the actual ruler of the Mughal dynasty. The Safdarjung Tomb and its mosque are known as the last major architectural works of the Mughal dynasty and serve as a symbol of the dynasty's decline.



February: 1 mosque in Vietnam.

Saigon Central Mosque: Built by South Indian Tamils in 1935, it is the most important mosque in Saigon. After Vietnam was unified in 1975, the religious community in Saigon faced a huge shock, with many believers imprisoned or fleeing abroad. Religious life in Vietnam only slowly recovered after 1986. Today, besides the local Cham people, merchants and tourists from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Pakistan all come here.



April: 3 mosques in Xinjiang.

Yarkant Azna Mosque in Shache: Built during the reign of Abu Bakr in Yarkant (1465-1514), it has not been rebuilt by later generations and still preserves its original appearance, making it very precious. Its design is very similar to the 14th and 15th-century Bibi-Khanym Mosque of the Timurid Empire and the Begampur Mosque of the Delhi Sultanate, though it is smaller in scale.



Shache Jiaman Mosque: It is said to have been started by Sultan Said Khan, the founder of the Yarkant Khanate, and later expanded during the time of Abdullah Khan (reigned 1638–1669).



Shache Altun Mosque: Built in 1533 during the Yarkant Khanate period, its current appearance dates from renovations and expansions in 1735.



May: 2 mosques in Tibet.

Lhasa Kache Lingka Mosque: Among the two mosques currently at Kache Lingka, one is the only traditional Tibetan-style mosque in Lhasa today. A plaque on the door reads: 'This mosque was first built in 1775, has undergone four repairs over its long history, and completed its last repair in 2008.' The facade of the other mosque has been rebuilt in an Arab style, and a plaque at the entrance reads: 'This mosque was first built in 1655 AD, has undergone many repairs over its long history, and completed its last repair in 2000 AD.'





June: 1 mosque in Tianjin.

Northwest Corner South Mosque: It is one of the few remaining historical sites in the Northwest Corner and is currently the center of the local Hui Muslim community. It was built during the Guangxu reign and completed during the Xuantong reign.



June: 5 mosques in the UAE.

Dubai Nasser bin Obaid bin Lootah Mosque: Lootah is a famous merchant family in the UAE, and this family first came to Dubai from Liwa to settle in Al Ras. At that time, Al Ras had no residents and was just a place for grazing camels. Later, other members of this family also came to settle in Al Ras, including Obaid bin Lootah. In 1910, Obaid bin Lootah's son, Nasser, built this mosque.



Almulla Mosque in Dubai: It follows the traditional Gulf style and has no minaret or dome.



Obeid Bin Issa Mosque in Sharjah: This is the oldest mosque in Sharjah. It is a rammed-earth building from the 19th century, and there is a palm-frond shelter in front of the ablution area. The main prayer hall has wooden pillars. The mihrab is plain with no decorations, and the minbar pulpit next to it is also set inside a niche.



Al-Daleel Mosque in Sharjah: A historic mosque that also features a palm-frond shelter in front of the main hall. To make a traditional palm ceiling, palm fibers are first washed and dried, then twisted into twine and tied onto trimmed palm branches. Next, palm leaves are washed and dried, woven into large mats, and finally laid together to form the ceiling.



Al Jame'i Mosque in Sharjah: This is the Friday mosque of Sharjah's old town. Its low, flat-roofed style is very similar to traditional architecture in Turpan, as both were designed for hot and dry climates.



July, Jiangsu

Caoqiao Mosque in Nanjing: In 2003, Caoqiao Mosque and Taiping Road Mosque were demolished. The main hall and second hall components of Taiping Road Mosque were rebuilt at a new site, and the project was completed in 2005. Caoqiao Mosque was first built during the Qianlong reign, destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, and rebuilt in the early years of the Tongzhi reign. Taiping Road Mosque was originally called Huapailou Mosque. Legend says it was built by Chang Yuchun in the early Ming Dynasty. It was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, later rebuilt, and reconstructed again in 1924 with donations from the brothers of Nanjing businessman Jiang Guobang.



Jingjue Mosque: First built in 1388 (the 21st year of the Hongwu reign), it was burned down in 1430 (the 5th year of the Xuande reign) and rebuilt after Zheng He petitioned for its restoration. It was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, and its components were moved to the Prince's Mansion. It was rebuilt in 1877 (the 3rd year of the Guangxu reign) and renovated in 1879 (the 5th year of the Guangxu reign) to form its current layout.



July, Liaoning, 1 mosque

Suizhong Mosque: Starting in the 18th century, more than ten families of Hui Muslims, including the Zhang, Ding, Li, and Jin families, moved to Suizhong from Hebei Province. In 1737 (the 2nd year of the Qianlong reign), the first mosque was built below the Kueixing Tower in the southeast of Suizhong city. In 1797 (the 3rd year of the Jiaqing reign), it was moved to its current location inside the West Gate.



August, Beijing, 2 mosques

Dongsi Mosque: The most worth-seeing part of Dongsi Mosque is the main hall built in 1447. The rear hall looks like a Chinese-style beamless hall from the outside, but inside it actually contains three brick domes. This is another way Chinese mosques localized the dome in the 15th century, following the example of the Phoenix Mosque in Hangzhou, where the dome was converted into a wooden pavilion during the Yuan Dynasty.



Huashi Mosque: First built in 1414 (the 12th year of the Ming Wanli reign), it is said to have been the residence of Chang Yuchun. It was renovated in the 41st year of the Kangxi reign and again during the Qianlong reign.



September, Shanxi, 1 mosque

Taiyuan Mosque: Located inside the South Gate on Beef Alley (Niurou Xiang). The main prayer hall and the Shengxin Tower (call to prayer tower, or bangkelou) are Ming Dynasty structures. This matches the time when Taiyuan city took its final shape and Hui Muslims officially settled in the city.



14 sites in Azerbaijan in September

Baku Palace Mosque: Built between 1441 and 1442 by order of the Shirvanshah king, Khalilullah I. In 1723, the army of Tsar Peter I shelled Baku from the Caspian Sea, damaging the northeast facade. The minaret was hit by artillery fire in 1918. The main prayer hall is very small and is generally used only by people from the palace or the immediate neighborhood.



Muhammad Mosque: Built in 1078-1079, it is the oldest surviving religious building in Azerbaijan. According to the Kufic Arabic inscription on the north wall, the mosque was built by Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr. Research shows the mosque was built on the site of a Zoroastrian fire mosque, and Muhammad was the mayor of Baku at the time.



Takyeh Mosque: A 13th-century Sufi mosque that served as a place for Sufi practitioners to study and rest.



Khidir Mosque: Built in 1301. Archaeological excavations in 1988 revealed that this mosque was built on the site of a Zoroastrian mosque.



Mirza Ahmad Mosque: Built in 1345. The wall at the entrance is carved with scripture and the architect's name. It is currently closed due to its dilapidated state.



Chin Mosque: Stone carvings at the top of the entrance show it was built between 1375 and 1376, with repairs made between 1772 and 1773.



Molla Ahmad Mosque: Built in the early 14th century by the famous architect Mahmud ibn Sad of the Shirvan-Absheron school. It is a typical example of a small community mosque from the Shirvanshah dynasty.



Sheikh Ibrahim Mosque: Built by Haji Amirshah ibn Yagub between 1415 and 1416. Baku was ruled at the time by the 33rd Shirvanshah king, Ibrahim I (reigned 1382-1417), which is why it is also called the Sheikh Ibrahim Mosque. In the 19th century, the mosque's facade was divided into three sections and windows were added.



Juma Mosque: The main mosque in Baku's Old City. Inscriptions on the mosque walls show that Amir Sharaf al-Din Mahmud renovated it in 1309. The current main prayer hall was funded by Baku merchant Haji Shikhlali Dadashov in 1899, blending traditional styles with European architecture.



Sayyid Yahya Murtuza Mosque: Built in the early 17th century by Sayyid Yahya Murtuza himself. He was a famous local imam and was buried here after his passing. During the Soviet era, it became a carpenter's workshop. Religious activities resumed in the 1990s, and it is now affiliated with the Juma Mosque.



Haji Bani Mosque: Built in the 16th century by the architect Haji Bani. A women's prayer hall and windows were added during renovations in 1902-1903.



Baba Kuhi Bakuvi Mosque: Located north of the Maiden Tower and thought to date back to the 9th or 10th century. Archaeologist Farhad Ibrahimov excavated the site between 1990 and 1993, and the mihrab niche was unearthed in 1998.



Haji Heybat Mosque: Built in 1791 by the architect Haji Heybat Amir Ali oghlu. It is a small community mosque.



Məktəb Mosque: Built between 1646 and 1647, it sits right next to the Maiden Tower.



38 mosques in Turkey in October.

Konya Iplikci Mosque: Ordered in 1201 by the Seljuk vizier Shams al-Din Altun Aba, it was built by the architect Abu al-Fazi Abd al-Jabbar from Tabriz, Iran. This is key evidence of Persian craftsmen directly influencing Seljuk architecture. This building went through a series of renovations during the Karamanid dynasty, the Ottoman Empire, and modern times. Today, the original mosaic tiles on the mihrab inside the hall have been replaced by marble, but the parts at the bottom covered by carpets are still original pieces from the Seljuk period.



Konya Alaeddin Mosque: It was rebuilt on top of a Christian church shortly after the Seljuks occupied Konya in the late 11th century, and many of its components were taken directly from nearby Byzantine buildings. The earliest surviving inscription dates back to the reign of the Seljuk Sultan of Rum, Mesud I (reigned 1116–1156). The mosque's ebony minbar has an inscription from 1155, and the tiles on the mosque's mihrab and dome should have been built in the same period.



Konya Sahib Ata Mosque: Built by Sahib Ata Fahreddin Ali, the architect was Keluk bin Abdullah. Sahib Ata was a key official in the court of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum from the 1250s until his death in 1288, and he even held great power in the sultanate after 1277.



Bursa Orhan Mosque: This was the first mosque in Bursa. It was built in 1339 by the second Ottoman ruler, Orhan (reigned 1324-1362). It was burned by the Karamanid dynasty in 1413, rebuilt by Sultan Mehmed I (reigned 1379-1421) in 1417, and repaired again after being damaged by an earthquake in 1855.



Bursa Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami): This is the largest mosque in Bursa and the largest of the multi-domed Ottoman mosques. This mosque consists of 20 domes and two minarets and is known as a masterpiece of early Ottoman architecture. It was built between 1396 and 1399 by the fourth Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid I (reigned 1389-1402), to celebrate the famous Battle of Nicopolis. The architect is said to be Ali Neccar.



Bursa Hüdavendigar Mosque: Also called the Murad I Mosque, it was built by Sultan Murad I between 1363 and 1366. It is a classic early Ottoman T-shaped mosque. Its biggest feature is that the madrasa is located on the floor above the prayer hall. Because many Byzantine craftsmen participated in its construction, the mosque features Byzantine-style brickwork and column capitals. At the same time, this is the only Ottoman mosque with two porches.



Bursa Lightning Mosque (Yıldırım Bayezid Mosque): Also called the Lightning Bayezid Mosque, it was ordered by Sultan Bayezid I between 1390 and 1395. It underwent major repairs after the 1855 earthquake. It is the only early Ottoman mosque in Bursa built entirely of stone, without using any bricks. the Lightning Mosque is the first mosque to feature a Bursa arch structure. This flat arch is located between the main hall and the gate, supporting two large domes.



Bursa Green Mosque (Yeşil Cami): Also called the Mehmed I Mosque, it was built by Sultan Mehmed I between 1414 and 1419. It is a masterpiece by the famous early 15th-century Ottoman architect İvaz Pasha. The stone carvings on the gate are considered the pinnacle of early Ottoman architecture. Due to the death of Mehmed I, the narthex of the mosque was never finished.



Bursa Muradiye Mosque: Also called the Murad II Mosque, it was built by Sultan Murad II between 1425 and 1426. The mosque is an early Ottoman T-shaped mosque. The main hall has two domes, and each wing has a small dome. The interior of the mosque is decorated with blue-green and dark blue hexagonal tiles.



Edirne Old Mosque (Eski Cami): In 1413, Prince Mehmed was crowned Sultan Mehmed I in Edirne, and he officially completed the construction of this mosque the following year. This mosque is the oldest one still standing in Edirne, so it is called the Old Mosque (Eski Cami). The Old Mosque is one of the last multi-domed mosques to use the early Ottoman Seljuk style, featuring nine central domes in total. Compared to earlier Seljuk multi-domed mosques, the domes here have a noticeably larger diameter, showing that the Ottomans were starting to move past their early phase.



Edirne Muradiye Mosque: This is a small T-shaped mosque on a hill north of Edirne, built in 1436 by order of the sixth Ottoman Sultan, Murad II (reigned 1421-1444). This site was originally part of a Sufi Mevlevi complex before it was converted into a mosque.



Edirne Three-Balcony Mosque (Üç Şerefeli Camii): This is known as a major landmark that started a new era in Ottoman architecture, being the first Ottoman mosque with a central dome and the first to feature a courtyard. The mosque was started in 1438 by the sixth Ottoman Sultan, Murad II (reigned 1421-1444), and finished in 1447.



Edirne Kasım Paşa Mosque: This was built in 1479 by order of Kasım Paşa. Kasım Paşa was a famous Ottoman general who served as the commander of Rumelia, the European part of the Ottoman Empire. The mosque closed after 1950 due to the construction of a dam, and it has been damaged by floods ever since, making it the most wild and untamed early Ottoman mosque in Edirne.



Edirne Sultan Bayezid II Mosque: Located on the north bank of the Tunca River (Sadun River) in the northwest suburbs of Edirne, it was built by order of the eighth Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid II (reigned 1481-1512).



Istanbul Atik Ali Pasha Mosque: Built in 1496 by Atik Ali Pasha, the Grand Vizier to Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, it is located south of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.



Istanbul Selim I Mosque: Built in 1520 by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to honor his father, Sultan Selim I (reigned 1512-1520), and completed in 1527, it is the third imperial mosque built by the Ottoman dynasty in Istanbul.



Istanbul Mihrimah Sultan Mosque: Built between 1543 and 1548, it is one of the most famous landmarks in the Üsküdar district and the second complex by Mimar Sinan still standing in Istanbul. It is the first semi-domed mosque designed by Mimar Sinan.



Istanbul Prince Mosque (Şehzade Mosque): Located on the third hill of Istanbul's old city and built between 1543 and 1548, it is considered Mimar Sinan's most important early work and his first masterpiece. It is the second semi-domed mosque designed by Mimar Sinan, consisting of one main dome and four semi-domes. This was both an improvement on Sinan's previous work, the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque with its three semi-domes, and a new interpretation of earlier designs like the Fatih Mosque (1471) and the Bayezid II Mosque (1506). This design separates the four pillars supporting the central dome, creating a more stunning visual effect.



Istanbul Hadım Ibrahim Pasha Mosque: Built in 1551, it was commissioned by the Vizier Ibrahim Pasha, known as the Eunuch (Hadım), and built by Mimar Sinan. It belongs to the first phase of Mimar Sinan's single-dome mosque designs. In this phase, Sinan used eight buttresses to support the main dome, a design that also foreshadowed his next phase of octagonal dome structures.



Istanbul Sinan Pasha Mosque: Completed in 1555 and commissioned by Sinan Pasha, it is Mimar Sinan's reinterpretation of the famous Three-Balcony Mosque (Üç Şerefeli Camii) in Edirne, and is therefore known as the smaller version of the Three-Balcony Mosque.



Istanbul Süleymaniye Mosque: Commissioned by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and built by Mimar Sinan, it sits on the third hill of Istanbul and is a key part of the old city's skyline. Construction took seven years from 1550 to 1557, though it was not officially finished until 1558. This is the largest square-based, semi-domed mosque in the career of architect Mimar Sinan, with a main dome 53 meters high, which was the tallest in the Ottoman Empire at the time.



Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque in Istanbul: Commissioned by Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and his wife İsmihan Sultan, it was built by Mimar Sinan between 1567 and 1572 and is famous for its beautiful Iznik tiles inside.



Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Istanbul: Built by Mimar Sinan between 1563 and 1570, commissioned by Mihrimah Sultan, the daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent. The complex sits on the sixth hill inside the northwest walls of Istanbul, which is the highest point of the old city. The structure of the mosque is considered the most advanced type of single-dome mosque from that period. The 35-meter-high dome is supported by four piers, with four arches and four pendentives forming a tower-like structure. Four polygonal piers protrude on the outside but are almost invisible from the inside, creating a shape like a neatly cut crystal.



Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque in Istanbul: Commissioned by Kara Ahmed Pasha and built by Mimar Sinan, it was finally completed in 1572. It is the last imperial building in Istanbul to use dry cord (cuerda seca) tiles for decoration.



Mimar Sinan Mosque in Istanbul: Built by Mimar Sinan for himself in 1573, it was destroyed by fire in 1918, and soon after the walls collapsed, leaving only a 10-meter-high minaret.



Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque in Istanbul: Commissioned in 1578 by Ottoman Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha (in office 1565-1579) and built by Mimar Sinan, Sinan continued the octagonal support system he used in his masterpiece, the Selimiye Mosque, and added a small dome at each corner. Additionally, the front porch of the mosque is completely enclosed and connected to the main hall, which is very unique among Sinan's works.



Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque in Istanbul: Commissioned by Ottoman Admiral Kılıç Ali Pasha and built by Mimar Sinan between 1578 and 1580. The mosque has a central area surrounded by galleries on three sides, with the center and side areas separated, which is very similar to the structure of the Hagia Sophia and different from other classic Ottoman mosque architecture of the same period.



Şemsi Pasha Mosque in Istanbul: Built in 1581 by Mimar Sinan for the Ottoman Grand Vizier (Vezir-i Azam) Şemsi Pasha, it is the smallest complex Sinan ever built and is a famous example in Istanbul of how human architecture can blend perfectly with the natural landscape. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Tianjin food article follows Arabic restaurants representing Syrian, Yemeni, Tunisian, and Algerian cooking. It preserves the original restaurant details, dishes, photos, and travel observations while presenting the account in natural English.

Syrian food: Al-Andalus Restaurant.

We had Levantine food at Al-Andalus Restaurant in the Sunac Center, Nankai District. The owner is Syrian. Al-Andalus was the name Arabs used for the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. In the 8th century, under the Umayyad dynasty, it was a famous center for economy, culture, academics, and education, serving as a key bridge for cultural and scientific exchange between East and West.

We ordered the four-person feast set. It included lentil soup, cream of mushroom soup, a trio of hummus, lamb samosa (samosa), chicken shawarma (shawarma), four-season pizza, mixed grilled meats, black tea, and a crispy salad. We also ordered yogurt separately. Overall, the food is very authentic. It offers better value than Arab restaurants in Beijing, and you do not have to wait in line. Their yogurt is especially good. It has a rich, tangy milk flavor that beats many Arab restaurants in Beijing. The only downside is that the samosa pastry is a bit thick, more like the South Asian version than the thin-crust Levantine style.

























Yemeni food: Socotra.

Socotra is an island in the Arabian Sea, southeast of Yemen. In the Ming Dynasty, the Zheng He navigation charts called it Sugudala. Socotra Island became a World Natural Heritage site in 2008 and is famous for its dragon blood trees. The Socotra restaurant logo is a dragon blood tree, and photos of the trees hang in the shop.

We ordered the specialty soup, chicken lentil soup, lamb zurbian (zurbian) rice, mushakkal (mushakkal) stir-fried vegetables, fahsa (fahsa) beef stew, banana mango juice, and khubz (khubz) flatbread. Zurbian rice is similar to Indian biryani, as both are stir-fried with various spices. Their lamb is grilled and very fragrant, but we found the rice a bit dry. It also contained small bone fragments, so be careful if feeding children.

When visiting a Yemeni restaurant, you must try the classic Yemeni dish, fahsa beef stew. Fahsa is usually made with lamb, but they use beef. The meat is stewed until very tender, first in a large vat and then finished in a small pot. Besides ginger, garlic, and cumin, the stew requires a spice called fenugreek (hulbah). Fenugreek is what people in Northwest China often call xiangdouzi (bitter beans). Northwesterners dry the leaves and grind them into powder to steam buns, while Yemenis grind the seeds to stew meat. Fenugreek seeds expand in water and easily foam up when stirred in a bowl.

The classic pairing for fahsa is mulawah (mulawah) Yemeni bread, but they require you to order it in advance. We could only get khubz flatbread at the restaurant. Khubz is essentially the pita bread found in Levantine cuisine. Their version was quite hard and, honestly, not very tasty.



















Algerian tea and snacks: Lyn's Healthy Bakeshop.

We had Algerian afternoon tea at Lyn's Healthy Bakeshop on Chifeng Road in Tianjin. Chifeng Road is in the former French Concession area. There are many small Western-style buildings here, along with all kinds of little restaurants.

The owner is from Algeria and opened a small shop here for tea and desserts. It is likely the first Algerian restaurant in China. It is impressive to see Tianjin leading the way in international dining again!

You can order à la carte or choose an afternoon tea set. They serve both traditional Algerian desserts and Western pastries. They use maple syrup instead of white sugar for a healthier approach. This is probably the least sweet Arabic dessert shop I have ever visited!

We drank Algerian mint tea and an Algerian orange blossom lemonade called Sherbet Mazhar. The mint tea is brewed to order, so it takes a while. It has a very strong aroma, but since it is freshly brewed, you cannot get refills. Orange blossom water is definitely a signature Algerian drink, especially classic at wedding feasts in northern Algeria. This drink is made from orange blossom water distilled from bitter orange blossoms, mixed with syrup and water. It is very refreshing in the summer.

We ate Algerian baklava (Baklawa), apple pie, milk pudding (M'halbi), and cheesecake. Suleiman loved the cheesecake the most. Baklava was introduced to Algeria from Turkey during the Ottoman period. The Algerian version adds crushed almonds and orange blossom water, so the taste is different from the Turkish one.

Milk pudding (M'halbi) is a classic Middle Eastern dessert for breaking the fast and is most popular during Ramadan. The name M'halbi comes from Al-Muhallab, a governor of Khorasan during the Umayyad Caliphate. Legend says he once had a stomachache, and his doctor fed him rice flour cooked with milk and sugar. He liked it so much that he named the dessert after himself.

Finally, the food here is excellent, though the decor is a bit simple. If they could highlight the Algerian theme more, this place would definitely become a new trendy spot in Tianjin.



















Tunisian food: Sidi Bou Said.

There is a Tunisian restaurant called Sidi Bou Said (Blue and White Town) in Aocheng Plaza where you can eat Tunisian food. The shop is small. The owner is Chinese, and the head chef is Tunisian. Since there is only one chef, service might be slow when it is busy. It is best to call ahead and book a table. We were the only table when we went, so our meal went quite smoothly.

The name Sidi Bou Said comes from a small Mediterranean town northeast of Tunis. It is named after the famous Sufi saint Abu Said al-Baji, who is buried there. In the 1920s, the French painter and musician Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger introduced the blue and white color scheme, turning it into a famous tourist destination in Tunisia.

We ordered the 3-4 person set, which included tuna fried triangles (Brick), North African eggs (Shakshouka), lamb stew, pasta with meat sauce, and a dessert called Kunafa. They served mint tea first, which is very Tunisian. Then they brought the Brick. It is a classic Tunisian snack filled with tuna, minced meat, a raw egg, and harissa chili paste, wrapped in a very thin pastry called Malsouka. The North African eggs are made with eggs, tomatoes, olive oil, harissa, and onions, then sprinkled with cumin and chili powder. Tomatoes were not actually introduced to Tunisia from the Middle East until the late Ottoman period. Turkey has an appetizer with the same name, shakshuka (Şakşuka), but it does not contain eggs.

Their lamb leg is stewed until very tender and falls right off the bone, which is perfect for children. The lamb leg sits on a bed of mashed potatoes, which are soft and delicious. The pasta uses an Italian meat sauce (Bolognese), but it seems to be made with hand-rolled noodles. It ends up tasting a lot like the dry meat sauce noodles (saozi mian) eaten by Hui Muslims in Xinjiang. Their kunafa (kunafa) is delicious, and it is a low-sugar version that suits the Chinese palate. Kunafa appears in One Thousand and One Nights, and legend says it was invented by an Arab caliph for breaking the fast.

















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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Urumqi food account introduces four Hui Muslim banquet restaurants and the dishes that shape local halal dining. The English version keeps the original restaurant names, photos, food details, and practical observations without adding outside claims.

I returned to Urumqi for a wedding and ate at four Hui Muslim restaurants. I am sharing my experience with you now.

Silk Road Rice Fragrance (Silu Mixiang) is a restaurant in the New District where Hui Muslims host guests. It has a large private room that can seat twenty people at two tables.

We started the meal with three-tier tea (sanpaotai), which includes goji berries, red dates, and rock sugar. Then the dishes arrived: spinach with chickpeas, cold-tossed beef shank, beef stew with vermicelli, dry-pot beef tripe, beef medley, sauced meat-stuffed tofu (jiasha), sweet platter (tianpanzi), stir-fried bean sprouts with chives, snowflake meatballs, stir-fried black and white lung, steamed opium fish, lamb with braised flatbread, sauced stuffed eggplant, and stir-fried mushrooms. This included traditional Hui Muslim banquet dishes like meat-stuffed tofu (jiasha) and sweet platter (tianpanzi), as well as newer banquet dishes that have become popular in Urumqi over the last few decades, such as snowflake meatballs and steamed opium fish. These dishes represent the current taste of Hui Muslim banquets in Urumqi.

















The Jinyue Loulan Banquet Hall in Anningqu Cultural Tourism Town has a great environment. It is very spacious, bright, and the banquet hall is huge.

Before the meal starts, they set out nine appetizer plates, usually filled with dried fruits, preserved fruits, candies, and small pieces of fruit. Then they clear the appetizer plates to officially start the meal, serving cold dishes first, followed by hot dishes, and finally the main courses. We ate cold-tossed beef, spinach with gluten, cold-tossed chicken, fern root noodles, stir-fried beef tripe, Dongxiang-style hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhuayangrou), yellow noodles with grilled meat, sweet platter (tianpanzi), vegetarian pilaf, flower-roll chicken, meat-stuffed tofu (jiasha), yellow-braised meat, steamed opium fish, and meatballs. Dishes at traditional Urumqi banquets are generally lighter than street food, with less chili and salt. The cold-tossed chicken is not made into spicy peppercorn chicken (jiaomaji), which actually suits the tastes of people from inland China better.



















Jinhaiwan is the most popular Hui Muslim banquet hall in the Dawan area of Urumqi. I held my own wedding here five years ago, and coming back now brings back many memories. The cold dishes at the banquet included spicy beef shank, cold-tossed chicken, blueberry yam, and mixed vegetable salad. Hot dishes included hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhuayangrou), yellow-braised beef, oil-seared meat, sauced meat-stuffed tofu (jiasha), yellow noodles with grilled meat, steamed sea bass, stir-fried meat with Awei mushrooms, red-braised meatballs, lotus root and lily stir-fry, and sweet platter (tianpanzi). The staples included thin-skinned buns (baopi baozi), oil towers (youtazi), pilaf with preserved fruits, and grilled flatbread. I was too busy to really eat at my own wedding, but this time I finally enjoyed a great meal.



















The next day, we went to Jiamei Banquet on Liyushan Road for the post-wedding meal (xiatang). We ate cold-tossed chicken, cold-tossed beef shank, oil-seared meat, spinach with gluten, braised meat-stuffed tofu (jiasha), oil towers (youtazi), stir-fried beef tripe, sweet platter (tianpanzi), hand-grabbed meat (shouzhuarou), yellow noodles with grilled meat, red-braised carp, yellow-braised meat, pearl meatballs, and soup. For the post-wedding meal, the restaurant also provides a bowl of minced meat noodles (saozimian). This place is the best among the Hui Muslim banquet restaurants I have tried in Urumqi. The lamb is the most tender and fresh, and the beef shank has the best texture and is the most flavorful. Their minced meat noodles (saozimian) are also delicious and very satisfying. However, they do not have as many tables, so they are used more for engagement parties or post-wedding meals, and are a bit small for a full wedding.

















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Reposted from the web

Summary: This article visits the Sabah Islamic Civilization Museum in Malaysia, with a focus on regional Muslim history, exhibition displays, and local cultural context. It keeps the original museum details, photographs, artifact notes, and travel observations for readers interested in Islamic heritage in Sabah.

The Sabah Islamic Civilization Museum opened in 2002. It has a small collection and is not well-known, but it is special because it holds unique Islamic cultural artifacts from the Malay Archipelago that you cannot see in other museums.





This is a wooden prayer gong (kentung) made in 1918 by the Sambas Sultanate in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is a traditional instrument used to signal the call to prayer.

The Sambas Malays live on the northwest coast of Borneo, right next to the Malaysian state of Sabah. The Sambas Malays founded the Sambas Sultanate in 1675. It became part of Indonesia in 1956, and the Sultan of Sambas still lives in the palace today. The Sambas Malays are mainly Sufi. Their rituals combine features of the Qadiriyya and Naqshbandiyya orders and are famous for their unique chanting style.











This is a manuscript of scripture from Sulawesi, Indonesia, written on date palm leaves and bound in goatskin. It is over a hundred years old. It was donated to the Sabah Islamic Civilization Museum in 2015 by Tuan Hj. Abdullah Abas, a religious teacher from Kinarut, Sabah, Malaysia.







This is a traditional Indonesian wooden chest carved with scripture, used for storing clothes. This type of wood carving is found in several Islamic museums in Malaysia and is a very distinctive piece of Islamic craft.

























This is a bridal curtain used by the Bajau (Sama) people, a sea-faring group living on the west coast of Sabah, Malaysia, in Kota Belud.









This is a porcelain plate with scripture from the 1930s, acquired by the museum in 2005. Malay people usually display this kind of porcelain plate in a cabinet as a decoration.



These scripture-inscribed ceramics were brought to Sabah through trade and include pieces from both China and Europe. Under the rule of the Sultanate of Brunei, Sabah had very close trade ties with the Qing Dynasty, Spain, the Netherlands, and other countries.

















This is a protective vest (dua vest) worn by indigenous soldiers in Sabah during the anti-British resistance led by Mat Salleh between 1894 and 1905.

The resistance leader Mat Salleh, whose real name was Datuk Muhammad Salleh, was an indigenous leader in Sabah. In 1881, the British took control of Sabah by establishing the North Borneo Chartered Company. Mat Salleh felt this violated the rights of the indigenous people and refused to recognize the company. In 1895, after negotiations with the company failed, Mat Salleh was declared a wanted man. He immediately built a fortress to openly resist the British and successfully launched several attacks. He died in battle in 1900, and his followers continued to fight until they were finally defeated in 1905.









This is a decorative wooden frame made in 1918, featuring scripture carvings and traditional embroidery in the center.



These are wooden grave markers from the Semporna region. This type of wooden grave marker is unique to the Semporna area and is carved with floral patterns around the edges.







This is a century-old bas-relief bronze plaque featuring the Basmala.





This is a prayer drum (beduk) made of palm wood and cowhide. It is usually placed in front of the main hall or at the entrance of a mosque, which is why many traditional mosques in Southeast Asia do not have minarets.





There are many wavy-bladed daggers (keris) in museums across Malaysia and Indonesia, but very few have a clear record of their origin. The Museum of Islamic Civilization in Sabah displays a sword called Pedang Khusus. Palace guards in the Tidung Kingdom on Tarakan Island off the east coast of Borneo wore this gold-made, highly detailed weapon.









The second type is called Sundang, a wavy-bladed dagger (keris) with blood grooves used by the Sulu people. The handle of the Sundang is cylindrical, which keeps it from slipping out of your hand during use.





Woodcarver Mba Hj. Edie Ifa from Jepara, Java, Indonesia, worked with students from a nearby Islamic school (madrasa) to carve a pair of scripture-inscribed door panels from a century-old teak log.



A wooden tombstone from the Bajau people of Semporna, with the top carved into the shape of a hat.



A hand-copied Persian scripture from 1796.









A scripture stand from Qom, Iran, dating back to the 18th century.



Tiles from the Ilkhanate period, dating to the 13th or 14th century.



A copper bowl from the Mamluk period in Egypt.



Two sets of cloisonné (jingtailan) altar vases and incense burners. One set likely traveled from Hong Kong to Malaysia during the era of export-oriented production.









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Reposted from the web

Summary: This first part follows a visit to the Great Mosque of Kairouan for Jumu'ah in one of Tunisia's most important Islamic cities. It keeps the original prayer experience, mosque history, photographs, and travel details for readers interested in Muslim heritage in North Africa.

On Friday, we left from the Louage station south of Sousse and reached Kairouan, the most important ancient city in Tunisia, in just one hour. The Louage station in Kairouan is on the west side of the city, but you can ask the driver to drop you off right at the gate of the Great Mosque of Kairouan.

When we arrived at the Great Mosque at twelve o'clock, it was already closed. A young man at the gate told us that other mosques in Kairouan hold Jumu'ah prayer at one o'clock, but only the Great Mosque holds it at three, so he suggested we come back later.

We used this time to look at the exterior of the mosque. The Great Mosque of Kairouan is the oldest and most spectacular Jumu'ah mosque in Tunisia. It was first built in 670 by order of Uqba ibn Nafi, a general of the Arab Umayyad Caliphate. It was destroyed by Christian Berbers in 690 and rebuilt by the Umayyad Caliphate in 703. As the Arab population in Tunisia grew, the number of Muslims in Kairouan increased. The Great Mosque was rebuilt and renovated many times between 724-728, 774, 836, 862-863, and 875, finally taking its current form in the 9th century.

The Great Mosque is a huge, irregular quadrilateral with a perimeter of 405 meters, looking like a fortress from the outside. The outer walls are 1.9 meters thick and built from stone, rubble, and bricks. Because the ground is quite soft, many buttresses were built on the outer walls to increase stability.

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



















While waiting for Jumu'ah, we had lunch at El Brija Restaurant, located on the city wall next to the Great Mosque. The atmosphere and service were both good, and they serve traditional Tunisian food. I recommend eating here when visiting the Great Mosque.

We ordered a traditional appetizer platter and a mixed couscous stew. When eating at a proper restaurant in Tunisia, you really only need to order the main course, as most places provide side dishes and bread.

Our appetizer platter included Tunisian salad, Houria carrot salad, and Mechouia green pepper salad. We ate these three dishes almost every day in Tunisia. Tunisian salad is made of diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions mixed with olive oil, topped with boiled eggs and tuna. Mechouia salad contains green peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and more. Tunisians love it, and it is rich in vitamins and very healthy. The couscous stew was very rich, containing lamb, Merguez sausage, chicken, beef, dried fruits, and preserved fruits. The Merguez sausage is seasoned with cumin and chili, making it very flavorful.

After the meal, we were served mint tea and Makroudh dessert. Makroudh is a classic North African Maghreb snack for breaking the fast. It is made of semolina on the outside, filled with date paste and dried fruits, then baked and soaked in syrup.



















We returned to the Great Mosque after two o'clock, and people were already entering the prayer hall. Once inside the courtyard, the first thing you see is the oldest minaret (bangke ta) still in existence today. The minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan was built between the 8th and 9th centuries. The current structure mostly dates back to 836. It is one of the three most important early minarets, alongside the spiral minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq, built between 848 and 852, and the spiral minaret of the Abu Dulaf Mosque in Iraq, built in 859. These three served as models for later minarets across Andalusia and the Maghreb.

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

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













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

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

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



















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

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

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



















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

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

The maksura at the Great Mosque of Kairouan was built in the first half of the 11th century. It is the oldest maksura in the world still in use. The maksura at the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain was built in 965, but it is no longer used today. The maksura is made of cedar and is 14 meters long. It is carved with ornate Kufic calligraphy and floral patterns, representing the highest achievement in Tunisian carving art at that time.

The maksura originated during the time of Caliph Uthman in the mid-7th century. After Caliph Umar was assassinated inside the prayer hall, Uthman built a partition wall inside the hall to protect himself. Later, mosques where the Caliph resided would all have a maksura built inside.



















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

There are 414 stone columns inside the prayer hall. They are made of marble, granite, and porphyry, with capitals in styles including Corinthian, Ionic, and Composite. Some capitals were carved specifically for the prayer hall, while many others came from ancient Roman, Phoenician, and Byzantine sites in Tunisia, including the famous ancient city of Carthage.















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





The grand scene of Jumu'ah at the Great Mosque of Kairouan. After the adhan is finished, the imam slowly walks up the minbar to begin the khutbah. In Arabic-speaking regions, everyone understands the khutbah, so there is no sermon session beforehand.

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

After the prayer, we stood for janazah outside the prayer hall door. Because Jumu'ah was at three o'clock, we immediately returned to the prayer hall to perform Dhuhr after finishing.

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



















After leaving the Great Mosque of Kairouan, we started exploring the ancient medina of Kairouan. Besides the Great Mosque, the other ancient mosque remaining in Kairouan is the Mosque of the Three Doors (Masjid al-Thalathat Abwab), built in 866. This mosque has the oldest decorated facade of any religious building in the world.

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



















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

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



















The tomb of Sidi Sahib in Kairouan blends Andalusian, Italian Renaissance, and local Kairouan architectural styles. The interior features many classic 17th-century Tunisian Qallalin tiles and rich plaster carvings.



















At the minaret, gate, and main hall of the Sidi Sahib tomb in Kairouan, an old man in the courtyard pours perfume into the hands of every visitor (dosti) who comes to pay their respects.













The Sidi Abid al-Ghariani school (madrasa) and shrine (zawiya) inside the Kairouan Medina were founded in the 14th century and expanded significantly in the 17th century. Abid al-Ghariani was a scholar, and his teacher, Al-Jadidi, was a famous judge in Kairouan. Al-Jadidi passed away in 1384 while on the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Abid al-Ghariani took over his teacher's role to continue teaching in Kairouan, and after he died in 1402, he was buried next to the school.

Besides Abid al-Ghariani, the Hafsid dynasty Caliph Moulay Hasan (reigned 1526-1543) is also buried here. In 1534, the famous pirate Barbarossa led a fleet to invade Tunisia. Moulay Hasan eventually took back Tunisia with the help of the Holy Roman Empire, but he had to sign a treaty to become a vassal of Spain. In 1542, while Moulay Hasan was traveling to Italy to collect weapons and ammunition, his son usurped the throne, and he was eventually exiled. He lived in Naples and Sicily for several years and later met with the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope, becoming the most well-known Arab monarch to Europeans of that era.































The city walls and gates of the Kairouan Medina.

Kairouan was founded in 670 by the Arab Umayyad general Uqba ibn Nafi, who chose the site to serve as a military base for the Arab conquest of Tunisia. Over the next hundred years, the Berbers launched wave after wave of uprisings against the Arabs. After surviving many attacks, Kairouan was finally captured by the Berbers in 745 and was not retaken until the end of the 8th century.





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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing halal food guide lists 38 international Muslim restaurants across the city, including Middle Eastern, South Asian, Central Asian, and other halal dining options. It keeps the original locations, restaurant notes, food details, and practical context for readers planning halal meals in Beijing.

Arab restaurants

1. The owner of Taiba is Iraqi, and the shop is in Sanlitun SOHO.

2. Taiba's new restaurant, Alkhaleej Mandi Kitchen, focuses on Gulf Arab flavors and serves Yemeni food.

3. The Lebanese restaurant Alameen is in the Sanlitun embassy area, behind the German Embassy.

4. The Lebanese restaurant Sumac (Sumake) is by the Liangma River. It is a bit pricey, and I have not been there yet.

5. The Palestinian restaurant Alsafir is on the Ocean Express food street at Sanyuanqiao.

6. The rotisserie meat shop Shawarma City (Shawama Cheng) is in the sunken plaza of Sanlitun SOHO. The owner is Palestinian and sells rotisserie meat. There is no indoor seating, so you can eat on the chairs at the entrance or take it to go.

7. The Syrian restaurant BRBR has one shop in Wudaokou and another in SOLANA, which is very busy on weekends.

8. The Syrian restaurant One Thousand and One Nights is next to the Sanlitun Diplomatic Residence Compound and is a long-standing Arab restaurant.

9. The Egyptian restaurant Cleopatra is in Sanlitun SOHO. It is a hookah lounge that sells light meals and has a buffet on weekends.

10. The Tunisian restaurant La Medina is on Liangmahe South Road outside Dongzhimen, by the Liangma River.

11. Habibi in Jiugong, Daxing. I have not eaten here yet.

Turkish restaurants

12. The high-end Turkish restaurant Sultan (Sutan) serves main courses and Mado breakfast, located in Jinshangyuan, Xinyuanli.

13. Turkish Mama is next to the Sanlitun Diplomatic Residence Compound, right by One Thousand and One Nights and Iranian food.

14. The owner of West Yard (Xiting Xiuse) is Azerbaijani. One shop is next to Sultan in Jinshangyuan, another is in China Central Place, and a new shop in WF Central is opening soon.

15. The owner of Dardanelles (Dadanier) is also Azerbaijani. The main shop is on Ritan Shangjie, and there are snack shops in Sanlitun SOHO and Xiushui Street.

16. Desert Rose and Dardanelles have the same owner, and the prices are slightly lower than Dardanelles.

Azerbaijani restaurants

17. The long-standing Azerbaijani restaurant Ruilin on Ritan Shangjie is a witness to the trade with Russia on Yabaolu. They also serve Russian food.

18. A newly opened Azerbaijani restaurant on Xiaoyun Road. I have not been there yet.

South Asian restaurants

19. The Pakistani restaurant Samosa focuses on buffets. One shop is at the old China International Exhibition Center, and the other is outside Dongzhimen.

The Pakistani restaurant Zamzam is on Xueqing Road and also features a buffet.

The Pakistani restaurant Habibi is north of the west gate of Minzu University and also features a buffet.

The Pakistani restaurant Khan Baba has one location in Wudaokou and another in Sanlitun SOHO. The owner is a Pashtun from Peshawar.

The Pakistani restaurant Lahore Restaurant has one location on Qingnian Road and another outside Dongzhimen. The owner is Punjabi.

The Pakistani restaurant Sultan is in the mountains of Huairou and offers accommodation.

The Pakistani restaurant Masala is in the Huairou county seat and has the same owner as Sultan.

Shalimar Restaurant is near the Capital Airport's Euro Plaza (Xiangyun Xiaozhen). The owner is Bangladeshi and serves mostly Indian food.

Punjabi (Benjiebi) is on Haoyun Street across from Solana (Lanse Gangwan). The owner is Bangladeshi and serves mostly Indian food.

Saduli is on Beiluoguxiang. The owner is Bangladeshi and serves mostly Indian food.

Yummy is an Indian flying bread (feibing) shop near the Communication University of China that I have not tried yet.

Dastaan Restaurant is in Sanlitun SOHO and the owner is an Indian Muslim.

Bollywood Story is a restaurant the owner of Dastaan opened in Baiziwan, which I have not tried yet.

Love at Curry (Ai Zai Gali) is on the basement floor of the Hongqiao Market in Ciqikou. The server said the owner is a Muslim from New Delhi.

Ganges Impression (Henghe Yinxiang) is in the Gulou Garden on Gulou East Street. It has a halal sign at the door, but I have not tried it yet.

The long-standing Indian restaurant Indian Kitchen (Yindu Xiaochu) is on Ritan Shangjie. The owner is Hindu, but the ingredients are halal.

Ganges Legend (Henghe Chuanqi) is in The Place (Shimao Tianjie). They are likely also Hindu, but the ingredients are halal.

African food

Tribal Garden (Buluo Huayuan) is a newly opened West African Ghanaian restaurant in Sanlitun SOHO.

Indonesian restaurants

The owner of NomNom is not Muslim, but the ingredients are halal. Indonesian Muslim students and embassy staff eat there.

Iranian restaurants

Iranian Food (Yilang Meishi) is next to the Sanlitun Diplomatic Apartment. It used to be an authentic Iranian restaurant called Persepolis. I went once after they changed the name, but I saw the staff were all Chinese and the taste was not very authentic, so I never went back. Collapse Read »