[Internet Repost]

Exploring Yinchuan’s Urban Mosques: Historic Sanctuaries and Hui Muslim Community Memories Amidst the Bustling City



Abstract:



A walking tour of the urban mosques in Yinchuan. Documenting solemn prayer halls and quiet courtyards tucked away amidst bustling commercial streets, exploring the historic evolution of these ancient mosques, and examining their role in serving the daily religious and spiritual lives of local Hui Muslim communities.



Ningxia is home to 2.4 million Hui Muslims and over 3,000 mosques—averaging roughly one mosque for every 800 people, a ratio that is even higher in rural townships.



As Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, visiting its mosques is an absolute must.



According to online sources, downtown Yinchuan is home to over a dozen mosques, so I mapped out a walking tour of four major ones: the South, East, North, and West mosques (Nanguan, Dongguan, Beiguan, and Xiguan mosques).



The Nanguan Mosque in Yinchuan is one of the oldest and largest mosques in northern China, with historical records dating back to the late Ming dynasty. Originally built in traditional Chinese architectural style, it was torn down during the Cultural Revolution and rebuilt on its original site after 1981. Online videos described the Nanguan Mosque as an architectural masterpiece, a deeply influential landmark, and the largest mosque in the city. The videos showcased its striking Arabic architectural style, complete with a dome-topped minaret bearing a prominent crescent moon emblem and vibrant glazed tiles. It can hold up to 1,300 worshippers at once and remains an open tourist attraction.



After finishing the Yinchuan Marathon, I stayed at a chain hotel in the South Gate (Nanguan) neighborhood, just 600 meters from the Nanguan Mosque. In the afternoon, once the temperature cooled down a bit, I set off on foot.



I arrived within minutes, but at first glance, it looked completely different from the videos online. The Nanguan Mosque faces west with its entrance to the east (most mosques east of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem share this orientation, meaning worshippers always face the holy sanctuaries). The main entrance is a three-dimensional square structure featuring a porch; the door pillars are painted white with green trim, and the lintel boasts a golden plaque inscribed with "Yinchuan Nanguan Mosque." On both sides of the entrance are rooms resembling a guard station and security office. Right in the center of the courtyard stands a flagpole bearing the national flag. Climbing a double flight of stairs leads to the prayer hall (liubaidian), which is currently closed to visitors. Inside, there is bound to be a mihrab (prayer niche) facing Mecca. The minaret and green crescent-topped spire featured in the videos are no longer visible. The current prayer hall features a traditional Chinese hip-and-gable roof (xieshan style), with Chinese characters painted on the east-facing windows reading "Patriotism" and "Peace," while the middle window simply reads "Nanguan Mosque." Just then, a bearded Muslim man asked me, "Are you here for prayer?" "I’m just visiting," I replied. "You can leave now," the Hui man said coldly. Wearing a white brimless Hui cap and a full beard, he looked quite stern. Just as I was about to say something, he strode into the prayer hall. Turning to look at the sides, I noticed five large characters on the second-floor north wing reading "Faith, Prayer, Fasting, Alms, Pilgrimage" (Shahada, Salah, Sawm, Zakat, Hajj), arranged from east to west across the rooms. On the east side of the second floor, another structure was undergoing renovations, also featuring a traditional Chinese hip-and-gable roof with painted dougong brackets and beamed ceilings.



Though it was getting late, the nearby ancient Bell Tower and Yuhuang Pavilion (Jade Emperor Pavilion) were still within walking distance, so I strolled over slowly. By dusk, the gates were locked—I couldn't tell if visitors are allowed to climb up for the view during the day. Within just a few steps, historic architecture from various traditions has been remarkably well-preserved. Truly, you can find a "Shangri-La" anywhere in China.



The next morning, I headed to Qinglian Square (formerly known as Crescent Square) to catch a ride, passing by the Dongguan Mosque along the way. The Dongguan Mosque also sits right by the busy street, facing west with its entrance to the east. It features an entrance hall, a courtyard, and a prayer hall. The prayer hall is a two-story building with a traditional Chinese roof; the porch under the eaves is decorated in the style of Islamic domes, and banners hang along the railings from south to north bearing the words "Equality," "Solidarity," "Mutual Aid," and "Harmony." Right in the center of the first floor, a prominent electronic digital display shows the times for the five daily prayers down to the minute.



Returning to Crescent Square by dusk, I walked less than 2 kilometers to the Beiguan Mosque. This mosque is also nestled right along a bustling street, with its main entrance facing east and commercial storefronts lining both sides. On either side of the entrance hall were seemingly unmanned guard stations. The prayer hall is a two-story structure with a traditional Chinese-style roof. Electronic signs listed the daily prayers—Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha—sequentially down to the minute, with Jumu'ah (Friday congregational prayer) listed at 12:45 PM. Not a single soul was around. I had hoped to ask a few questions, such as: "Since these city mosques are located so close to one another, why are the prayer times different?" or "Why aren't Islamic teachings explained more to non-Muslims?" But since I couldn't find anyone, I had to let it go.

On the following day—my third day in Yinchuan—I took a morning bus to the Xiguan Mosque. The main structure remains the prayer hall, featuring a three-dimensional sign on the roof reading "Xiguan Mosque." A plaque on the first-floor roof reads "Patriotism and Love for Religion, Promoting Ethnic Harmony." The building features a green roof, red pillars, and white walls, creating a very harmonious and comforting aesthetic. The flagpole stands in the center of the courtyard on a two-story high terrace—unlike the other three mosques, where the flagpoles are either placed on flat ground or set atop the roof. Among the four urban mosques, the Xiguan Mosque is by far the neatest and most aesthetically pleasing. While the prayer halls of all four mosques are two-story pseudo-classic buildings, each has its own distinct character. The Xiguan Mosque is the cleanest, with no commercial shops outside the courtyard and no haphazardly parked cars inside. Once again, the courtyard was completely empty. Stepping up to the prayer hall, I peered in through the glass: the interior was completely deserted, with carpets laid out at uniform intervals across the wooden floor, and the mihrab set against the western wall. Like the other three mosques, the sides of the prayer hall house a library, meeting room, kitchen, utility room, and study classrooms.

Online recommendations often point to the Tongxin Great Mosque (Tongxin Mosque) in Wuzhong City and the Najahu Mosque (Najahu Mosque) in Yongning County—both grand in scale and deeply influential—but I couldn't visit them due to time constraints. Still, as the saying goes, "If there is a Peach Blossom Spring in your heart, anywhere can be a realm of water and clouds."

With one mosque for every 800 people in Ningxia, this density is far higher than the proportion of religious sites for the Han Chinese. Religion has existed since ancient times, born alongside communal social life to remind people of the rules they ought to follow. With mosques so densely packed across Ningxia, I couldn't help worrying about ideological rigidity, and I really wanted to ask the Prophet: as eras change, can new teachings be added to the doctrine?

To a certain extent, religion is simply a "set of rules." Broadly speaking, insects, fish, and social animals all have their own "rules." Could we therefore say that these animals also have "gods" of their own, and by extension, their own "religions," since all of these arise from the necessity of order?

Over three days, during four distinct time slots, I visited all four urban mosques in Yinchuan—East, West, North, and South—while mentally picturing Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock (Omar Mosque), and the Great Mosque of Mecca. I had so many questions and desperately wanted to consult an Imam for some guidance, but alas, the opportunity didn't arise. In the end, after pondering it myself, I concluded that while the mosques differ, the Way is one. Since the Way resides within the heart, why must one pray five times a day? It reminded me of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, who wore a tight-fitting golden headband throughout his journey to fetch the scriptures, only for it to instantly vanish the moment he attained Buddhahood. Did it truly disappear, or did it become embedded within his heart? And if it embedded itself in his heart, wouldn't that mean the golden headband became even tighter and more inescapable?

I still haven't quite figured it out.

Recorded by Langyue on May 26, 2025 view all

[Internet Repost]

Hidden Gem on the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway: Why Young Hui Muslims Are Obsessed with Kaiyuan



Abstract:



As an industrial hub along the historic Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, Kaiyuan in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, draws on the rich Halal culinary traditions of Dazhuang Hui Township to spawn a wave of youthful, stylish modern Halal eateries and cafes. This article takes a deep dive into Kaiyuan's evolving Halal food scene, the wave of young Hui entrepreneurs returning home, and a laid-back, livable picture of multi-ethnic harmony.



Kaiyuan is a cozy little county-level city in the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province. Tucked along the historic Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, it's literally a city built by the train tracks.



You could say Kaiyuan is an industrial city, a tropical city, a youthful city, and definitely a delicious city. Everyone says Kaiyuan folks are truly blessed, and honestly, living here just feels amazing.



Dazhuang Township in Kaiyuan is a Hui township, and a huge number of people from Dazhuang have moved into Kaiyuan to build their careers in the restaurant business. That's why Kaiyuan's Halal food scene is completely off the charts—definitely way too massive for just one blog post to cover.



Over the past few years, tons of new Halal spots have popped up across Kaiyuan, though plenty have come and gone, too. But it's exactly this constant wave of new openings and culinary experiments that makes Kaiyuan such an awesome place for young Hui folks to hang out.



Why are Kaiyuan's Halal restaurants getting so youthful?



A huge chunk of Kaiyuan's Halal eateries are run by and geared toward the younger generation. These spots often feature stunning interior design, gorgeous plating, and major photo ops for social media. While these tags totally fit the vibe of modern viral internet-famous shops, what's amazing is that the food at these places actually tastes incredible!



I vaguely remember over a decade ago, one of the very first Halal spots in Kaiyuan to capture young people's attention was Da Rong Shu (The Big Banyan Tree). Back then, their various rice bowl meals, fried rice, and fried street-style snacks felt super fresh and exciting.



As time rolls on, newer spots naturally replace the old classics, but Kaiyuan's youthful Halal scene keeps constantly renewing itself, giving locals that fresh, exciting vibe all the time.



With so many young Hui professionals moving to Kaiyuan for work, these trendy Halal restaurants have naturally multiplied to match their lifestyle, satisfying young urbanites' cravings for a cool weekend vibe and great food.



Take Mousse Xiao Ge, for instance—it's a dessert shop with a gorgeous Halal sign out front. When you take traditional symbols and give them a fresh, modern aesthetic twist like this, it's hard for young people not to fall in love with it.



Even though these places sometimes catch the 'internet-famous' label, I really feel like the owners pour their hearts into building and running these businesses. Young Hui folks choosing to put down roots in Kaiyuan definitely has a lot to do with the rise of these creative spots.



Kaiyuan is seriously becoming more and more magnetic for young Hui Muslims.



Kaiyuan has amazing greenery, and these restaurants really lean into lush plant styling to create gorgeous spaces. Sometimes, even before you know if the food is totally your thing, just walking in and sitting down at one of these places feels like self-care.



Uncle Sai (Sai Dashu) sits right along the banks of the Lujiang River, offering incredible views out the window.



A restaurant that puts real thought into its concept is always going to draw a crowd. Whether it's the interior design or the tiny details, these young entrepreneurs are putting serious work into figuring it out.



Ma Guo Kai Xiao Zuo Traditional Beef Soup Hot Pot is one of those places that nails the details. The owner chose a bunch of local Yunnan cultural elements for the decor: woven bamboo tools, earthen pottery jars, and more. Adding these touches gives the restaurant a ton of creative flair—and that creativity is a huge magnet for the younger crowd.



You can really see that more and more young Hui entrepreneurs are baking aesthetics right into their restaurant concepts from day one.



Of course, gorgeous interior design can never make up for food that doesn't taste good. That's also why these trendy young spots sometimes shut down—at the end of the day, incredible food is the absolute foundation of a lasting restaurant.



Why these specific Halal flavors?



Kaiyuan's Halal food scene basically breaks down into two main categories: first, fresh modern spins on classic local Kaiyuan flavors; and second, Halal adaptations of exotic cuisine.



Fresh Modern Spins on Classic Local Kaiyuan Flavors



Everyone knows that Yunnan's number one food love is rice noodles (mianxian). If you walk into 100 Halal restaurants in Kaiyuan, easily 90 of them are serving up noodles! Beyond the traditional beef soup rice noodles and stir-fried rice noodles at barbecue street stalls, younger foodies are totally hooked on these creative, innovative bowls.



A spot called Nianjiu (Reminiscence) has seriously taken rice noodles to the next level. Their Sichuan pepper and green peppercorn beef noodles (tengjiao niurou mianxian), pickled bamboo shoot beef noodles (suansun niurou mianxian), and super-popular spicy chili oil noodles (huhu lazhi baokuan mianxian) are absolute flavor bombs!



The older generation might argue that rice noodles should only be eaten the classic way to be truly savory, but young people are always chasing fresh flavor profiles—and these creative upgrades totally deliver without any buyer's remorse.



Their porcini mushroom fried rice (niuganjun chaofan) is also a must-try. Wild mushrooms are the ultimate Yunnan specialty, and in recent years, chefs have been loving to fold them into their menus. Porcini mushrooms and green chili peppers are an absolute match made in heaven, and tossing them into fried rice takes it to a whole new level.



Kaiyuan has plenty of local signatures, and beef soup hot pot (niutangguo) is definitely near the top. It’s not just used as a noodle base, but served up family-style as a bubbling hot pot.



Ma Guo Kai Xiao Zuo sources its beef directly from local Dazhuang cattle. 'Dazhuang' is practically a badge of honor for top-tier beef; as soon as a restaurant advertises that their hot pot uses authentic local Dazhuang beef, you can bet it pulls in a massive crowd of hungry diners.



The owner says, "We only sell local beef." Stick to that one hard rule, and you're pretty much guaranteed to crush it. It just shows how insanely high the local respect is for Dazhuang local beef!



Halal twists on exotic global flavors



Dai cuisine, Thai flavors, Vietnamese street eats—you can find Halal versions of all these iconic regional styles right here in Kaiyuan.



Lately, Thai and Dai flavors have been blowing up all over Yunnan. Since Kaiyuan has a huge population of young Hui Muslims, there's a serious appetite for these trending tastes, so naturally, restaurants dishing them out have been popping up back-to-back.



Shi Zhi Qingzhen, located in Jiete Plaza, specializes in Thai and Dai food. It's won a major following because the dishes taste super authentic.



They've got everything from Dai-style oil-splashed dishes to Thai tom yum. You'll spot all the absolute must-have ingredients in these flavor profiles: Myanmar culantro, fresh lime, lemongrass, and tiny, fiery Xiaomi chili peppers...



It kinda reminds us of Uncle Sai, a super trendy Thai spot that blew up recently. Though sadly, the original location isn't open anymore.



Our foodie squad went twice and totally fell in love with it. Regardless of how you judge the exact flavor, Uncle Sai basically set a whole new, innovative high-water mark for Kaiyuan's Halal food scene.

We seriously respect Uncle Sai's spot—they put so much genuine thought into the design, the vibe, and the cooking. Their food genuinely transports you straight back to Thailand, and the aesthetic hits different.

Who wouldn't want to feast on exotic flavors in a gorgeous little spot like this?

Beyond just the exotic food, having exotic interior design to match is an absolute vibe. Our squad is low-key obsessed with retro aesthetics—walking in literally makes you feel like you've jetted off to Chiang Mai~ The warm cocoa tones, indoor greenery, and vintage floor tiles tie everything together so well.

Why are so many young people grinding for the Halal food scene?

In Honghe Prefecture, Kaiyuan feels like a pretty youthful city.

And the power of youth is all about having fresh ideas.

A fast-food joint called Yiran Halal is an absolute obsession for local nine-to-fivers and delivery workers in Kaiyuan. Even though it's just regular fast food—your standard three meat dishes and two veggie sides—their business is ridiculously booming.

The secret sauce behind this regular fast-food spot's massive success is the owner: the Lunchbox Knight.

Packing lunchboxes is the day job, but being a knight is the dream. A young, entrepreneurial boss running a fast-food joint while never losing sight of his dreams.

Running a Douyin (TikTok) account gives this little shop a unique soul—another flex of youth culture. Hui Muslim youth are constantly learning, leveling up, and building something totally unique. That is seriously so important.

Sure, it's just your standard three-meat-and-two-veggie setup, and the cooking is straightforward, but it slaps. Even in a seemingly basic Halal spot like this, the hustle and drive of these young Hui Muslims make the whole place shine bright.

You guys already know 'Maguo' from Maguo's Private Kitchen—yep, the genius behind our convenience store's viral coconut sesame chicken has opened up a hot pot spot right here in Kaiyuan.

Now, Kaiyuan already has tons and tons of hot pot joints in every style imaginable, including Halal Sichuan and Chongqing hot pots, but Maguo decided to focus strictly on local beef soup hot pot.

From the storefront decor to the ingredient curation, you can tell everything is filtered through young brains to keep the spot fresh and vibrant. Infusing modern youth culture into traditional eats is key—after all, only young people truly know what young people want.

When our foodie squad rolled into Kaiyuan, we were instantly hooked by how youthful the city felt. If you're a young Hui Muslim moving here to live, you'll never have to worry about finding a place that keeps you feeling young.

Critics might say these trendy spots won't stand the test of time, and hey, Kaiyuan has countless rock-solid, old-school Halal institutions. Every single year, new joints open up while others close down or relocate.

Yet these new spots are the physical embodiment of the Hui youth's dreams and hopes. If we had to pick anywhere in Honghe Prefecture to settle down, it would be Kaiyuan in a heartbeat. Come to Kaiyuan, and you'll never worry about what to eat, nor will you run out of fresh vibes, youthfulness, and aesthetic joy.

You might not be planning a dedicated trip to Kaiyuan just based on this article, but if you ever get the chance to visit Honghe Prefecture in Yunnan, do yourself a favor and come to Kaiyuan specifically for a food crawl.

The restaurants our squad listed here are just the tip of the iceberg, so let's shout out a few legendary, can't-miss, tried-and-true Halal spots in Kaiyuan!

There's a traditional *chuanguo* (bronze pot hot pot) spot at the Linjiang Farmers' Market, though we hear it's moved to Yingxu Plaza now. The Halal joints on Youth Road have been holding it down for ages, and Changjiu Xiaojuanfen (Changjiu rice noodles) tucked away in a small alley—if you know, you know. Every single Halal restaurant is packed to the brim. Old-school spots like Yingjiang and Dongqiao are absolute classics. And the stir-fry at the Muslim Alcohol-Free Restaurant right next to the Kaiyuan North Bus Station is mind-blowing!

These days, Meituan and Ele.me delivery drivers are zipping all over Kaiyuan, and Halal delivery takes up like half the action. Kaiyuan is a city so vibrant you couldn't possibly capture it all in just a few articles.

Long story short: Kaiyuan is seriously the ultimate vibe for young Hui Muslims! view all

[Internet Repost]

[Overseas Fieldwork Oral History] Ma Shimei | The Migration Story of a Thai-Northern Yunnanese Muslim Family

Abstract:

Ma Shimei (born 1991), female, master's student in Asian-African Languages and Literature at the School of Southeast Asian Studies, Yunnan Minzu University. Regarding the study of Yunnanese Muslim immigrants in northern Thailand, Suthep Soonthornpasuch categorized Yunnanese Muslim immigrants into five groups based on different migration backgrounds in his doctoral dissertation: First, Muslim merchants engaged in long-distance caravan trade between Yunnan and Southeast Asia in the 19th century; second, Yunnanese Muslims who fled to northern Thailand under Qing government persecution after the failure of the Du Wenxiu Rebellion; third, refugees who escaped from Yunnan to Burma and finally relocated to northern Thailand after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949; fourth, Yunnanese individuals loyal to regular Kuomintang troops; fifth, Yunnanese bandits driven out of China after the Chinese Communist Party took power in 1949. [1] Through reading literature and combining it with fieldwork, the author believes that we...

Ma Shimei (born 1991), female, master's student in Asian-African Languages and Literature at the School of Southeast Asian Studies, Yunnan Minzu University

Regarding the study of Yunnanese Muslim immigrants in northern Thailand, Suthep Soonthornpasuch categorized Yunnanese Muslim immigrants into five groups based on different migration backgrounds in his doctoral dissertation: First, Muslim merchants engaged in long-distance caravan trade between Yunnan and Southeast Asia in the 19th century; second, Yunnanese Muslims who fled to northern Thailand under Qing government persecution after the failure of the Du Wenxiu Rebellion; third, refugees who escaped from Yunnan to Burma and finally relocated to northern Thailand after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949; fourth, Yunnanese individuals loyal to regular Kuomintang troops; fifth, Yunnanese bandits driven out of China after the Chinese Communist Party took power in 1949. [1] Through reading literature and combining it with fieldwork, the author believes we can no longer fully reconstruct history, but can only explore the migration history of our ancestors through historical relics and oral histories from later generations. Among the immigration categories mentioned above, "Yunnanese bandits" lacks precise historical verification, and the author did not encounter related accounts during the investigation, so the author offers no evaluation of the fifth category, "Yunnanese bandits." However, aside from this, we learn about the migration history and origins of northern Thai Yunnanese Muslims from the other four migration types, which is indispensable material for our current research on local Yunnanese Muslims. Combining oral histories collected during the author's fieldwork and taking the migration experience of ZHGJ's [2] family as an example, this article explores the migration history and living conditions of northern Thai Yunnanese Muslims.

ZHGJ (female, 86 years old) is a native of Dali Ancient City, while her husband, MDH, is a native of Dabaiyi, Yuxi. MDH was the eighth Imam (prayer leader) of the Baan Haw Mosque (serving from 1980–1993 Gregorian calendar) and passed away more than 20 years ago. They had two sons and two daughters. Both sons went to the United States to pursue master's degrees in management. After graduation, the older son began working in Bangkok, married a local non-Muslim Thai woman, and has a daughter currently studying engineering at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. The younger son works as a manager at a foreign trade company in Chiang Mai and married the sixth daughter of MCL. Both daughters work in administrative roles at Chiang Mai University and married descendants of Yunnanese people. Today, the older daughter has two daughters: one works in the pharmacy of Chiang Mai University's affiliated hospital, and the other is still attending a medical college in another province. The younger son and younger daughter remained childless several years after marriage.



First-Generation Migration: From Dali, China to Panghsang, Burma

ZHGJ told the author that because of the failure of the Du Wenxiu Rebellion, her father's generation of Muslims in Dali suffered persecution and massacres by the Qing government. To escape the slaughter, they fled to the Panghsang area along the China-Myanmar border and settled there. Later, due to turmoil in Panghsang, she and her family fled overnight to Taunggyi, Burma. During the period when Qing troops withdrew from Dali, ZHGJ returned to Dali to stay with her aunt and attend elementary school; after graduating, she returned to her parents' side to attend middle school. Because Burma was under British rule at the time, learning English was mandatory in school. Thus, at an early age, she mastered three languages: Chinese, English, and Burmese. ZHGJ's parents were married in Panghsang, Burma; her mother was also a Hui Muslim who fled from Yunnan to Burma. After marriage, they had three sons and three daughters—the three oldest were daughters and the youngest were three sons—and she was the eldest child in the family. Today, both younger brothers have passed away; only the oldest younger brother is in the United States. One sister married an Indian-descent Muslim and lives in Yangon, Burma, while another sister married a Burmese-descent Muslim in Taunggyi. After her husband passed away a few years ago, she moved to Bangkok, Thailand, to live with her daughter.

ZHGJ in her youth (far left) with her family

(Photographed by the author in 2017 from ZHGJ's photo album; the original photo was taken in Burma)

Second-Generation Migration: From Taunggyi, Burma to Chiang Mai, Thailand

According to ZHGJ, when the airport in Chiang Mai was newly built, she and her female cousins agreed to take a plane ride to experience it. Since she was already working at a bank in Burma at the time, she took leave and flew to Chiang Mai with her cousins to visit for a few days. One of her brothers hosted them in Chiang Mai, and upon meeting her, he formed the intention of introducing her to his cousin. She mentioned that back then, they had only seen each other's photos, and even their engagement was decided jointly by her parents-in-law, with her father-in-law traveling to Burma carrying betrothal gifts. The man who would later become her husband was still away leading horse caravans in business at the time and could not go in person. ZHGJ smiled and added that her father-in-law was very satisfied when he met her, so the marriage was finalized right then and there. Chatting about her and her husband's love story, she also recalled: back then, a very beautiful young woman living in Chiang Mai city also fancied her husband. At the time, her husband's older cousin went to propose marriage to this young woman's family. As a result, the young woman told her family, "The dark one (referring to that cousin), I won't give myself to him (I won't marry him); if it's the fair one (ZHGJ's husband), I'll give myself to him (I am willing to marry him)." [3] ZHGJ said this beautiful young woman was Thai, but her husband didn't want to marry a Thai woman—he was completely set on marrying a Chinese woman. Later, hearing that his cousin had introduced a Chinese girl named ZHGJ, he decided to get married without ever having met her.



After marriage, ZHGJ stayed behind in Burma while her husband continued leading horse caravans for trade, primarily transporting goods from the Burmese border to sell in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Bangkok. The goods also included opium. ZHGJ herself told the author without any concealment about transporting opium, saying that back then there were many opium dens in Chiang Mai, and engaging in the opium trade was not illegal. Later, a coup occurred in the Burmese government, plunging the situation into turmoil. ZHGJ's husband was filled with fear over the coup, so in 1964 he fled with his family to Chiang Mai and settled there.

She described it this way: "The Burmese government suddenly announced overnight that 100-yuan banknotes were no longer valid—they were scrapped. The cash in the hands of countless ordinary people instantly vanished into thin air." Her husband panicked, so he tried every possible means to escape. At that time, they already had three children. Her family and her aunt's family (her mother's sister's family) bought two horses and fled outward, while her other siblings and her parents did not come along. We can hardly imagine what they experienced during the month-plus escape. The author asked her, "Weren't you scared escaping from the mountains?" She smiled and said, "Of course we were still scared! The babies were small, and the youngest was still nursing. Coming through mountain trails, passing through those deep mountain wildernesses, resting among those massive trees—we were scared, so scared (Thai people like to use reduplication to heighten emotional color when expressing certain feelings and experiences—Author's note), but we all made it out, so we couldn't worry about much else." The two families had only two horses, which also had to carry food and supplies. The women rode the horses while the men walked, trekking through mountain paths for a full month and a half. Along the way, they encountered who knows how many problems. She said, "Hiking through the big mountains, one minute it was burning hot, the next it was pouring rain. The little kids would get sick, and the roads were so rough—those paths were truly roads only horses could walk out of." After fleeing to Chiang Mai, her husband first settled them in a village in the mountains and only brought them down after finding a house in Chiang Mai city. After arriving in Chiang Mai, they didn't go off to regular jobs; instead, they opened a small shop right at the entrance of the Baan Haw Mosque, selling pastries and dried noodles. After arriving in Chiang Mai, because the government launched a strict crackdown on opium, her husband did not continue the opium business.

Shortly after arriving in Chiang Mai, they caught the Thai government issuing "alien ID cards" (citizenship cards) to outsiders, allowing them to successfully acquire Thai nationality. She said, "The Thai King is so good, and his heart is broad. He is willing to let people from other countries live on his land, and he cares deeply for ordinary people. Thai people respect him very much, and we Yunnanese do too." She shared that the King once told the people: "A flowerpot is only beautiful when it has all kinds of flowers in it; a single variety doesn't look good." That is why he was willing to accept people who fled from China and issue us citizenship cards.

From these two migrations, we understand that ZHGJ's paternal generation fled to Panghsang, Burma, after the failure of the Du Wenxiu Rebellion, marrying and having children locally. Following the marriage of the second generation—herself and her husband—they fled once again to Chiang Mai, Thailand, due to the Burmese government coup. These two migrations neatly formed the migration route of "Yunnan–Burma–Chiang Mai," a trajectory proposed by many scholars in academia early on. During my fieldwork, I encountered a large proportion of Yunnanese Muslims whose ancestors first migrated to Burma and later relocated to Chiang Mai. Some moved to escape political coups, while others shifted to northern Thailand through intermarriage between Yunnanese populations in the two places. Today, these Yunnanese who relocated to Chiang Mai have lived in Thailand for nearly fifty to sixty years, and virtually all have obtained Thai citizenship. I classify these two migrations as "political refugee" movements, whereas the earlier "caravan merchants" trace their origins back to her husband's family's migration.

The "Unreturnable" Caravan Merchants

According to ZHGJ, her husband's family was formerly a prominent, wealthy family known as the "Ma Family of Dabaiyi, Yuxi." The men of the family had been engaged in horse caravan trade from an early age, traveling year-round between Yunnan and Southeast Asia for long-distance caravan commerce, rarely returning home. Only the elderly mother, her husband's first wife, and two children were left behind at home. Her father-in-law took his two sons out on horse caravans for business, leaving the household in the care of the mother-in-law. The money earned from the caravans was brought back home for the mother-in-law to purchase farmland; nearly all the farmland belonging to the nearby Han Chinese was bought up by them. When a mosque was built in their hometown, their family even donated a plot of land. At the time, her husband's family owned vast amounts of farmland, was extremely wealthy, and even had gold buried inside their home. Back then, her husband's family also built a multi-story building in Kunming, which was later destroyed by fire due to careless fire usage by the occupants. Because of various reasons, the father and two sons could not return to China and could only drift in migration between Burma and Thailand. Later, her husband married her in Myanmar, his younger brother married and started a family in Chiang Mai, and her father-in-law eventually passed away in Chiang Mai. After China's reform and opening up, when domestic conditions improved, her husband would split his earnings into two portions: one left for household expenses in Thailand, and the other regularly sent back to China via proxy for his first wife (her husband's senior wife) to raise the children.



Regarding the migration background of her husband's family, although caravan merchants did not initially settle in northern Thailand, they spent years away from home running caravan businesses and sojourning in northern Thailand. Eventually, due to complex international political factors, they remained permanently in northern Thailand, becoming "unreturnable" caravan merchants. Here, the author categorizes them into the first category of immigration mentioned above: "Yunnanese Muslim merchants engaged in long-distance caravan trade." Although they were not the earliest caravan merchants to settle in northern Thailand, having journeyed back and forth across the Thai-Burmese border year-round to conduct caravan business, they can already be considered part of the early northern Thai Yunnanese Muslim community. Moreover, according to historical literature, the early Yunnanese caravan merchants who settled permanently in northern Thailand were not numerous; the majority were merely sojourning traders traveling back and forth between China, Burma, Thailand, and Laos.

Introduction to the Baan Haw Mosque

(Photographed by the author at the Baan Haw Mosque, 2018)

A Life History of Putting Down Roots

When they first fled from Burma, a relative living in Ban Yang (a refugee village in Chiang Mai) asked them to stay and live in Ban Yang village, saying the living expenses were low and everyone in the village was also from Yunnan. But ZHGJ was unwilling. She told the author: "I was not willing. I wanted to take my children to study in Chiang Mai city. In Ban Yang, you could only learn a bit of Thai and Chinese—and even Chinese had to be studied in hiding and in secret. In the city, you could learn everything." Later, they came to Chiang Mai city, rented a property from the Baan Haw Mosque, and opened a shop at the entrance. Because her husband was already a "Hajj" who had completed the pilgrimage to Mecca before marrying her, upon arriving in Chiang Mai city, her husband was appointed as the Imam (prayer leader) of the mosque. She and her husband placed great emphasis on their children's education. She once told the author that she hoped her children would not wander around everywhere like the older generation, fleeing from place to place. Today, all four of their children have received higher education and hold enviable jobs. From her usual remarks, the author could also feel her pride and satisfaction regarding her children. All four of her children can speak Chinese, but except for the second son, who can read and write, the others cannot. The second son was once sent by his company to work in Shantou for a period of time, which is how he learned to read and write. She said that upon first arriving in Chiang Mai, to quickly adapt to local life, she also went to study Thai with local children for three months, and then gradually used Thai to communicate and conduct business. When the children were sent to school, her husband did not allow them to speak Thai at home after returning from school; they had to speak Chinese. Her husband said: "You speak Thai at school with your teachers and classmates, but at home you must speak your own language (Chinese)." Later, the author learned from her children that another reason her husband forbade them from speaking Thai was because the older generation of Yunnanese who came over was reluctant to learn Thai and thus could not speak it very well themselves, so they demanded that everyone in the household speak Chinese. Today, when she recounts this matter, she is still comforted that all four of her children can still speak Chinese.

Normally, ZHGJ stays at the shop in front of the mosque from Monday to Friday. Before her second son was married, she lived with him and took care of his daily life. Later, after her second son started a family and the children went out to work every day, she was left alone at home with nothing to do. So, she asked her children to rent a small shop adjacent to the side of the mosque for her. During the day, she would spend time at the shop, watch television, and gather or chat with friends at the mosque. Every morning, her second-layer daughter-in-law prepares lunch and drives her to the shop, where she spends time watching TV, performing prayers, and reciting scriptures with her female cousins and many older sisters. At 5:00 PM, her granddaughter finishes work and comes to pick her up to go home. From Monday to Thursday, she stays at her youngest daughter's house, and from Friday to Sunday, she stays at her son's house. Every Friday, her son goes to her daughter's house to pick her up, and the family takes the opportunity to gather together for dinner.



Elderly Yunnanese Muslim women in the Baan Haw community, Chiang Mai

(Photographed by the author at ZHGJ's shop, 2018)

The life history of ZHGJ's family putting down roots in Chiang Mai shows us that the first generation of Yunnanese Muslims who migrated to urban northern Thailand essentially built their livelihoods through commerce. From being "stateless" to gaining Thai citizenship, they experienced countless hardships. The second generation of Yunnanese Muslims in Thailand has largely received formal higher education, and many have completed upward social mobility through education, evolving into the Thai middle class. In the paper "Changes in Ethnic Identity of Chinese Muslims in Northern Thailand" (2012) by scholars Feng Yu and He Fuxiang, the importance of "national education" in the formation of the Chinese Muslim middle class was proposed. Indeed, through fieldwork, the author discovered that Yunnanese Muslims in the urban areas today have basically received national higher education and work across various societal fields. Receiving formal higher education and obtaining advanced degrees is a strategy for their upward social mobility. In other words, pursuing formal higher education is the direct pathway for second-generation Yunnanese Muslims and their descendants to acquire social status and capital. Taking ZHGJ's four children as an example, after completing their bachelor's degrees in Thailand, both sons went on to pursue master's degrees in the United States, while both daughters graduated from Chiang Mai University and stayed on to work there. The recognition and capital they hold today were all earned through educational channels. In the Baan Haw community of Chiang Mai, families like this are not isolated cases; locals frequently mention: "In Chiang Mai, our Yunnanese Hui Muslim doctors number nearly 20." Beyond doctors, professions such as university faculty, bank public servants, government civil servants, and corporate management personnel have all been attained through receiving an education.

Yunnanese Muslims at the 100th-anniversary celebration of the Baan Haw Mosque in Chiang Mai

The man standing on the far right is an outstanding businessman, and the man on the far left is a university professor

During the fieldwork, ZHGJ introduced many locals to the author and shared numerous stories of the past. She is a kind, enthusiastic, and open-minded elder who loves learning, eagerly embraces new things, and is exceptionally proactive and brave. Sometimes the author wonders whether this personality is connected to their migration experiences. Many northern Thai Yunnanese Muslims, after migrating to Chiang Mai, migrated yet again through studies or business to places like the United States, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Taiwan, achieving high economic standing and social status. From these migration cases, the author finds that a single generation's migration may bring about more than just geographical or cultural shifts; on a deeper level, it shapes the character and horizons of several generations.

This is merely one minor story among the many migration tales of northern Thai Chinese. Beneath every story lies the bitterness, joy, sorrow, and delight of human life. Every fieldwork trip allows the author to encounter diverse life stories and grow considerably—perhaps this is precisely why the author loves the discipline of anthropology.

[1] Suthep Soonthornpasuch. 1977. Islamic identity in Chiang Mai City: A Historical and Structural Comparison of Two Communities. Unpublished Dissertation. University of California at Berkeley. Quoted from Feng Yu and He Fuxiang, "Changes in Ethnic Identity of Chinese Muslims in Northern Thailand" (unpublished).

[2] To respect personal privacy, real names involved in this article are replaced throughout by English letters.

[3] Yunnan dialect, translated as: If the dark-looking one comes to propose, I won't agree; if the fair-looking one comes to propose, I will agree. view all

[Internet Repost]

When Edgar Snow Stayed at Qudong Mosque: Yunnan's Hui Muslim History, Red Footprints, and Memories of Dali's Mosques



Abstract: This article compiles the main points of "When Edgar Snow Stayed at Qudong Mosque: Yunnan's Hui Muslim History, Red Footprints, and Memories of Dali's Mosques," preserving the original paragraph and image sequence. It is designed for readers searching for long-tail keywords related to the Qudong Mosque, Yunnan Hui Muslims, and Edgar Snow's footprints.



Edgar Snow (1905–1972) was one of the 20th century's most famous and influential American journalists and writers. Mao Zedong once remarked, "Mr. Snow was the first person to pave the way for establishing friendly relations." Party and state leaders like Zhou Enlai maintained close ties with Snow, utilizing him to broadcast the true conditions of the Red Army in Northern Shaanxi and the New China to the entire world, which played a monumental role in winning over people globally. His book Red Star Over China depicted the deeds of the Workers' and Red Army along with major historical events, opening a window for the entire world to truly understand the Chinese revolution. Under the White Terror, it was renamed Red Dust (published in Chinese as Xixing Miji) and widely circulated to every corner, inspiring a powerful chorus cheering for the Chinese revolution.



Prior to this, in 1931, Snow formed a small caravan consisting of six mules and horses along with three attendants in Dali. In his autobiography, he wrote, "I hoped to walk from China to Burma and then enter India." The copy of Caravan Travel I have on hand is a brilliant essay chronicling this journey, marking an important trajectory in his life. Writer Zhou Liangpei noted in the book's foreword that "it can be said to be a book unknown to many readers."



Perhaps because I am a Muslim, when I read one particular chapter, it sparked my immense interest and excitement. The title was: "The Reason Why I Was Able to Spend the Night in a Mosque Was Largely Due to a Nearly Forgotten Persian Idiom."



On February 22, 1931, following his small caravan into Yongping County, he stayed overnight at the Qudong Mosque (Qudong Mosque). In this article, from a unique perspective and with deep affection, he painted a captivating picture of the solemn, serene, and tranquil Qudong Mosque of that era. With down-to-earth and concise strokes, he sketched the scenery of the Qudong Mosque: "The minaret looked like a Chinese pagoda, except that the top was rectangular, gradually tapering to a point, crowned with a golden globe at the very top." Inside the mosque, it was "very clean, and poppies with pale purple and milky white flowers were planted in the courtyard."



With a reverent and deep affection, Snow vividly described the pious, solemn, and serene Asr prayer of the Qudong Muslims: fifty or sixty people gathered in the hall behind the minaret, "suddenly everyone fell silent, raising their eyes to look upward." A man in a white robe "stood on what should be called the balcony of the minaret," facing the sky dyed fiery red by the setting sun and the direction of Mecca, "raising both hands high and calling out the dua to Allah in a loud, rhythmic voice, repeating it three times." "Everyone followed the Imam in making dua inside the hall, which was fragrant with blooming flowers."



This article meticulously chronicled the dialogue, communication, and mutual understanding between him and the local Muslims—from initial rejection to a warm welcome—and vividly and philosophically described his boundless gratitude for being able to comfortably stay at the Qudong Mosque. The article transports us back to that vivid scene 79 years ago, where every sound and face felt palpable.

"I had just arrived and was already very tired. The inn had no empty rooms, and I wanted to stay here tonight." Yet, "upon seeing a foreigner, they were already shocked, and hearing this unusual request made them even more astonished." The responses he received were "No," "That's impossible," "There is no charcoal for you to make a fire," "This isn't an inn," and "No foreigner has ever stayed here before"... "Right at that critical moment," "I suddenly remembered a sentence I had memorized when I was studying Persian," and so he quickly said: "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasul Allah!" Obviously, this was a very inaccurate and awkward "Shahada" (Islamic declaration of faith). Yet, it was precisely this noble Shahada—the creed of Islamic faith—that instantly opened up the open-minded mentality of the Qudong Muslims. "They were greatly surprised and overjoyed," and "their attitude changed," becoming extremely friendly. Immediately, "they called a gatekeeper," "immediately brought water and charcoal," and "cleaned up a small attic" to accommodate him. Snow shouted with ecstatic joy, "No pork for dinner tonight!" "Several Imams laughed." Viewed through today's perspective, this was a positive, civilized dialogue of mutual respect, communication, and harmony achieved among people of different countries, ethnicities, faiths, and values. It could also be said to be the practical embodiment of the philosophy of "harmony in diversity" within Hui Muslim culture, while vividly demonstrating that one does not abandon their own faith for the sake of "harmony."

Snow's overnight stay was a culturally significant event in the history of the Qudong Mosque—ordinary yet extraordinary, extraordinary yet ordinary. After experiencing the unique charm and eternal humanistic spirit of an exotic mosque, he passionately wrote this article, which was published in the New York Sun on September 1, 1931. It forever anchors the scene in the space-time of history, becoming an unalterable and un-re-creatable piece of history, leaving us with an understanding and artistic inspiration that will endure forever. view all

[Internet Repost]

A Pilgrimage to Southwest China's Largest Mosque: A Deep-Dive Visual Tour of the Architectural Layout and Ten-Thousand-Person Prayer Hall at the Shadian Grand Mosque in Gejiu, Honghe

Abstract:



A detailed exploration of the Shadian Grand Mosque, nestled right at the crossroads of Gejiu, Kaiyuan, and Mengzi in Yunnan. This piece offers a comprehensive look at one of China's top one hundred famous mosques, featuring its massive main prayer hall, pristine white marble courtyard, elegant domes, and colorful carved details, allowing you to soak in the majestic spiritual epicenter of southern Yunnan's Muslim community.

Let's jump straight to the essential travel tips first:



If you're driving from Jianshuai to Gejiu, plug Gejiu city into your navigation app, set your route preference to "Expressways First," check the route preview carefully, and look for the [Jian-Ge-Yuan Expressway] signs. This will keep you off the old mountain roads down by Jijie. If you want to check out the Jijie Railway Station and the Shadian Grand Mosque along the way, taking the Jijie route lines up perfectly. We stumbled upon Shadian completely by accident without any advance planning, and it turned out to be an amazing bonus! (Detailed travel tips are attached at the end of the article if you want to screenshot them.)

After staying in Jianshui for a cozy seven days, there were still plenty of sights left to unlock. But when you're out on the road, you always find yourself craving a brand-new city. Bidding farewell to Jianshui's ancient town and pottery culture, we sped toward Gejiu to kick off the next leg of our southern Yunnan journey. At 9:00 AM, after packing our bags, we hit the road toward Gejiu!



Today's drive was under eighty kilometers, but thanks to a few wrong turns and detours, we ended up hopping onto the expressway heading north out of Jianshui, only to loop right back out via the southern exit. We had to turn around and get back on the expressway, and then our GPS directed us to exit early at Jijie. Jijie is a town under Gejiu's jurisdiction, sitting about twenty kilometers away from Gejiu proper. At the time, we were super confused—our destination was Gejiu, so why get off the expressway early at Jijie? It wasn't until we drove it ourselves that we finally understood the difference between the new and old routes. We later figured out the deal: heading to the Tin Capital of Gejiu splits into two routes. One is the newly opened Jian-Ge-Yuan direct expressway, which takes you straight into the downtown area via high-speed roads. The other is the long-used Jijie-Shishi Expressway, which requires you to exit at Jijie and switch to a provincial highway winding through the mountains. Most navigation apps still default to the old route, which can easily leave first-time drivers totally baffled. Weaving back and forth through the mountains actually turned out to be a pretty fun plot twist on the trip.

At first, I felt super annoyed. It was only a few dozen kilometers, and after making a wrong turn, the GPS sent us off the exit at Jijie anyway, making a straightforward drive feel way more complicated than it needed to be. Who would've guessed that this laughable, frustrating detour would turn into such an unexpected blessing?



Our GPS guided us off the Jijie expressway exit. We pulled over temporarily to check our map and accidentally discovered the Shadian Grand Mosque. An off-the-itinerary destination and a totally chance encounter turned into the rarest highlight of this trip.

As we rolled out of the Jijie expressway exit and followed the navigation toward Shadian, the roadside houses looked old and scattered. Rolling past buildings that looked a bit run-down and shabby, I secretly wondered what kind of scenery could possibly be hidden down this road. But the moment our car pulled into the Shadian town area, the view instantly opened up. The streets were spotless, and the cute little deer-shaped street sculptures were delicate and lively. The entire neighborhood was impeccably clean, forming a sharp contrast with the Jijie area.



Once we parked the car and stepped step by step onto the mosque's expansive plaza, the cramped and bumpy feeling from the mountain roads instantly vanished. The sheer, overwhelming majesty hitting us right in the face genuinely took our breath away.

Before heading into the mosque, the two of us stood outside for quite a while looking up info. According to the records, the Shadian Grand Mosque is located in Shadian, Gejiu, sitting right at the intersection of Gejiu, Mengzi, and Kaiyuan. It's the largest mosque in the entire Southwest region. Historical archives trace the mosque's earliest origins back to the Hongzhi reign of the Ming dynasty. After being destroyed and rebuilt several times, the current main structure was finished and expanded in 2005. Four 93-meter-tall minarets stand at the four corners, and the prayer hall spans a massive 17,700 square meters, holding up to ten thousand people praying simultaneously. The architecture brilliantly blends two distinct aesthetics: it follows a traditional Chinese palatial symmetrical central axis layout, while the arches and domes are classic Islamic shapes. It stands as a physical testament to how an imported faith and culture took root in southern Yunnan and blended harmoniously with local aesthetics.



Shadian is a core Hui Muslim community in southern Yunnan. It's not just a place for religious activities, but also the spiritual homeland where locals have lived for generations. The wide open plaza with no walls and the continuous snowy-white arcades exude a grand, solemn vibe. Many travelers passing through here are deeply struck by this breathtaking piece of architecture hidden away in the mountains.

Visitor Quick Tips:



Free admission to the public! Visitors are only allowed to explore the plaza and outdoor arcades; you cannot enter the main prayer hall. Dress respectfully—no shorts or bare shoulders. Keep quiet during prayer times, and please do not take photos of people praying.

Following the rules, the two of us took off our shoes to enter the mosque, and we were so careful we didn't even dare talk out loud!!



Amidst the mountains, we crossed paths with the Shadian Grand Mosque. A single sanctuary blending Eastern and Western architectural aesthetics, featuring white walls, towering minarets, and a serene, solemn aura.

The entire complex emphasizes symmetrical arrangement, with four towering minarets standing at the four corners and long arcades wrapping around the courtyard. On one side, you have Islamic-style domes and interlocking arches; on the other, it keeps the orderly layout of a traditional Chinese courtyard. The white jade pillars and stone-carved scriptures feature exquisite details, with the grand prayer hall sitting at the very end of the central axis. Imported architectural aesthetics merge with local tastes right here. Standing in the courtyard, you can feel the solemnity of faith while reading the layers of history shaped by the coexistence of diverse cultures.



After walking out of the mosque and returning to the car, we dug deeper into the background of Shadian. Shadian has a permanent population of around 13,000 people, with Hui Muslims making up over 90% of the total population, while the rest belong to the Han, Yi, and other ethnic groups. Over a long history, they've formed a tight-knit Hui community where local folk customs, cuisine, and religious culture are completely preserved. It's also a textbook example of a concentrated Hui ethnic enclave in Yunnan.

The Shadian Grand Mosque is top-tier in scale across Southwest China and ranks among the top one hundred famous mosques nationwide. Its prayer hall can hold ten thousand people praying together, and its four 93-meter minarets boast an awe-inspiring presence.



Shadian is the most important Islamic cultural center in southern Yunnan. Historically, traditional mosque-based education (jingtang jiaoyu) flourished here, and in modern times, many students traveled far overseas to study abroad, leaving a profound impact on the development of Yunnan's Hui culture.

The image above is sourced from the internet:



The Shadian Grand Mosque isn't just the spiritual landmark of the Shadian people; it's also a leading, nationally renowned mosque in the Southwest. The architecture blends Chinese and Western aesthetics, looking stunningly grand. Standing under the corridors, I truly felt how this Hui village nestled in the southern Yunnan mountains has long carried a unique ethnic culture and heritage of faith.

Leaving the mosque and wandering around the neighborhood, you run into local Hui folks everywhere. When we popped into a local supermarket to buy some regional specialty niuganba (cured beef jerky), all the clerks were wearing traditional ethnic attire, giving it an intensely rich cultural vibe.



Near the mosque, courtyards styled just like this are everywhere. Word has it that the Hui folks in Shadian are relatively well-off.

After finishing the tour, the lingering impression stayed with me for a long time. The Shadian Grand Mosque is mind-blowing, with layer upon layer of staggered arcades and a breathtakingly grand structure. You don't need to dive deep into complicated architectural theory—just standing beneath the long colonnade is enough to be deeply moved by its unique solemnity and beauty.



The core grand mosque is massive in scale and architecturally stunning. It's not just a tourist check-in spot; it's the daily spiritual homeland for the local community. Getting to cross paths with such a unique Hui village tucked away in the mountains of southeast Yunnan—this accidental encounter was truly rare and special.

Looking at it this way, a lot of the best scenery is never on your preset itinerary list. If GPS hadn't led us astray and made us take a wrong turn halfway, I probably would have driven straight through to Gejiu and completely missed Shadian. This unexpected encounter, seeing the magnificent grand mosque with our own eyes and soaking in the unique vibe of the Hui hometown, made us realize once again: the best rewards on a trip are often the surprises you never saw coming.



My in-depth travel guide for Jianshui isn't even finished yet, but amidst all this awe, I'm dropping a Shadian intermission first! I'll be back in the next post with my check-in experience at the Jijie Railway Station.

Travel Guide Attached:



One-Day Itinerary (Recommended Order)

Depart from Jianshuai → Exit the expressway at Jijie Toll Booth → Jijie Railway Station (30 minutes, century-old narrow-gauge railway hub) → 10-minute drive to Shadian Grand Mosque (Shadian Mosque) (1 to 1.5 hours visit) → Shop for youlin ganba (crispy oil-drenched cured beef jerky) and dig into Halal eats in Shadian → Continue on to Gejiu.



Shadian Grand Mosque (Shadian Mosque) Essential Info

✅ Admission: Free and open to the public



⏰ Visiting hours: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM, entry stops at 6:00 PM; Fridays are for Jummah prayer, please keep it quiet during midday prayers and don't disturb the worshippers. view all

[Internet Repost]

The 130-Year History of Shanghai Halal Cuisine: Where Jiangnan Meets Northwest Flavors

Abstract:



A detailed look at the fusion and evolution of Shanghai-style Halal cuisine over the past 130 years. Exploring the collision and combination of traditional Hui Muslim cooking with local Shanghainese and Western culinary techniques, showcasing the historical landscape and cultural heritage from classic Halal heritage dishes to modern Halal banquets.

Introduction



Hearing about Shanghai-style Halal cuisine for the very first time, I couldn't help but gasp—Shanghai people really know how to eat!

The Vibe of the Magic City, the Gentleness of Hui Cuisine



By | Ma Tao

Arriving in the Magic City of Shanghai this time, I landed right in the middle of a continuous drizzle. Locals told me it had been raining on and off for two weeks straight.



The rain in the Magic City is so soft and gentle, lacking any bite—nothing like the sudden, torrential downpours in Shenzhen. Still, it didn't dampen the crowds of tourists strolling along both sides of the streets.

A few light drizzles, nothing to worry about. On past trips to the Magic City, I always came and went in a rush.



Whenever I grabbed a meal with coworkers to save time, we’d just head straight to the noodle shop downstairs from the office. This time, however, I wanted to track down some authentic local Hui Muslim cuisine.

As luck would have it, I recently met a new friend named Ma, and we hit it off right away, chatting away like old friends.



Though we were total strangers at first, a simple, peaceful greeting instantly brought out an incredible sense of warmth and kindness.

I asked him, "Are there any local Hui Muslim restaurants in Shanghai? I mean the kind of time-honored local spots, not just Lanzhou ramen or Xinjiang joints."



He immediately told me, "There’s a century-old Halal restaurant right near the Bund called Hongchangxing. It’s fantastic, you should definitely check it out."

After all these years, I had no idea the Magic City even had local Hui Muslim dining. I made up my mind right then and there—I had to go for lunch.



That morning, after wrapping up a client meeting near Songjiang, I hailed a cab back to downtown so I could head straight there for lunch. Even a full hour-long car ride couldn't mask my excitement.

The car pulled up at a busy intersection. The moment I stepped out, I caught that familiar aroma of mutton, though a little voice in my head muttered: *Please don't let this just be the same old dishes I always see.*



The restaurant's storefront is super distinctive: a deep blue sign resting above a brass-trimmed, circular glass entryway.

The left and right sides are covered in beige tiles, with clean, symmetrical geometric patterns stretching all the way from the ground up to the ceiling.



At the very top sits an Arabian-style spire, brimming with architectural beauty.

Walking through the front doors, you step into a circular, hollowed-out foyer. The cashier's station is on your left, a marble staircase leading up to the second floor is on your right, and just three or four steps straight ahead takes you right into the main dining hall.



The hall is staffed by plenty of servers with calm, serene expressions. The second they saw me walk in, they warmly rushed over and handed me a thick menu.

The tables and chairs in the hall are a rich, dark brown, giving the space a solid, substantial feel. I picked a four-person table by the window and sat down.



Since it was already around 1:00 PM, past peak lunchtime, there were only one or two other tables occupied.

Perfect—I actually prefer a quieter dining atmosphere anyway. Plus, it meant the food would definitely come out fast.



I eagerly flipped open the menu, and the very first page told me I had come to the right place.

Sure enough, unlike traditional Hui Muslim spots, the dishes jumping out at me weren't the usual dapanji (big plate spicy chicken), shouzhua yangrou (Lanzhou hand-grabbed lamb), or braised beef strips.



The menu featured amazingly unique dishes: hot explosive smoked fish, beef tendon aspic, jade-green oxtail, salt-and-pepper silver sturgeon, shredded chicken with braised beef tripe, pepper-scented big plate fish, specialty dual-flavor shrimp, shrimp scrambled with egg yolks, Changxing special stir-fry, hot explosive milk-sauce shrimp, hundred-ball fried shrimp spheres, crab roe braised dried tofu threads, crab roe braised fish maw, crab roe hearts of bok choy, crab roe tofu, hairy crab with rice cakes, oyster-sauce braised dual mushrooms, crispy tea tree mushrooms, chicken broth braised dried tofu threads, shepherd's purse braised Chinese yam, supreme fresh-in-fresh soup, mutton tenderloin soup, bamboo fungus fish maw double-boiler soup, specialty beef tendon double-boiler soup, mushroom cod double-boiler soup, creamy mushroom double-boiler soup, seafood chowder, and savory hot-and-sour soup.

There were literally 25 dish names on that list that I had never heard of in my entire life.



Dishes like hairy crab with rice cakes and Changxing special stir-fry—whether looking at the ingredients or the cooking methods—were an absolute novelty to someone like me, whose palate has been shaped by northern wheat noodles and northeastern rice for years.

Some of the dishes sounded vaguely familiar at first glance, but when you leaned in close, you realized they weren't what you thought; you didn't really know them at all.



It turned out these dishes used ingredients we northerners are totally familiar with, yet prepared them with a distinctly unique Shanghai local twist—like the beef tendon aspic and jade-green oxtail.

I couldn't help but gasp internally: Shanghai people really know how to eat! As a northerner staring at menu items packed with such rich colors, aromas, and flavors, my heart fluttered over and over again.



Turns out dining can actually be this refined. No wonder the ancients always said, "Never tire of fine foods, nor of finely chopped delicacies."

Having lived in Shenzhen for so many years as a "new Shenzhener," I got used to the relative lack of food variety there, where the Halal options are mostly limited to Northwest, Northeast, and Henan styles.



I was amazed to find a Hui Muslim restaurant with such a low-key luxury vibe right in the middle of such a bustling district. What kind of story was hidden behind it?

So I looked it up, and turns out Hongchangxing was founded in 1891, boasting a history of over 130 years—a true, bona fide century-old institution.



Its birth comes with a little-known piece of Hui Muslim history. Back in 1891, Shanghai didn't have a single Halal restaurant.

When the Beijing opera troupe led by Ma Lianliang's uncle, Ma Cili, and aunt, Ma Xiuying, came to Shanghai to perform, the troupe had many Hui Muslim actors who struggled to find suitable meals.



To solve the actors' dining problem, Ma Lianliang's second uncle, Ma Chunqiao, rented a street-front property on Luzon Road and opened the "Ma Family Troupe Kitchen."

At the same time, they also provided meals for gem merchants visiting Shanghai to do business. And just like that, the very first Halal restaurant in Shanghai's history was born.



After running the business in Shanghai for a few years, Ma Chunqiao grew familiar with the daily habits of the locals. Noticing that Shanghai winters were especially damp and chilly,

he decided to introduce Beijing-style instant-boiled mutton (hot pot) to Shanghai, and it turned out to be a massive hit. Instant-boiled mutton thus became a staple winter delicacy in Shanghai and the signature dish of the Halal industry.



In 1918, when Ma Chunqiao returned to Beijing, he gifted the shop to his close Hui Muslim friend, Hong Sanba, renamed it "Hongchangxing," and brought in famous Beijing Halal chefs to focus on mutton hot pot, laying the century-old foundation for "Shanghai's Legendary Hot Pot."

Today, the promotional roll-up banner greeting you right as you walk in still proudly features "Instant-Boiled Mutton." Having weathered a century of prosperity, Hongchangxing is famous for its strict ingredient selection and meticulous craftsmanship.

The absolute core ingredient for hot pot is the mutton, and Hongchangxing carefully selects 7- to 8-month-old castrated rams from Huzhou, ensuring the meat is tender without any gamey odor.

Traditional charcoal-fired red copper pots paired with a clear broth highlight the pure, natural flavor of the mutton, echoing northern Beijing's hot pot style from the south, each with its own unique charm.

They still preserve their signature "copper pot hot pot" tradition to this day, and their Shanghai-style Halal cuisine remains completely unique across the entire Chinese restaurant industry.

With all that said, let's get down to business: I ordered three dishes and a staple: hot explosive smoked fish, signature hand-shredded chicken, chicken broth braised dried tofu threads, minced pork in a clay pot, and pan-fried beef potstickers.

Eating smoked fish for the very first time, I found the fish meat wonderfully firm—it must have been deep-fried—wrapped in a rich glaze with a dense texture, offering a savory and spicy flavor profile with a hint of subtle sweetness. Truly a masterpiece of culinary craftsmanship!

It turns out this dish involves a pretty complex process: the fish must first be cut and marinated, then fried twice, and finally submerged in a specially prepared sauce so it fully absorbs the flavors, making every bite incredibly rich and complex.

Another dish that totally blew me away was the chicken broth braised dried tofu threads, featuring golden broth blanketed over shredded dried tofu, black woodear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and baby bok choy hearts.

This dish shares the same philosophical soul as the "one clear, two white, three red, four green" standard of Lanzhou beef noodles—seemingly light and simple in broth, but the instant savory punch hits your palate and completely awakens your taste buds.

I took a huge mouthful of the tofu threads—pure bliss—followed by a bite of the bok choy heart, which had already fully absorbed the essence of the chicken broth. The saltiness was just right, leaving the rich, savory flavor lingering on my lips and teeth.

Then a bite of the shiitake mushroom, immediately chased by a sip of the piping-hot chicken broth. That feeling is simply impossible to put into words.

Hongchangxing is a Shanghai-style Halal restaurant with a story to tell, and a Hui Muslim eatery with genuine character.

Spanning a century, standing strong through the test of time, staying true to quality ingredients, and constantly innovating—that, I believe, is the fundamental reason this restaurant remains so genuinely beloved. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing mosque note recalls a Friday visit to Anheqiao Mosque after a trip toward the Summer Palace in September 2023. It preserves the personal memory, route choice, mosque details, and Hui Muslim context from the source.

I visited Beijing in late September 2023. September 29th was a Friday, and I headed out early with a friend to the Summer Palace. By noon, this was the closest mosque.

When I first heard the name Anhe Bridge, I immediately thought of the song Anhe Bridge by Song Dongye. I never expected to be so close to it at that moment.









I remember the elderly man in the wudu room had a thick Beijing accent, just like the characters in those old Beijing TV dramas. We visitors from out of town couldn't quite mimic it. The imam was quite young and spoke standard Mandarin.

There seemed to be an event that day, so the mosque fried some deep-fried dough (youxiang) and put them in bags by the door for anyone visiting to take. It was a pity I had to keep moving and couldn't take any.

This prayer hall is actually quite unique. Most traditional mosques in China have a hip-and-gable roof (xieshan ding), often connected to a shed-style roof (juanpeng xieshan ding). Some smaller mosques just have a simple gable roof (yingshan ding). But this one has an octagonal, three-tiered spire roof (zuanjian ding).

The lighting inside is good because the second and third levels of the roof are fitted with glass to let the sunlight in. The ceiling is also decorated with stained glass and calligraphy.

Before coming here, I actually visited Niujie. The small hexagonal-roofed building at the entrance of the Niujie Mosque was undergoing repairs at the time, so I missed my chance to see it. It was covered up, so I couldn't take a photo. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This China mosque travel guide visits Matou Town in Tancheng County, Linyi, the Ming-era Matou Mosque built in 1405, the Hui Muslim community around it, mosque calligraphy halls, local halal food, Linyi grilled meat, pancakes with lamb chops, and Ramadan suhoor memories.

While driving south through Linyi City, Shandong Province this year, I learned about a large Ming Dynasty mosque in Matou Town, Tancheng County. I drove for nearly an hour from downtown Linyi to reach Matou Town.

Matou Town



Matou Town is an ancient Muslim town and a community where Hui Muslims live. The town is full of halal shops, and I even saw a Muslim martial arts school.



The storefronts here still keep the traditional style of North China.



After walking through several small alleys, I found the Matou Mosque inside the village.



Matou Mosque was first built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty (1405). It covers 13 mu of land and is the largest mosque in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong. It is well-preserved and is currently a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.



In the courtyard just inside the gate, there are several stones gifted by elders from different places.





There are several traditional calligraphy and painting exhibition halls in the courtyard. This is the first hall, and there is a second hall, both displaying non-religious artworks.













Inside the mosque, there is a monument to an anti-Japanese hero, Zhang Hongyi, who was a Hui Muslim. Zhang Hongyi served as the political commissar of the Southern Shandong Independent Detachment and was known as the political commissar of the Railway Guerrillas. He died in 1945 while fighting against Japanese and puppet troops. The martyr Zhang Hongyi is buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery in Feixian County, Linyi City.





There is also a women's prayer hall here.



















This ancient well was built in the third year of the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. In 1939, General Luo Ronghuan led the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army into Tancheng. Eighth Route Army liaison officer Zhai Xinya, guided by a Hui youth named Lan Zhaofa, used the excuse of inviting an imam to slaughter a cow to enter the mosque's well pavilion. Under the cover of night, they took a shortcut to approach the enemy's blockhouse, destroyed the 'turtle shell' fortification, and successfully persuaded 360 puppet soldiers to surrender. Because of this, Lan Zhaofa honorably joined the Matou Hui Detachment.











There are several pieces of calligraphy on the walls of the corridor.



























There is a Hui Muslim culture exhibition hall in the courtyard, but it does not have any exhibits inside yet.





The list of donations (niyati) specifically marks our Han Chinese brothers and sisters.

Nanbeidao Mosque



Nanbeidao Mosque in downtown Linyi was first built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. After being rebuilt many times, it is now a modern building. It has a floor area of 1,235 square meters and a total site area of 8,995 square meters. The area around the mosque is filled with halal beef and mutton shops.





















Nanbeidao was formed by merging Nandao Village and Beidao Village, and this area is also a residential community for Hui Muslims.



Linyi Minzu Restaurant Main Branch



Our friends in Linyi invited us to eat local Linyi specialties at the largest halal restaurant in the city. This is also where Hui Muslims hold weddings. I heard this is not even the largest location, as the flagship store of Minzu Restaurant is even bigger. The owner is a local Hui Muslim and a classmate of my friend.



Linyi University is also super huge. It is known as one of the largest universities in Asia, covering an area of over 6,000 mu. Linyi University once offered Arabic language courses, but they have now canceled all minor language courses, not just Arabic.





The people of Linyi seem to have an obsession with being big. The portions of food here are also huge. The four of us, plus a baby, ordered four dishes and only finished half of them.



Stir-fried chicken (chaoji) is a must-eat in Linyi. You can find stir-fried chicken shops everywhere, but most of them are not halal.



Fahim especially likes eating Linyi pancakes (jianbing). We ate every bit of this plate of pancakes rolled with lamb chops.



I originally wanted to drink some meat porridge (sa) in the morning, but during Ramadan, the shops were not open yet after we finished our pre-dawn meal (suhoor). It is best to drink the first pot of meat porridge around 5 a.m. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Friendly Indonesia: A Chinese Hui Muslim Travel Account with Mosques and Halal Food is presented here as a clear English travel account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. The Muslim population exceeds 200 million. They mainly believe in the Shafi'i school of law. However, Indonesian Muslims have always. The article keeps the original place names, food details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Indonesia Travel, Hui Muslims, Halal Food.

Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. The Muslim population exceeds 200 million. They mainly believe in the Shafi'i school of law. However, Indonesian Muslims have always been marginalized in the Muslim world. However, since Indonesia became independent from the colonizers in 1945, this marginalized situation has gradually improved. Nowadays, hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia go to Mecca for pilgrimage every year. They are called "the rice of Hijaz". Hijaz is Mecca and Medina.

Indonesia is currently visa-free for mainland China. You only need to bring your passport to enter the country by air. There is no need to apply in advance and it does not cost a penny. However, I saw many netizens complaining on the Internet about being asked for tips by the customs when entering Indonesia. I flew from Beijing to Jakarta and was not asked for tips. Maybe It is an isolated phenomenon. My consistent principle is that I will never give any customs tips. This kind of bribery and bribery are not allowed to be done by Muslims. The worst is the worst. Although the tip is only ten or twenty yuan, the issue of principle cannot be compromised. Moreover, this phenomenon only targets Chinese people, and we cannot encourage this unhealthy trend of discrimination.

When I went to Vietnam before, I heard that tipping was required, but I never encountered it. My approach was to prepare round-trip air tickets and hotel reservations in advance, print them out, and when I entered the country, the customs asked me what I was doing. I showed him the itinerary I had already prepared, which showed that my purpose of travel was clear. The customs officer knew immediately that he was an experienced driver, so he had no reason to ask for a tip before letting me enter the country.

Most of the online guides look at Indonesia from the perspective of non-Muslims. I read a lot of them and feel that they all use colored glasses to judge the main ethnic groups in Indonesia, which is neither superficial nor objective. Now I will introduce my halal trip to Indonesia from the perspective of a Chinese Hui.

Things you need to prepare before leaving for Indonesia:

1. Round-trip air tickets and hotel orders

, print it out for later use in case customs checks and asks for tips;

2. Mobile WiFi

, can be rented on all major travel websites, and the cost is about 10 yuan a day. Renting WiFi is more convenient than buying a local phone card. According to my past experience, mobile phone signals on many islands are not as good as WiFi. International roaming can be activated in advance, but its use is limited to receiving text messages. International roaming still cannot access websites such as Google when abroad, but mobile WiFi can. Google Maps is very important abroad;

3. Power conversion socket

, the power plug in Indonesia is wider than that in China and needs to be converted. You can buy a globally accepted multi-functional conversion power supply online;

4. Grab

, a popular taxi-hailing software APP in Southeast Asia, you must have this one, it is very easy to use, you can bind a credit card for payment, no cash is required, otherwise the probability of getting ripped off when taking a taxi is almost 100%;

5. Sunscreen, mosquito repellent, sunglasses, slippers

, are all necessities of tropical life.

6. Indonesian rupiah cash

, you can exchange it domestically or at the Indonesian airport. Indonesian money is relatively rough, 10,000 Indonesian rupiah is equivalent to about 5 yuan in RMB.

First stop Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and the largest city in Indonesia. Many people only use Jakarta as a transit point for a short stay. In fact, there are many places to visit and play in Jakarta. It is a microcosm of Indonesia and you can experience various Indonesian cultures. If your schedule is not tight, you can choose to stay in Jakarta for a few more days. But for me, a food blogger, the most attractive thing about Jakarta is that you can eat halal versions of food from all over the world.



Xiamen Airlines halal meals

I need to praise Xiamen Airlines’ halal meals, which are better than the halal meals I’ve had on other domestic airlines. Here is a reminder: I did not book a halal meal in advance when I bought the Xiamen Airlines ticket this time. However, Xiamen Airlines will proactively provide halal and non-halal meal options for flights to Jakarta, so there is no need to book in advance.

In fact, except for low-cost airlines that do not actively provide catering services, almost all airlines have meal reservation services. There is no additional charge for reservations of religious meals, and the fees are included in the ticket. However, you need to make a reservation at least 24 hours in advance. You can use the airline's app to make reservations, you can also make reservations through the airline's customer service phone number, or you can also make reservations through the customer service of the platform where you buy air tickets. If you are not sure about the airline’s ingredients, you can also order a vegetarian meal. Some airlines can set food preferences in the app, so that whenever you buy a ticket from that company in the future, the system will automatically reserve halal meals.



DIGITAL AIRPORT CAPSULE HOTEL

After flying during the day, it was already 10pm when I arrived in Jakarta. My plan was to fly from Jakarta to Komodo Island early the day after tomorrow. In order to save time and money, I chose the capsule hotel on the first floor of Terminal 3 of the airport. This way I didn’t have to take a car to the city when I landed that night, and I didn’t have to get up early to catch the flight the day after tomorrow. It turned out that my choice was very correct. Although the capsule hotel is small and can only accommodate one person, the facilities inside are complete and clean, including bottled water, towels, lockers, charging power, and TVs. It is like lying in a space warehouse.



The lights in the space can be adjusted to change color, and there is also air conditioning.

The capsule hotel has a public bathroom. Although it is a public area, each room for bathing and washing is separate. The door is locked and it is like a separate bathroom. It does not feel awkward at all. I am very satisfied with my first experience in a capsule hotel. I hope this model can be promoted.



MALACCA TOAST airport fast food restaurant



egg sandwich



Halal paper in the bathroom

But it cannot be said that you cannot eat non-halal food in Indonesia. There are some restaurants in Indonesia run by non-Muslims such as Catholics and Hindus that sell alcohol, but they will prompt that the restaurant is a pork-free restaurant. There are also some hijab girls eating in such restaurants. I have only seen Chinese restaurants in Surabaya that sell pork. You will never see anyone wearing a hijab in such a restaurant. If the restaurant door is clearly marked with the HALAL certification mark, it must be a restaurant that does not sell alcohol.



Indonesian Halal Certification Mark

It looks like the picture above. The common halal certification mark in Indonesia is written in Arabic and Latin alphabet transliterations. HALAL also means halal in Indonesian. If the mark of some packaging is particularly small, it is better to simplify it and not write the letters HALAL, but also write حلال

, to help the identification of dostis in various countries.



SHABURI self-service Japanese hot pot restaurant

Located on the third floor of Soekarno Airport T3 terminal, a set meal costs RMB 60. It only has one plate of meat, vegetables, fruits, sushi, etc. You can eat as you like.



The service in Indonesian restaurants is generally warm and considerate, especially the waiters’ sweet smiles.







The single-person pot is very similar to the domestic Xiabuxiabu.



Indonesian restaurant in Terminal 2



Indonesian fried rice

The most popular fried rice in Indonesia is this kind of fried rice, which is also one of my favorite Indonesian delicacies. It can be eaten for breakfast. The price ranges from 6 yuan to 30 yuan. It is very popular in Southeast Asia. The method is to add sweet soy sauce, tamarind, shrimp, etc. to white rice and fry it. It is served with a variety of ingredients, including satay skewers, cucumbers, Indonesian shrimp cakes and fried eggs.

Istiqlal Mosque (MASJID ISTIQLAL)



Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque (Indonesian: Masjid Istiqlal, Arabic for "Independence") was built to celebrate Indonesia's independence. The foundation stone was laid on August 24, 1961, and it was opened on February 22, 1978. The architect Frederic Siraban was a Christian. the mosque was built next to the Jakarta Cathedral to symbolize the peaceful coexistence of religions.



When I came here, the whole place was under repair. It was the rainy season in Indonesia, and Jakarta had just experienced a flood. Many places were flooded. However, after the flood, everything was as usual. What impressed me most was that on the way the driver took me here, he talked about the floods in Jakarta. He pointed at the traces of water on both sides of the street and smiled stupidly. I was surprised that they could be so optimistic. The love of laughter is my deepest impression of Indonesians. Although Indonesians are poor, they have a high sense of happiness.



It is free to enter the mosque, but you need to take off your shoes and store them. The uncle at the door warmly welcomed me into the mosque and asked me to write down which country I came from and my religious belief in the registration book.



I have learned about this mosque on TV before. It is considered the largest mosque in Southeast Asia and cost a huge amount of money to build. However, after visiting it on site, I did not find it as beautiful as I imagined. It turns out that during subsequent trips, I saw more unique Indonesian mosques.



old jakarta

(Kota Tua Jakarta)



The Old City of Jakarta covers an area of ​​only 1.3 square kilometers, equivalent to the size of a square. There are many Dutch buildings in the Old City of Jakarta that were built in the 17th century. At that time, Jakarta was the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company for spice and other trade in Asia.



Let’s talk about the colonial history of Indonesia. A friend once asked me that there are so many Muslims in Indonesia. Why are their voices rarely heard in the world? The reason is that Indonesia has been colonized for a long time. From the 16th century to the 20th century, Indonesia has been colonized by the Netherlands. During World War II, the Japanese came and drove away the Dutch. Indonesia was colonized by Japan for several years. It was not until 1945 that Indonesia declared independence. Before that, Indonesia’s actual ruling class had never been Muslim, so Indonesian Muslims were marginalized internationally.



Jakarta old city street scene

Although Indonesia is considered a Muslim country, with more than 80% of the population being Muslims, it cannot be considered an Islamic country. Only countries whose state religion is Islam can be called Islamic countries, and Indonesia does not have a state religion. From this, we can also see the marginalized status of Indonesian Muslims in the history of the country. A country with 87% of the population being Muslim cannot actually establish Islam as the state religion. This can be done by Malaysia next door. The Muslim population in Malaysia is only 60%, but the state religion in Malaysia is Islam, so Malaysia is considered an Islamic country.



Performance in the Old Town Square

Indonesia’s constitution stipulates that citizens must have religious beliefs. The Jakarta Charter issued in 1905 clearly stated: “This country must be founded on the following principles: Believe in Shinto, and believers in Islam have the obligation to implement Sharia law in accordance with correct and moral humanitarian principles.

Indonesian citizens cannot believe in anything, otherwise they will be treated as materialistic XXists. You know, this is related to what people often say about anti-Chinese in Indonesia, because at that time, most Chinese in Indonesia were associated with that doctrine. The pro-Western Major General Suharto overthrew the pro-German Sukarno government, and then began the anti-German purge. When the incident occurred, it was against XXists, not specifically Chinese, so blindly emphasizing anti-Chinese ignores the background of the incident.

The Banda Aceh Special Administrative Region in Indonesia has implemented the second half of the "Jakarta Charter" and implemented Islamic law. Banda Aceh is in the northwest corner of Indonesia and is the city closest to Mecca in Indonesia. Indonesian people worship to the northwest, but it is not directly accessible by plane. Otherwise, I really want to go there to experience the atmosphere of Sharia.



Street food in the old town

There are a lot of street snacks in the old city. I am not used to eating these unfamiliar foods on the roadside. Friends who are interested can try it, but according to my guess, it will not taste too delicious. We may not be used to eating many specialties in Southeast Asia, and the hot weather may cause stomach upset.



Some poor toilets in Indonesia will put a mineral water bottle on the urinal. This bottle is used to flush the penis.

Grand Indonesia



Grand Indonesia is the largest shopping mall in Jakarta. It is really very big and is second to none in Asia. The mall has everything you need, including farmers' markets, and many restaurants and snacks. You can spend a day shopping here. If you don't want to walk around in the scorching sun, it is recommended to come here for shopping and leisure.



Supermarket on the ground floor



Indonesian specialty cat poop coffee beans

I carefully observed the products of various internationally renowned brands in the supermarket, and almost all the products I saw had halal certification marks.



Halal Yoshinoya



Japanese food in the mall

Japanese food is relatively common in Indonesia and is very popular among Indonesians. Often, you have to queue up to eat at such restaurants. The Japanese food in Indonesia is mostly related to Indonesia’s colonization by Japan during World War II. After the war, many Japanese companies still developed in Indonesia, bringing a large number of Japanese.



bookstore in shopping mall

There is a large section of the bookstore in the mall devoted to religious books. All major religious books are available. Islamic books are the most numerous, but they are mainly in Indonesian and cannot be read. Otherwise, I would buy a few books and take them back.



Italian Restaurant Popolamama

Among the Italian restaurants in shopping malls, Beijing has never seen a halal Italian restaurant, while the level of Western restaurants in Jakarta is world-famous.



italian pizza

A pizza, a salad, and a glass of juice cost about 60 yuan. This consumption level is relatively high in Indonesia. In some other small cities in Indonesia, the consumption will be even lower.

Second stop Komodo Island

Komodo Island is an important destination of my trip. I came here to fulfill my childhood wish as a natural science enthusiast. When I was in elementary school, my family gave me a set of natural encyclopedias. There are four volumes in total. The one I read the most is the natural science volume. I am deeply impressed by the various species of animals and plants in the world introduced in it. Komodo Island is a place with diverse species and frequently appears in animal world programs.



Komodo Island is located in the southeastern corner of Indonesia, and a little further south is Australia. It can be said that it is across the sea from Oceania. There is no direct flight to Komodo Island from China. You can only transfer from Jakarta or Bali. I took more than three hours of flight from Jakarta to reach the nearest Labuan Airport to Komodo Island. If I transfer from Bali to Lower Labuan, it only takes one hour.





The main road of Labuan Bajo town

From Labuan Airport, it takes half an hour to take a taxi to the town of Labuan Bajo, which is the most prosperous place in the surrounding area. The picture above shows the busiest neighborhood of this town. The town is sparsely populated and has backward commerce. It covers an area of ​​only two square kilometers. Many residents still retain their original lifestyle. Most of the residents make a living from fishing and tourism. The most common shops on both sides of the street are diving shops. Komodo Island has many high-quality diving spots, but the ocean currents are complex and suitable for professional divers. Beginners are not recommended to go there.



Sylvia Hotel & Resort Komodo Komodo Sylvia Resort Hotel

The hotel I stayed in has a private beach. There are many hotels with private beaches here. The price is cheap and the environment is beautiful. You can stay in a very nice hotel for two to three hundred yuan a night. However, I do not recommend this hotel because it is far from the center of the town. There are no businesses or public transportation around. You can't go out for a walk at night. I suggest staying in the town next time is more convenient.



hotel swimming pool



The only restaurant in the hotel



A steak set

A steak costs less than RMB 100. There are no decent restaurants in Labuan Bajo Town. Most of them are street shops. It needs to be emphasized that there are many Christians living in this town. Most of the restaurants on the island are opened by Christians. They will also mark it as halal and do not have pork, but they sell alcohol.



MASJID AGUNG NURUL FALAQ LABUAN BAJO Mosque

I took a taxi from the hotel and asked the driver to take me to the largest mosque in the town. The driver took me here. This mosque is not comparable to other places in Indonesia. The distribution density of Muslims in Indonesia decreases from northwest to southeast. The Aceh Special Administrative Region in the northwest is the most halal, and Bali in the southeast is the territory of Hindus.



Muslims in Southeast Asia are mainly followers of the Shafi'i school. Their prayer movements can be seen with three hand raises, but whether it is three or one hand raises, there is a correct basis for the hadith.



Indonesian BBQ

The simple Indonesian meal on the island is grilled chicken skewers with rice. The chili seasoning is very spicy. The chili in Indonesia is comparable to that in Hunan.



After passing through a residential area, I found a small mosque in the village. The conditions were very simple, surrounded by villagers' houses and chickens eating bugs.



What’s interesting is that there is a Catholic tomb built next to this mosque. It is pink in color. This is the first time I have seen this combination.



The tombstone depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus



After a night of rest, I reported a one-day tour on Ctrip for the next day. The itinerary included Padar Island, Komodo Island, Pink Beach, Takamakasa Island, Manta Ray Snorkeling Spot, and Kanawa Island. It included lunch, hotel pick-up and drop-off, and an English-speaking tour guide. The cost was 789 RMB.



Masks provided with the tour

Departing at 5:30 in the morning, the driver arrived at the hotel on time to pick up people. Before leaving, the tour guide distributed a mask to each tourist. It was 2020-01-27, and an epidemic had broken out in China, but Indonesia was not affected in any way, so the tourists did not care. The traveling groups came from various countries, including Japanese, Koreans, Sichuanese, Taiwanese, Europeans and Americans.

Padar Island



View from the top of Padar Island

It takes about an hour to take a boat to Padar Island. There are no residents on this island and it is in a primitive state. You can climb all the way to the top of the mountain along the seaside and overlook the entire territory. Some tourists have brought drones for aerial photography.



Panorama of Padar Island

After a short stay on the island, continue by boat to the small island of Takamakasa.



Takamakasa Island

The island is a crescent-shaped island, which may be submerged when the tide rises, but the island is very beautiful, with blue water. When viewed from the air, it looks like a gem set in the sea. The sand on the island can already be seen in light pink, which is a characteristic of the Komodo area.



Takamakasa Island

You can snorkel around, it's very shallow, because the water is too clear, you can't see many fish, so be careful about sun protection.



pink sand beach

The beaches around Komodo Island are generally pink because they contain tiny coral particles. Since it was developed here relatively late, it has always maintained its original natural state and the water is crystal clear.





fine pink sand



The sea view of Komodo Island is endlessly beautiful.

Underwater fishing video I took with GoPro

KOMODO NATIONAL PARK



Next, continue to Komodo National Park. When we are about to land, we see a dark cloud floating over Komodo Island from a distance, making the atmosphere on the island even more eerie. This island is home to the world's largest venomous reptile - the Komodo dragon.



Komodo National Park consists of many islands, the larger ones including Padar Island, Rinca Island and Komodo Island. There are about 3,000 monitor lizards living on the islands. Indonesia established a national park to protect the Komodo monitor lizards, and it was then listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.



Entering the forest must be led by the park's ranger. Visitors cannot move alone, because all the monitor lizards on the island are wild, and the monitor lizards are poisonous and very dangerous. The long stick in the hand of the ranger can block the attack of the monitor lizards. It is said online that dragons like to eat carrion, so their saliva contains a lot of poisonous bacteria, which can cause infection and death after prey is bitten. This statement has been denied by scientists. In fact, Komodo dragons are born with venom glands, and it is the venom that kills their prey.



There was a reminder to keep quiet at the entrance of the park. Our group was cautious along the way, with our eyes wide open as we stared at the surrounding plants and trees.



The dead tree trunk, I imagined a picture of a dinosaur knocking down the tree trunk.



Komodo dragon nest

The tour guide reminded us that the dirt bag in the distance is the nest of the Komodo dragon, which is about one meter high and five or six meters wide. This scene looks too much like a scene from Jurassic Park.



Near a waterhole, the tour guide stopped and told everyone that monitor lizards often come here to drink water. Then I saw a deer limping towards the waterhole in the distance. The deer's head had been injured, probably by a monitor lizard. The tour guide said that deer are the main food of monitor lizards. This deer should die soon after being attacked.



monitor lizard in bush

We continued walking forward, and suddenly the tour guide stopped and reminded us that there was a monitor lizard in the bushes not far away. I followed the direction he pointed and took a photo of the back of the first monitor lizard I saw. This monitor lizard was about two meters long and lay motionless in the bushes. The panting of the monitor lizard could be clearly heard.



Then we saw three more monitor lizards in the rest area, lying in the corner of the pavilion where tourists were drinking tea. The crowd suddenly became commotion, and some people excitedly approached to take photos with the monitor lizards. At this time, the tour guide also became obviously vigilant and warned tourists in a stern tone not to get too close.



Komodo dragons are hermaphrodites and can reproduce parthenogenetically. They live in trees when they are young and move on the plains as adults. They can dive and run at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. The mitochondria of Komodo dragons are different from ordinary cold-blooded animals. They can accelerate metabolism to the level of mammals, and then have amazing speed and endurance. It is rare for monitor lizards to attack people on the island. There have been cases of fishermen being attacked and killed by monitor lizards. Monitor lizards have no natural enemies on the island, but they will not attack humans when there is sufficient food.



The adult monitor lizard is more than 3 meters long. It uses its tongue to identify odors and can smell the smell of blood within a radius of 10 kilometers. For small prey, the monitor lizard will bite it directly to death. For larger prey, the monitor lizard will bite and release it until the prey is poisoned and dies. The monitor lizard will then find the body by following the smell of blood.

After leaving Komodo Forest Park, we headed to the next scenic spot to prepare for snorkeling. The snorkeling area was home to another ancient giant beast, the manta ray, which was the same generation as the dinosaurs. Its scientific name is the ghost bat. It is the largest of its kind and can be up to eight meters long. It is said to be uncommon. Whether you can see it depends on luck, but we were very lucky to see a group of about four or five on the bottom of the sea, swimming back and forth under our feet.



Giant, weird-looking creatures like ghost bats have not grown according to the rules of evolution. They have been what they are today since the age of dinosaurs. They are absolute living fossils. These ancient strange creatures are what attracts me the most about Komodo Island. Creatures that were once only seen in the animal world are now alive in front of me. This feeling is so exciting.

The actual effect you see is roughly what it looks like in the photo. The water quality in the water where manta rays appear is not particularly clear. If the water is clear, there will be no fish. The brother in the video is more courageous and dares to get close to manta rays. In fact, it is still a bit dangerous. Although manta rays have a gentle temperament, they are afraid of divers when they lose their temper. Its two wings can break the diver's ribs.



Komodo Island is only an hour's flight from Bali, an Indonesian Internet celebrity tourist destination. To travel from Komodo Island to other cities in Indonesia, you have to transfer from Bali. Although I am not very interested in Bali, since I am here, I still decided to go to the island.

Third stop Bali



The Hindu-style gate in Bali symbolizes the transition from the secular to the sacred.

Bali is the only Hindu-dominated island in Indonesia, and Hindu gods can be seen everywhere on the island. Since we are on a halal trip, we are not very interested in these pagan cultural relics. We come here mainly to eat a decent halal seafood meal. If Dosti plans to go to Bali for vacation, he does not need to worry too much about eating. Halal restaurants on the island are relatively easy to find. The indigenous residents here have the habit of eating roasted suckling pig. Most restaurants sell wine and the consumption is very high.



Jimbaran Beach

Bali Airport is about three kilometers from Jimbaran Beach. In Indonesia, you must be careful not to talk to the drivers around the airport. The probability of being ripped off is almost 100%. There are two options for taking a taxi. One is that there are regular taxi ticketing points at the airport. The fare is prepaid. Just tell the staff your destination. That’s it. After paying, you can get a slip. You can take the slip and follow the staff’s instructions to find a driver to take the bus. There will be no arbitrary charges. you can use Grab to call a taxi. I strongly recommend using this software. The price is cheaper, and you don’t have to pay cash. You don’t have to worry about language barriers, just like Didi Taxi.



Exterior view of Jimbaran beach restaurant

Since I just came from the pristine Komodo Island, when I saw these commercial beaches, I felt that the gap was a bit big visually, and the water was far less clear than Komodo.



Freshly picked crabs

I told a Hindu driver to take me to a halal restaurant. He took me to this restaurant and charged me more than 100 yuan for less than five kilometers. Before I got in the car, I listened to the 100 he said and interpreted it as 10 yuan, so I got on the bus. I was in a hurry and didn't bother with him. I only regretted that I didn't install the grab software in China earlier. As a result, I couldn't log in to download the software when I was in Indonesia. I could only install the software through a VPN.



A squid weighing more than one kilogram



This seafood meal costs about RMB 500. The price is clearly marked, but it is obviously not as affordable as eating in China. Rice and side dishes are provided, and the taste is average. The seafood is boiled in plain flavor. You can add some weird seasonings, or squeeze a little lemon juice and mix it with the rice.



The residents of the island like to grow flowers.

The reason why I don’t recommend Bali is that it really doesn’t live up to its name. Prices on the island are more than double that of other places in Indonesia, and it is heavily commercialized. Many friends around me don’t think highly of Bali after visiting it, so I think it is suitable for people who only like to vacation in hotels, commonly known as hotel partying. But everyone has their own ambitions. Compared with Komodo Island, the hotel quality in Bali is much higher. As long as you are not afraid of spending money, you can find a good hotel here to stay for a few days.

Fourth stop Yogyakarta

I temporarily added a trip to Yogyakarta and Surabaya because of the sudden outbreak of the epidemic and the extension of the holiday, and my flight back to my country was cancelled. I heard a sister who was traveling with me praise Yogyakarta and Surabaya as fun. Her family of three had just come over there and strongly suggested that I go to Yogyakarta to experience the Javanese culture. So I simply bought a flight ticket from Bali to Yogyakarta and arrived in Yogyakarta in about an hour.

Yogyakarta is a famous historical and cultural city in Indonesia. Its status is roughly equivalent to ancient capitals such as Nanjing and Xi'an in my country. All the court arts in Java originated here. Historically, Yogyakarta was ruled by the Sultan. After Indonesia became independent in 1945, the Sultan of Yogyakarta declared his allegiance to Indonesia. The Sultanate of Yogyakarta was changed to the Yogyakarta Special Zone under Indonesia. The Sultan served as the governor of Yogyakarta and retained the hereditary system.



Hotel gardens and swimming pool

It was really a comfortable journey from landing to checking into the hotel, and everyone I met was very friendly. I remember I was sitting in a taxi, staring at the road outside the window in a daze. At this time, the car drove slowly past two girls. I was not sure if one of them was a shemale, but she felt like a transvestite. This person saw me looking at her, and she gave me a look.



I came for breakfast in the morning and it seemed that I was the only guest. The waiter greeted me very warmly and asked me what kind of breakfast I would like to have. There were two options: Western style and Indonesian style. Of course I chose the Indonesian style.



While dining, enjoy the scenery outside the window. The spire in the distance is Prambanan, a famous Hindu resort in Yogyakarta.



I always eat Indonesian fried rice for breakfast. The hotel breakfast is included in the room rate. All kinds of consumption in Yogyakarta are very cheap. A five-star resort hotel only costs more than 300 yuan a night.



Some TV stations in Indonesia will automatically broadcast Bunker during church hours.

MASJID RAYA ALMUTTAQUN Mosque



MASJID RAYA ALMUTTAQUN Mosque

I originally planned to go to nearby Prambanan, but when I walked to the entrance of the mosque, I saw a traditional Javanese mosque across the road. My attention was completely attracted by this mosque, so I decisively gave up going to Prambanan and started my Javanese halal journey.



The interior of the mosque is made of wood. The disadvantage of this dark-colored wood is that it makes the hall look dark. I have observed this problem in several other mosques.



Since Indonesian worship faces northwest, but buildings generally face north and south, the carpets in the main hall are laid along the direction of Mecca, which looks diagonal.



The main hall of the mosque is on the second floor, and the first floor is a classroom. The children are learning Arabic under the guidance of the teacher. It is raining outside. January and February are the rainy season in Indonesia. It rains almost every day, but it is always a thunderstorm and stops after a while.

Candi Prambanan



Prambanan Ruins

Yogyakarta has two internet celebrity check-in attractions. One is Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist architectural complex, and the other is Prambanan, the largest Hindu architectural complex in Southeast Asia. Both are world cultural heritage sites and were built at the same time. They were built around the 9th century AD. The builders were both ominous and were abandoned after completion. Prambanan People say Nan was probably built by the second king of the Mataram dynasty. Both building complexes were re-excavated and rebuilt in the early 20th century, so most of the buildings were newly built. Prambanan charges a 170 RMB entrance fee, and Borobudur is hundreds of kilometers away from me, so I only walked around at the entrance of Prambanan Temple.



You can see many tourists on the Internet taking some pictures of themselves in the temple, which I think is not good. After all, this is a religious holy place, and taking such pictures is a bit nondescript. A girl wrote in the guide that she was asked to take photos by many Indonesian girls in Prambanan. She felt that the Indonesian girls were interested in her hairstyle because they were envious of her freedom to show her hair. I really want to say, girl, you are overthinking. This is as ridiculous as some domestic rumors saying that the Hui Muslims envy the Han people for eating pork. Don’t you know that Indonesia does not force women to wear headscarves?

MASJID MATARAM



The cemetery of Suta Wijaya Senapati, the sultan of the Kingdom of Mataram, was found in Kota Gede, a suburb of Yogyakarta. Next to it was a mosque that combined Hindu architectural style and Javanese architectural style. The Kingdom of Mataram was the first Islamic kingdom established in Central Java, Indonesia.



Because the faith in Java was converted from Hinduism to Islam, the ancient buildings on the island retain many traces of Hinduism. The gate of this mosque is a type of Hindu architectural style.



It is said on the Internet that the Matalan Mosque charges an entrance fee, which is about 10 yuan. Anyway, I have not met anyone who asked me for entrance tickets. The mosque really should not charge tourists.



In the vestibule of the mosque, some tourists are taking a break from the summer heat. The main hall of the Matalan Mosque still adopts the Javanese architectural style. There is an vestibule, a main hall, and no minaret. Drums are played instead of the adhan.



Adhan drum

The muanli drum is usually played during gatherings or gatherings, and has distinctive Javanese characteristics.



Although the lights are turned on in the main hall, the light is actually very dark. I adjusted the photo to be brighter. This is indeed not as good as the lighting in a dome-shaped building.



The ritual of laying flowers in memory of the deceased is inherited from the Hindu tradition.



There is also a pond next to the cemetery, which is used as a bathhouse for washing and washing. It is probably no longer in use. There are many huge catfish in the pond, both black and white.

Yogyakarta Grand Mosque (Masjid Gedhe Kauman)



Yogyakarta Grand Mosque

The Yogyakarta Mosque (Masjid Gedhe Kauman) was built in 1773. It is located next to the Yogyakarta Royal Palace. It is a traditional Javanese-style building. When I went there, I happened to catch up with a bunch of students coming here to do activities. The teacher led the students to pray, and I followed him.



This architectural style in Java should also be influenced by the ancient Chinese architectural style. During the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He made many voyages to the West and came to Java Island, bringing many craftsmen with him and spreading Islamic culture and Chinese civilization.



lobby of the main hall



There is a sign in Javanese on the wall.





A group of religious school students worshiped, led by their teacher, with the boys in the front and the girls in a designated area at the back.



This is a place reserved for the Sultan to worship, and ordinary civilians cannot enter. By the way, this kind of privileged behavior is not advocated by Islam. Even the king should stand in a row with the people.



The Minbaer podium has a typical Javanese style pattern and is golden in color, the same color as the Thai Royal Palace.



Southeast Asian royal mihrab

Next to the mosque is the Royal Palace of Yogyakarta. The palace is divided into the South District and the North District. You have to buy tickets separately. Each ticket costs about three yuan. I went to the North District and I felt that it was not like the Royal Palace at all. It was too simple. There were only a few greenhouse-like buildings. I once doubted that this was really the Royal Palace?



Yogyakarta Royal Palace

Masjid Soko Tunggal Mosque



Masjid Soko Tunggal Mosque

Yogyakarta One Pillar Mosque (Masjid Soko Tunggal), Soko Tunggal means pillar in Indonesian, was built in 1972. The designer of this mosque was also the designer of Yogyakarta Royal Palace R. Ngabehi Mintobudoyo.



The main hall is supported by one pillar and four pillars, five in total, symbolizing the temptations of the five evil spirits from all directions. This is one of the characteristics of Javanese architecture. The flower patterns carved on the pillars indicate that praying in the mosque can obtain Allah's grace.



A pillar in the main hall

Yogyakarta is a city with a strong religious atmosphere. This can be felt from the hotel I stayed in in the suburbs. Every day when it is time to pray, the sound of bunker will be heard one after another around me. The sound can last for ten minutes intermittently. It may be because the clocks of various mosques are fast or slow.



I casually walked into a nearby village and wandered around. The sign at the head of the village said Selamat Datang. I thought it was the name of the village at first, but I thought it was wrong. I seemed to have seen this word in many places. After asking the villagers, I found out that it means welcome in Indonesian and is commonly used in Southeast Asia.



Masjid Nurul Falaq

The people in this village are very friendly. Everyone I meet on the road, regardless of gender, old or young, will smile and nod to say hello when they see me. The village loudspeaker was broadcasting the imam's sermon. I followed the sound and found the mosque. the mosque was not open. Before I could say anything, a villager next to me came over and opened the door for me. It turned out that the key was at the door.



Mosque nameplates, no matter how small the mosque is, are officially registered.



The details of the post are the same as those of Chinese temples.



BAITUSSALAM MADRAZA SCHOOL



BAITUSSALAM MADRAZA SCHOOL IN THE VILLAGE

There are many religious schools of this kind in Yogyakarta. The children inside look like primary school students. During class, the children are chasing each other and playing around, and some children are surrounding the teacher doing homework.



school main entrance



playground



Mosque inside the school



School mosque appearance



Masjid Nurul Iman Mosque in the same village

If this small mosque is in the city center, it can only be regarded as a Musholla, which means a dua room. Every mosque here has an official registration.





Masjid Jogokariyan Mosque



Masjid Jogokariyan Mosque

The mosque was built in 1967. Most people in this area are engaged in batik work, so the colors of the mosque are relatively bright. Note that the name of the mosque on the right side of the photo uses a variety of colors.



No matter what time of day, you can see people reading the Quran in the mosque, mostly women.



When I was sitting in a taxi heading to the mosque, the driver saw that I was only looking at the mosques along the way to take pictures, so he asked me if I was a Muslim. I blurted out Sailiang Mu, and he laughed when he replied, and then pointed at my beard and said that I looked like a Muslim. I said of course, having a beard is Sunni.



You don’t need to emphasize your Muslim identity when traveling in Indonesia. From my experience, even if the other person only knows that you are from China, you still won’t feel any difference. Anti-Chinese is too alarmist. There are still a large number of ethnic Chinese living in Indonesia today. Many of them have ancestors who settled in Indonesia hundreds of years ago. They have been intermarried for generations. It is difficult to distinguish the ethnic groups in appearance.



SIX SENSES Spanish Restaurant

I saw on TripAdvisor that there is a very beautiful Spanish restaurant nearby. The environment is really beautiful. The interior is a manor, with fountains and gardens. There is no halal Spanish restaurant in China. This taste bud gap needs to be filled in Yogyakarta.



restaurant front porch



restaurant interior



Creamy Mushroom Soup

I originally wanted to have a Spanish paella, but after looking at the menu, the paella required a large portion. It couldn't be eaten by one person, and I didn't want to waste it. After all, the weather was hot and people's appetites were smaller, so I ordered a cream of mushroom soup and salmon salad.



Salmon salad, salmon on the bottom of the plate

The tableware in this store is particularly exquisite, and the waiters are very gentlemanly.



Lemon juice, the small cup on the side is honey

For such a high-end restaurant, the checkout, including service charge and tax, is less than 100 yuan, which is considered high consumption in the local area. Yogyakarta is so down-to-earth.



Fried chicken set next to the mosque

This portion costs about 5 yuan. Indonesians love to eat fried food, and all kinds of things can be fried. The waiter gave me a set meal without tableware, because everyone eats it with their hands, so I followed suit and finished it.

Fifth stop Surabaya

It takes one hour to fly to Surabaya from Yogyakarta, but afterwards I suggested that it would be better to take a train or bus. The ticket I bought was canceled once, and then I experienced delays when I bought a new ticket. The weather on Java Island is unpredictable, so it is really better to take the land route from the beginning, and the land transportation only costs a few dozen yuan, while the air ticket costs more than 300.

Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia. Indonesians call it Surabaya. Remember this name to help you ask for directions. Zheng He landed here when he sailed to the West and reached Java Island. Now this is also the place with the largest number of Chinese in Indonesia.

In 1520, the first Islamic dynasty that arose in central Java, Indonesia, was called the Demak Dynasty. Sultan Laden Bada (1475-1518) was a Chinese and the ancestor of the fourth president of Indonesia, Wahid. His surname was Chen. Wahid said that he had Chinese ancestry. His ancestor, Chen Jinhan, went to Java Island in Indonesia with a fleet during Zheng He's fifth voyage to the West in the 15th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1417), and settled in Surabaya.

MASJID NASIONAL AL-AKBAR SURABAYA



akbar national mosque

The landmark building in Surabaya feels bigger and more beautiful than the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta. The foundation of the mosque was laid in 1995. Construction was suspended for two years during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It was completed in 2000. The then Indonesian President Wahid presided over the inauguration ceremony. President Wahid was also the chairman of the Indonesian Islamic Federation and was considered a leader in the Indonesian religious community. The fact that a descendant of a Chinese ancestor could achieve such achievements in Indonesia is enough to explain a lot of problems.



A cat in the hall





Mihrab



Minbaer



Adhan drum



Sunan Ampel Arch

north(

Sunan Ampel Tomb



Sunan Ampere (1401-1481) Gongbei

The Sunan Ampel (1401-1481) Mosque in Surabaya was built in 1421. Sunan Ampel was one of the important founders of the spread of Islam in Java. He had a prominent status, roughly equivalent to my country's Hudengzhou Baba. His ancestor was the famous Sufi master Ahmed Muhaji, an Iraqi. Ampel once married a Chinese woman Nyi Gede Manila, and they had two sons and two daughters. After Ampel passed away in 1481, he was buried in the mosque. Now it has become a place of pilgrimage for believers. When I came, I happened to catch up with a school organizing a tomb tour, so I followed the students to Ermaili and listened to their hymns in various tones. Although this is a holy tomb, it looks very simple. There is no tomb, and it is not as luxurious as the Gongbei of our country.



Sunan Ampel Mosque Main Hall

As early as the 13th century AD, Islam had been introduced to Indonesia. Marco Polo mentioned in his travel notes that when he stayed in the Kingdom of Basak in Sumatra and the Kingdom of Balara in the Malay Peninsula in 1292, he found that the people there believed in Islam. At the same time, Chinese historian Ma Huan recorded what Zheng He saw in Sumatra during his voyage to the West. He said that at that time in Palembang, West Sumatra, Aceh and other places on the northeastern coast of Sumatra, "all the people in the king's country were Hui people", as well as businessmen from Guangzhou, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and other places in China.



The students came one after another to sit on the floor and praise the Lord and Saints under the leadership of the teacher.

Indonesia established the first Islamic sultanate in the 13th century, on the island of Sumatra, named Samudera Pasai. The founder, Mirah Silau, was a descendant of the royal family and converted to Islam under the influence of the Arab businessman Sheikh Ismail and the South Indian mentor Sultan Muhammad.



After the boys finish reciting, the girls continue to recite



No matter whose tombstone it is, it is such a small space.

Zhenghe Mosque

There is a Zheng He Mosque named after Zheng He in Surabaya, which was built by Chinese Indonesians. There are more than 200,000 Chinese Indonesian Muslims. More Chinese Muslims have already integrated into the Indonesian community. Some have changed their Indonesian surnames and are difficult to distinguish from the outside. These phenomena show that it is difficult to succeed and unpopular in both theory and practice to exclude Chinese in Indonesia.



Zhenghe Mosque

The architectural style of the Zheng He Mosque was based on the style of the Niujie Mosque in Beijing. Since then, seven more Zheng He Mosques have been built in Indonesia. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 15, 2001, the day of the night walk to the sky.



Islam mainly spreads in Indonesia in a peaceful way. At present, academic circles believe that there are several main channels. The first is that Arab, Indian, and Chinese merchants brought Islam into Indonesia through business. On May 22, 2006, the British "Daily Telegraph" reported that after 18 months of salvage, Europe and Indonesia discovered about 250,000 cultural relics in an ancient shipwreck in the Java Sea. They came from China during the Tang and Song Dynasties. The cultural relics contained a large number of Islamic items. It can be seen that China has exerted an important influence on the Islamization of Indonesia. Zheng He had frequent activities in Southeast Asia, actively engaged in Islamic activities there, built mosques, and established Chinese Muslim communities. Even today, Chinese Muslims in Indonesia still commemorate Zheng He.



The second missionary channel is Sufi preaching. Sufi mysticism is easily accepted by local residents who believe in Hinduism. Before the introduction of Islam, Hinduism was the mainstream in Indonesia. As the activities of Sufi scholars became more frequent, a large number of residents and the upper-class ruling class gave up their original polytheistic worship and converted to Islam, which recognizes one God.



The red lanterns and muanja drums are a perfect combination of Chinese and Indian culture. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Hidden Halal Food in China: Chongqing Maodu Hotpot, Hui Muslims and Real Local Restaurants is presented here as a clear English travel account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: The Hui Muslims are one of the ethnic minorities who have lived in Chongqing for a long time. They settled in Chongqing long before the Yuan Dynasty. The oldest existing mosque in Chongqing, the Fengjie. The article keeps the original place names, food details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Chongqing Halal Food, Maodu Hotpot, Hui Muslims.

The Hui Muslims are one of the ethnic minorities who have lived in Chongqing for a long time. They settled in Chongqing long before the Yuan Dynasty. The oldest existing mosque in Chongqing, the Fengjie Mosque, was built in the Yuan Dynasty.

When I revisited Chongqing this time, I not only tasted authentic Chongqing halal food, but also learned about the history of Chongqing hot pot. It turns out that the emergence of Chongqing hot pot is closely related to the Hui Muslims.

cattle were an important production tool in Chinese history and could not be slaughtered at will. This tradition continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty. According to the historical data of Nanchuan County, Chongqing in the early Republic of China, "Revisiting Nanchuan County Chronicles": "In the Qing Dynasty, cattle slaughter was often prohibited, and no one dared to openly set up an operation. However, the place name Diaobuzhu, two miles outside the east gate, was the place where cattle were slaughtered despite the ban. Officials sent messengers to investigate and arrest people, but they were bribed and indulged in bribes. Even if he is arrested and flogged, he will return to his old profession after being released from the shackles. Exceptions include Catholicism and Islam. Before and after the Republic of China, the ban on collecting donations was relaxed, and beef was everywhere in the streets after autumn and before summer. If cattle are not allowed to be slaughtered, there will be more theft and farmers will suffer. This is not just a treacherous Buddha.

What I mentioned above is the ban on cattle slaughter in Chongqing. Because the Hui Muslims have long settled in Chongqing, the government specifically allowed the Hui Muslims to slaughter some weak cattle in order to maintain the livelihood of the Hui Muslims.

On December 4, 1931, there was a news article in Chongqing's "Xin Shu News", "The Hui Muslims of this city have requested that the Municipal Finance Bureau has forwarded a letter to the Ba County Government for inspection." The main content of the news was that some criminals took advantage of the loophole and slaughtered strong cattle privately, resulting in the reduction of fine cattle breeds. In order to save the cattle market, the government has strengthened the regulations prohibiting the slaughter of cattle, and the lives of the Hui Muslims in Chongqing have also been affected. The Hui Muslims specifically requested the Municipal Finance Bureau to request the magistrate and county government to change the restrictions on the slaughter of cattle. Otherwise, the livelihood of the local Hui Muslims will be difficult to maintain.

Therefore, during the Republic of China, the first people who could eat beef tripe and butter among the people were the Hui Muslims. These two ingredients were the main ingredients of Chongqing hot pot. Traditional Chongqing hot pot uses butter as the bottom of the pot. Existing information shows that the history of Chongqing hot pot is only a hundred years old, and the Chongqing riverside wharves during the Republic of China were all places where Hui Muslims slaughtered cattle. In the 15th year of the Republic of China, the Ma brothers introduced the simple hot pot "Shui Ba Kuai" to the restaurant in Zaifang Street (now under the sill of the Yangtze River Bridge). It was the prototype of Chongqing hot pot, similar to today's Jiugongge. A pot is divided into eight compartments, and each compartment can be used to prepare different dishes. At that time, this division was just to help the guests to share a table. After all, the diners were mostly poor boatmen on the riverside, and it was impossible to have the luxury of one pot per person. In this way, until the Anti-Japanese War, there was still an old lady surnamed Ma running an authentic tripe hot pot on the street in Jiaochangkou, which specialized in beef tripe.

There is an article saying that the Hui Muslims in Chaotianmen slaughtered cows and kept only the meat, and did not put it into the water. They threw the water away and let the boatmen pick it up and make tripe hot pot. This is obviously not in line with common sense. I guess the Hui Muslims are regarded as some foreigners who do not eat offal. In fact, the Hui Muslims are very good at eating tripe and beef offal. The fried tripe and mutton offal soup in old Beijing were first sold by the Hui Muslims. As poor people, the Hui Muslims regard cattle and sheep as good food.

However, with the Japanese invasion of China, Chongqing, as the capital of the Nationalist Government, suffered six years of bombing by the Japanese army. All mosques in Chongqing were not spared and suffered serious damage. As a result, many Hui Muslims in Chongqing left their homes and found other livelihoods. In the following years, it was difficult to find traces of halal hairy tripe hot pot in Chongqing.

It wasn't until the 1980s that hot pot re-emerged in Chongqing, but there were no halal restaurants anymore.

I remember my first visit to Chongqing in 2016. I wanted to try the authentic halal Chongqing hot pot but there was no one. Only the Ningxia Huixiangzhai restaurant opposite the Jiaochangkou Mosque also sold Chongqing hot pot. Because it was the only one, it was difficult to compare and evaluate. But when I came to Chongqing again in 2020, the situation had changed a lot, and halal Chongqing hot pot was blooming everywhere.

Currently, the halal restaurants in Chongqing are mainly concentrated in two places. The first is Jiaochangkou and the second is Songpai Road. Let’s talk about Songpai Road first.

Before setting off, I had saved several hot pot restaurants on my phone that I planned to try. When I followed the navigation to find one of the highly rated Halal Chongqing Hot Pots on Songpai Road, my eyes lit up when I arrived at my destination. There were actually several Halal restaurants densely packed together on this street, which can be called a Halal Food Street.

Songpai Road Halal Food Street



△Songpai Road



△Zhen Yishun is a chain brand with many branches in Chongqing, but its main features are different. This one is for Chongqing hot pot.



△Hand grab at Northwest Tower



△The second branch of Zhen Yishun is next to the third branch, but its main business is Xinjiang cuisine



△Xinjiang Bosten Manor, specializing in Xinjiang cuisine



△Aftertaste of Sichuan and Chongqing Halal Chongqing Hot Pot

The store I would like to introduce to you on Songpai Road is Huiwei Sichuan and Chongqing Halal Chongqing Hot Pot (Youssef Store)

, the boss is from Lanzhou, and the store is a chain store with branches in Lanzhou and other places.

The reason why I recommend this restaurant is first of all because it is the first non-smoking hot pot restaurant in Chongqing. Feeling safe while eating is more important than anything else. Secondly, this restaurant has a high five-star rating on Dianping. I am a very popular person with a down-to-earth taste. Generally, restaurants that everyone thinks are delicious, I also think they are delicious, and I think delicious restaurants are easily accepted by others.



I felt a halal atmosphere as soon as I entered the door. There was an event in the store that day. Imams and village elders were being entertained on the first floor. The lobby was full of dustis. I came alone and said selan to the boss and waiter. The boss enthusiastically led me to the private room on the second floor and asked the waiter to prepare some dishes suitable for one person.



△The vegetable rack placed at the entrance of the store, please note that the green vegetables are all freshly cultivated and are only pulled out when eating.



△The restaurant’s private room can accommodate 20 people dining at the same time.



△Single pot

The boss said that the most enjoyable thing about eating Chongqing hot pot is the nine-square grid of the big pot, which allows you to taste different flavors. But I am only one person, so I can only choose a small pot to avoid waste. Compared with Chengdu hot pot, Chongqing hot pot is older and has a spicier taste. Chengdu hot pot is an improved version.

Chongqing people think that the longer the hot pot is cooked, the more fragrant it becomes. The hot pot soup is repeatedly simmered and the flavor becomes richer, so they are accustomed to calling it old hot pot. The soup in old hot pot is the leftover soup from the previous guests. There are really local people who eat hot pot and don’t mind eating the leftover old soup from the table. They enjoy it. It is delicious, but this is limited to the way of eating in non-halal restaurants. Halal restaurants will not use old soup, and halal restaurants have not been open in Chongqing for a long time, so it is impossible to have old soup. there are no favorites of Chongqing people such as duck blood and pig brains, so halal restaurants are not very popular among old Chongqing people.



△Fairy hairy belly

The tripe is a must-have ingredient for Chongqing hot pot. You can eat the tripe in a red oil pan for three to five seconds. After being scalded by the spicy butter soup, the smell of the tripe is gone.



△Fresh cut beef tenderloin

Beijing's mutton-shabu-shabu mainly uses sheep, while Chongqing's hot pot focuses on beef. I suggest that when you come to Chongqing, you should mainly eat beef. Shabu-shabu beef in butter will have a unified taste.



△Vegetable platter

What’s worth noting is the vegetable platter in Chongqing hot pot. I only realized after eating it that there were no green leafy vegetables in the vegetable platter, only soy products such as bean sprouts. As for the reason, experienced hot pot eaters should have guessed that green leafy vegetables cooked in spicy red oil will taste spicier and most people can’t stand it. However, light ingredients such as bean sprouts and tofu are more fragrant and more flavorful after being rolled in red oil, so those who want to try spicy food can just order the green vegetables.



The dipping sauce of Chongqing hot pot is traditionally sesame oil and minced garlic, which mainly plays the role of cooling the hairy belly. Chengdu hot pot has made some innovations in the dipping sauce, adding sweet flavors such as oyster sauce. The dipping sauces here can be mixed as you like.

Jiaochangkou Muslim Building

Jiaochangkou is the only mosque in the central city of Chongqing. The original mosque was bombed by the Japanese army. Now a Muslim building has been built. The 14th and 15th floors are used as mosques, and the other floors are rented out to hotels. Currently, Chongqing has built a mosque similar to Hangzhou Xinda Mosque in the southern section of Erlangfeng West Road, but it has not yet been opened.



△Chongqing West mosque



△The Monument of Promoting Religion and Saving the Nation







△The photo was taken in 2016, when the underground was not yet open.



△Now the first floor and the basement have become a hotpot city.



△Qingjuzhai Halal Restaurant

All three restaurants are owned by a Xinjiang owner. I specifically asked the waiter about the differences between the three restaurants and learned that the Magic 8D Chongqing Hot Pot on the basement floor is a sauce-flavored hot pot, the Zhen Yishun Chongqing Hot Pot on the first floor specializes in spicy and spicy hot pot, and the Qingjuzhai on the first floor specializes in Northwest Xinjiang stir-fry dishes, as well as Sichuan cuisine.



△This must be the boss.

After eating Sichuan and Chongqing hot pot at noon, I really can’t eat hot pot again in the evening. I came here mainly to eat halal Chongqing noodles.



△You can buy halal Chongqing hot pot base here.

I ate the halal Chongqing hot pot base from a friend in Beijing, and I can use an induction cooker to cook it at home. The advantage is that I can add different concentrations of ingredients according to my own taste. I can eat five meals of the base that locals would eat in one meal, because the taste is mainly numb and spicy. If the ingredients are the same, it will not be affected by the region, and I can taste it at home like in a store.



△Still open at 10pm.

It was about 10 o'clock when I came to Magic 8D. The waiter said that we can go upstairs to eat hot pot. The upstairs is open until 11 o'clock and the current floor was about to close. But I said I just wanted to have a bowl of noodles, and they still made me a bowl. The waiters in the store are all Yaomei from Chongqing and have a very good attitude.



△Chongqing noodles

Finally, I was able to eat halal noodles in Chongqing. To be honest, the taste did not disappoint me. I ate the whole bowl. Of course, I didn’t finish the soup. The noodles here are not particularly spicy, just like the waiter said they have a special sauce flavor. The basic version of authentic Chongqing noodles is spicy plain noodles, but various toppings can be added. Chongqing noodles are one of the most important daily noodles for Chongqing people. People eat them since morning. Although they are plain noodles, it does not mean that you can go to halal restaurants to eat them, because they will add lard to them, so you must cherish the opportunity to eat halal noodles.



△Huixiangzhai, a northwest restaurant that also serves Chongqing hot pot.

Opposite the Muslim Building is Huixiangzhai. I had my first meal here when I came to Chongqing in 2016. It has basically remained unchanged in four years. This restaurant should be the first restaurant in Chongqing to start making Halal Chongqing hot pot in the past 10 years, although it is not the main dish.



△Chongqing hot pot at Huixiangzhai

Next to the Muslim Building, there are several halal restaurants selling Chongqing hot pot nearby. They should have only opened in the past two years. Forgive me for not trying them all. If I eat spicy hot pot all the time, I'm afraid I won't be able to return to Beijing normally.



△Irquba halal hot pot, smoke-free wine restaurant.



△Captain Ma Halal Hot Pot

About 900 meters away from Jiaochangkou, there is a night market. The first stall at the entrance of the night market is Huawei Yipin, which sells halal snacks.

The food truck is also the only halal stall in this night market.



△30 Degree Street Bar in Lime City



△Aftertaste of Yipin

Huiwei Yipin mainly sells snacks such as beef noodles, beef steamed buns, hot and sour noodles, fried chicken, and cold noodles. It also sells Chongqing noodles. It is run by a couple from Liaocheng, Shandong. We exchanged words about selan. The young man seemed to be in a good mood and was laughing. Narrowly, he said that he has been doing business in Chongqing for more than 20 years and has settled in Chongqing. During the chat, I heard him communicating with Chongqing guests in Chongqing dialect with a pure accent. He said that locals in his Chongqing accent generally can't tell the difference.

I asked him about the situation of local hot pot in Chongqing. I said that the hot pot restaurants in Chongqing seemed to be doing very well, and I often saw long lines of people queuing up to eat hot pot. He told me that many of the queuing restaurants paid people to queue up. Generally, traditional Chongqing people would not queue up to eat hot pot. They would eat the familiar taste in small alleys near their homes. There is no need to queue up in such small shops.



△Aftertaste Yipin’s menu



△Beef steamed buns

The Roujiamo they make is really delicious. I had just finished eating the spicy hot pot, so a hot Roujiamo saved my stomach. The buns are all heated on the pan. I believe that friends who can't eat spicy food will want to have a Roujiamo to resist the burning of their stomach after eating spicy hot pot.

Weiyijia·Ethnic Specialty Restaurant

The biggest gain from my trip to Chongqing this time was to find an authentic Chongqing restaurant in Hechuan District run by local Muslims in Chongqing. The location of Hechuan District in Chongqing is roughly equivalent to the outer suburbs of Yanqing and Huairou in Beijing. You need to take a train from Chongqing North Railway Station. The journey takes about half an hour and there are many trains.



△Fujiang River in Hechuan District

Weiyijia Restaurant is located in a street shop along the Fujiang River. On the opposite bank is Wenfeng Ancient City, a famous scenic spot in Hechuan District. I have visited the ancient city for you and found no halal restaurants, but there are vegetarian restaurants.



Weiyijia Ethnic Specialty Restaurant is the only Chongqing-style halal restaurant in Hechuan District. The owner is a Chongqing native and the director of the Hechuan Mosque. This restaurant is a non-smoking and alcoholic restaurant, and all the meat in the restaurant comes from Lanzhou. This is simply perfect and must be highly recommended.



The signboard placed at the entrance not only introduces the concept of halal food and emphasizes that alcohol is prohibited, but also clearly states that the ingredients come from Lanzhou, emphasizing that the ingredients are of high quality and can be eaten with confidence. In fact, Lanzhou is not too far from Chongqing. There are some areas in Gansu where the food taste is closer to Sichuan, such as the Longnan area. Halal Sichuan hot pot restaurants can be found everywhere in Lanzhou, and the taste is basically the same as that in Sichuan and Chongqing.



△Not only is the meat good, but the rice is also imported from Thailand.



△Steamed mutton with rice flour

Steamed pork is popular in many southern provinces and is one of the top ten famous dishes in Chongqing. It is steamed with rice noodles, meat and other materials. The Hui Muslims use beef and mutton as the main ingredients, and then put sweet potato cubes on the bottom. Eat the steamed pork on top first, and then eat the ground pork on the bottom. The role of the melon, rice noodles and sweet potatoes may be to absorb the mutton smell of the meat. This Lanzhou mutton has no mutton smell, but I underestimated the amount of dishes in Chongqing restaurants. This portion is probably enough for two or three people. It is a pity that I can't finish them all.



△Sauerkraut and Vermicelli Soup

The most inconvenient thing about traveling alone is that my food intake is limited and I can’t eat more. I had a premonition before ordering that I might not be able to finish it all, so I only ordered one portion of steamed pork with rice flour and another portion of soup. I didn’t expect that the soup came in a big bowl, which shocked me, and it only cost 12 yuan. This time I tasted Chongqing sauerkraut. The texture is very different from northern sauerkraut. It is more sour and has a more complex taste, which is very appetizing.



The waitress at Weiyijia’s kimchi is a native of Hechuan with a strong accent. She saw that I was very interested in this kimchi and said she could give it to me to try. However, the kimchi was not yet ripe (carelessness). I ate some and thought it was quite delicious. The people of Bashu are very good at making pickled food.



△A bowl of rice

Eating rice in both pots and buckets is a specialty of the Sichuan and Chongqing regions. You have to get used to this. In fact, I also want to try Weiyijia's twice-cooked beef or something, but I don't have the energy to do it. I will come again in the future if I have the opportunity.

Hechuan Mosque



△Hechuan Mosque

Qingzhuwan Street, about 1 kilometer away from Weiyijia Restaurant, is where the Hechuan Mosque is located. The mosque was built in 1748 and was built with funds raised by the Hui Muslims from Shaanxi who came to Hechuan for business. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, a Hui named Yin from Fengjie, Chongqing, became the general manager of the Yamen of Hechuan County and was elected as the village elder of the mosque, which improved the status of the Hui Muslims in Hechuan. The Republic of China was the most prosperous period for the religious community in Hechuan County, with more than 150 Hui Muslims. Su Weixin, who was the imam of the Hechuan Mosque at that time, was employed as a teacher at the Hechuan Martial Arts Hall.









△Overall view of the yard





△The worship hall is very small.



△The ancient trees in the yard

There are currently 6 mosques in use in Chongqing, namely Jiaochangkou Mosque, Hechuan Mosque, Fengjie Mosque, Rongchang Mosque, Wanzhou Mosque and Kaixian Mosque.

, each mosque belongs to different districts and counties, and they are all very far apart, so you need to take a train to get there.

Dunhuang Tower Northwest Restaurant



Dunhuang Lou is the first northwest halal restaurant in Chongqing. It is not the same as Dunhuang Lou in Shanghai. It is located in the food court on B1 of Shin Kong Place Department Store. I like the overall decoration style and service of this store, and you can also eat halal Chongqing stir-fry here.





△Hand-shredded cakes



△Sweet and Sour Pork



△Balancai in soup



△Steamed pork with rice flour

The steamed pork here is wrapped in rice dumpling leaves and tastes delicious. The mutton is steamed to perfection and there is a snack stall at the entrance of the restaurant.

Silk Road Xiangfei·Xinjiang Restaurant

Silk Road Xiangfei Xinjiang Restaurant is the largest halal restaurant in Chongqing. It is located in Area A of Liujia Wharf on the edge of the Jialing River. Opposite is the popular Jiangjing business district in Chongqing, and you can overlook Hongya Cave.





△There will be ethnic song and dance performances in the evening.



△Iron barbecue



△Steamed beef brisket with sprouts

This Xinjiang restaurant also has local Chongqing recipes, but the taste of the Chongqing dishes is a little less interesting. It is not as delicious as the Chongqing dishes in Dunhuang House. It should not be difficult to find a chef in Chongqing who can cook local dishes.



△Exploded tripe



△Naan grilled pizza

If you don’t want to eat something too spicy and want to have a dinner together, I recommend Silu Xiangfei.

Longxing Tower

When returning to Beijing, I departed from the domestic terminal of Chongqing Jiangbei Airport T3. After passing the security check, I could see this halal ramen restaurant.



△Longxinglou·Lanzhou Beef Ramen

It is another alcohol-free restaurant. The proportion of non-alcohol restaurants in Chongqing seems to be more than half. It is really gratifying to have such a proportion in an area where halal catering is not developed. I hope that these restaurants can have a prosperous business and caterers will have good luck in their lifetime. view all

Reposted from the web

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

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

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

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





























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

Reposted from the web

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

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

February 13.

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













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













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







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

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

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

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

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

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

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



















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

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



















February 14

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

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

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

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



























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



















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



















February 15

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



















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

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

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

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















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













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













February 16

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

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



















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

































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

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

Reposted from the web

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

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

1. Suqian

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

2. Huai'an

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

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

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

3. Yancheng

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

4. Yangzhou

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. Zhenjiang

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

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

3. Nanmenwai Mosque (Nanmenwaisi) Qing Dynasty mihrab.

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

6. Nanjing

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

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

3. Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Suqian Yanghe Town Mosque.

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

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























Huai'an Qingjiang Ancient Mosque.

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

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

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

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

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

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

















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



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





















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















Two stone steles at the Qingjiang Mosque.

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







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







Ancient well



Column base



Coffin for the deceased (tabumaiti xia)



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





Tombstone of the Sai family of the Ma clan from Anhui



Stone railing



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





Hexia Mosque

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

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

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

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

















An ancient well dug in the early Qing Dynasty.































Wangjiaying Mosque.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

















The Republic of China era inscription reads as follows:



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yancheng Mosque.

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

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

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

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

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

























Baoying Mosque

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

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

Reposted from the web

Summary: This fourth part of the Jiangsu mosque series records historic mosque sites in Nanjing and Liuhe, including Taiping Road Mosque, Caoqiao Mosque, Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque, Hushu Mosque, South Gate Mosque, Changjiang Road Mosque, and Zhuzhen Mosque. The article preserves founding dates, women's mosque history, Da Pusheng family records, stone tablets, ancient trees, and surviving architectural details.

















The front hall of the former Taiping Road Mosque served as the office for the chairman of the Chinese Islamic Association between 1945 and 1949, where Bai Chongxi once worked.

















The brick carving titled 'Purifying the Heart and Gazing at the Palace' (xixin zhanque) from the water room of the former Taiping Road Mosque.



The former Taiping Road Mosque collection includes the 'Postscript to the Filial Piety Arch for Mother' written by Jiang Guobang. It records that Jiang, a wealthy Nanjing merchant, lost his father early and was raised by his mother, Madam Ma. In 1911 (the third year of the Xuantong reign), he petitioned to build a memorial arch for his mother's filial piety. Due to the change in government, it was finally completed in 1914.

Jiang Guobang came from the wealthy Jiang merchant family of Jinling, but he was indifferent to fame and wealth, dedicating himself to the study of traditional Chinese classics. Jiang Guobang was very filial. To provide his mother with a good place for her retirement, he spent a large sum of money to buy the Small Ten Thousand Willow Hall (xiaowanliutang) by West Lake in Hangzhou, later naming it 'Jiang Manor' (Jiangzhuang), which was one of the three major manors of West Lake at the time. Jiang Guobang oversaw the reconstruction of the Taiping Road Mosque in 1924 and later built a filial piety arch for his mother inside the mosque. The arch no longer exists, leaving only the stone tablet record.







The Qing dynasty well railing and the Guangxu reign stone tablet at Caoqiao Mosque. Caoqiao Mosque was first built during the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty, destroyed by fire during the Taiping Rebellion, and rebuilt in the early years of the Tongzhi reign. Because it was located in Qijiawan, a neighborhood where Hui Muslims lived, Caoqiao Mosque once had the largest number of congregants in Nanjing. Historically, Caoqiao Mosque had no property of its own; its daily expenses were covered by the Beef and Bone Trade Association located within the mosque. After 1958, Caoqiao Mosque was occupied and later rented to the Nanjing Woodware Factory, suffering severe damage. The property was returned in 1985 but remained closed until it was demolished in 2003.







Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque.

Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque was first built in the late Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty. It is one of the few remaining old buildings among the 33 mosques in Nanjing from the Republic of China era. The mihrab (mihalabu) niche currently in Jingjue Mosque was moved here from the Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque. Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque was used as a residence for a long time. It has now been vacated and may be put to new use.

In 1917, Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque founded the private Wuben Primary School to teach cultural subjects and Islamic knowledge. It moved to the entrance of Xiaowangfu Lane on Fengfu Road in 1953 and became a municipal school in 1956.



















Hushu Mosque.

Hushu Mosque was first built in 1392 (the 25th year of the Hongwu reign). It was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, and the main hall was rebuilt in 1896 (the 22nd year of the Guangxu reign). In 1911, five tile-roofed rooms were built on the left side in front of the main hall, with the water room on the left, dormitories on the right, and a guest hall in the middle. In 1919, three rooms of the front hall, five rooms of the main hall, and two rooms of the east wing at the main gate were rebuilt.

Around 1932, a primary school for Hui Muslim children was established inside Hushu Mosque, which moved out of the mosque in 1956. In 1964, the main hall of Hushu Mosque was demolished during the 'Four Cleanups Movement' and was occupied by the Hushu Straw Bag Factory, Hushu Hardware Factory, and Hushu Supply and Marketing Cooperative during the Cultural Revolution. The main hall was rebuilt in 1988. The roof of the main hall at Hushu Mosque was originally built in a palace style with upturned eaves, but it was changed to a flat roof after renovations.







The gate piers from the original construction in 1392.







A ginkgo tree transplanted in 1689.









Liuhe South Gate Mosque.

Liuhe once had seven mosques and three schools for women. Today, the Changjiang Road Mosque, South Gate Mosque, and Zhuzhen Mosque are open, and the historic buildings of the South Gate Women's School and Zhuzhen Women's School have been preserved.

Liuhe South Gate Mosque was first built in 1403 (the first year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty), renovated in 1553 (the 32nd year of the Jiajing reign), destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, and later rebuilt. One of the four famous imams of the Republic of China, Imam Da Pusheng, had three generations of his family—from his great-grandfather to his father—serve as the imam at South Gate Mosque. The old Da family home is on Qingzhen Street right at the mosque entrance. Imam Da Pusheng studied the scriptures at South Gate Mosque for seven years from the age of 10 to 17, before moving on to Nanjing and Beijing for further studies.

The ancestors of the Baiyetang Da family, to which Imam Da Pusheng belonged, were from the Western Regions during the Yuan Dynasty. Research shows they belonged to the Kipchak Yuliberi tribe, and his ancestor served as a darughachi in Zhenjiang before passing away there. His sixth-generation ancestor, Da Shanyu, moved from Zhenjiang to Liuhe in the early Ming Dynasty to take up a position as a county assistant. He settled in Liuhe, making this the oldest Hui Muslim family from the Western Regions in the area.

After 1966, South Gate Mosque was occupied by a kindergarten, during which time the Shamao Hall (a secondary hall), the north wing, the red gate, and the entrance hall were demolished. The kindergarten moved out in 1975, and the site was later borrowed by Baozhen Primary School. It was finally reclaimed in 2000 when the school moved out. In 2013, the main hall was raised and rebuilt. Later, the Tongxin Tower and Tongxing Building were added, and the site was finally opened for use in 2020.



















Stone carvings and ancient trees at Liuhe South Gate Mosque:

A stone tablet from the seventh year of the Daoguang reign commemorating a house donation by a Hui Muslim named Li.



A boundary marker for the mosque.



A stone tablet from the 12th year of the Guangxu reign, recording that South Gate Mosque was destroyed by the Taiping Rebellion during the Xianfeng period, many Hui Muslims from the local militia died in battle, and the government later stepped in to protect the graves.



A couplet written by Wang Jianli in the 10th year of the Republic of China: 'Keep your heart pure and clean as if in the afterlife, return to the truth and simplicity just the same.'



Qing Dynasty drum-shaped stone bases in front of the main gate.





A 460-year-old Chinese juniper in front of the main hall, classified as a first-class ancient tree.





Liuhe Women's School.

The Liuhe Muslim Women's School began in 1912, and the current building was constructed in 1930. It was later used as a funeral home for Hui Muslims and is a rare surviving example of a Muslim women's school from the Republic of China era.

Traditionally, these women's schools did not form formal classes, did not call the adhan, did not hold Jumu'ah or Eid prayers, and the female imam (shiniang) did not lead the prayer from the front, but instead stood in the middle of the first row. Women's mosques (nuxue) do not have minarets, and the main prayer hall does not have a pulpit (minbar). Female imams (shiniang) lead the local women in their religious duties and teach them about the faith.

Women's mosques emerged in the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty, starting in Henan and spreading to nearby areas in Hebei, Shandong, and Anhui. In the early Republic of China, the New Culture Movement and the women's liberation movement helped Hui Muslims understand the ideas of promoting women's education and ending foot-binding. The number of women's mosques grew quickly, with over 100 in Henan province alone, and many more built in other provinces.

During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Nanjing had two women's mosques at Hanximen and Changle Street. During the Republic of China, four more were built at Fangjia Lane, Zhuganli, Shigu Road, and Dahuifu Lane, but all of these have since been torn down. In the early Republic of China, Liuhe had three women's mosques at Houjie, Nanmenwai, and Zhuzhen. The historical buildings at Nanmenwai and Zhuzhen still stand today.













Liuhe Changjiang Road Mosque.

The Changjiang Road Mosque was originally called Chengqingfang, and was also known as the Liuhe North Mosque, the City Mosque, or the Da Family Mosque. It was built in 1424 (the 22nd year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty) by the Da family, who had lived in Liuhe for generations. The Changjiang Road Mosque was destroyed by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom during the Xianfeng period. It was later rebuilt through donations from the imam Liu Weiting and local elders. In 1885 (the 11th year of the Guangxu reign), Da Guangyong donated money to build a reception hall. In 1928, Wang Dashi, the widow of the wealthy merchant Wang Zuochen and aunt of the great imam Da Pusheng, donated money to build the Wuxin Pavilion on the site of the original Wangyue Tower.

In 1899, the great imam Da Pusheng returned to his hometown of Liuhe from the Niujie Mosque in Beijing to serve as the imam of the Changjiang Road Mosque. It was not until 1905, when Imam Wang Kuan of Niujie went on the Hajj, that Imam Da returned to the Niujie Mosque to serve as the acting imam and lead religious affairs. Imam Da founded the Guangyi Primary School inside the Changjiang Road Mosque to promote modern education. He offered courses in Chinese and Arabic, scripture, geography, history, and mathematics, marking the first transition from traditional scripture hall teaching to modern education. In a memoir from the early 1950s, Imam Da wrote: 'I worked hard for six years. Perhaps moved by the success of Guangyi Primary School, the local Hui Muslims supported the school with great effort. Looking back, it was not easy to struggle at that time, patiently convincing stubborn traditionalists and acting courageously without being accused of going against the faith!'

After 1966, the Changjiang Road Mosque was occupied by a theater troupe and a cultural troupe. It was returned and reopened in 1983.



















Existing stone tablets at the Liuhe Changjiang Road Mosque:





The 11th-year Guangxu tablet records Da Guangyong's donation to build the reception rooms at the Liuhe City Mosque. Da Guangyong was an 18th-generation descendant of the Baiyetang Da family, held a minor official rank, and lived to be 81.



The 25th-year Guangxu tablet, titled 'Record of the Renovation of the Tangyi City Mosque and the Surrounding Market Shops,' documents the specific situation of the Changjiang Road Mosque during the Guangxu period. All those who signed it were local Hui Muslims from the Da family.



The 17th-year Republic of China tablet, regarding Wang Dashi's donation to help repair the Wangyue Pavilion and redeem market shops, records that Dashi, the wife of the Zhuzhen elder Wang Zuochen, donated money to build the Wangyue Pavilion. Wang Zuochen was a Hui Muslim from Zhuzhen, Liuhe. He ran a grain business on North Street in Zhuzhen for decades and was very devout, never missing his prayers. However, he was suddenly kidnapped by bandits in 1925 and was never heard from again. Wang Zuochen's wife, Dashi, was also very devout and had founded the Zhuzhen Women's School. After her husband went missing, Dashi spent years asking people to help find him, but there was no result. Because Wang Zuochen had no brothers or children, Dashi donated all the family's money to the Zhuzhen Mosque and to build the Wangyue Pavilion at the Changjiang Road Mosque.





Inside the mosque, there is a 350-year-old Chinese juniper (yuanbai) tree.







Zhuzhen Mosque

Zhuzhen Mosque was originally located outside the East Bridge. It was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion and rebuilt in 1901 (the 27th year of the Guangxu reign) in Wangjia Lane in the middle of the old street. In 1968, Zhuzhen Mosque was turned into a dormitory for teachers at an agricultural middle school. It was reclaimed and reopened in 1983, and the main hall was rebuilt in 2001.

In 1939, the imam of Zhuzhen Mosque, Li Shudu, formed the Hui Muslim Anti-Japanese Independent Guerrilla Battalion and served as its commander. He worked with the New Fourth Army and made significant contributions to the anti-Japanese cause.

Additionally, in 1939, Hui Muslims from the 'Qiaobang' group in the Gaoyou and Lingtang areas built a mosque near Xinhua Garden on the west side of Zhuzhen. After 1966, it was converted into a Hui Muslim food processing factory.





Zhuzhen Mosque still has a door plaque from the Qing Dynasty's Guangxu reign, inscribed with 'Built by the Zhudun Community.' Zhudun is the old name for Zhuzhen.















Liuhe Zhuzhen Mosque houses a Qing Dynasty stone well called 'Songquan,' two pairs of drum-shaped stone bases, and a 1927 (the 16th year of the Republic of China) stele recording the will of Wang Zuochen's wife, Madam Da. Madam Da was the aunt of the great imam Da Pusheng. The inscription records that the Zhuzhen Girls' School was founded by Wang Zuochen and fellow members of the faith, who also provided all the funding. Later, Wang Zuochen was kidnapped by bandits and remained missing for several years. Because of this, his wife, Madam Da, decided to donate all their family farmland and property, except for a portion used for her own support. The funds were mainly for the daily expenses of the Zhuzhen Girls' School, with the remainder going to Zhuzhen Mosque. The inscription mentions her 'nephew Da Pusheng.'







Across from Zhuzhen Mosque, there is a shop selling small-mill sesame oil (xiaomo mayou), and there are only hand-pulled noodle (lamian) shops in town.









Zhuzhen Girls' School

Zhuzhen Girls' School features typical Jianghuai architectural style. The entrance hall and the main hall form a small courtyard, and both sides have classic Hui-style horse-head walls (matouqiang).

Zhuzhen Girls' School was founded in 1921 by Wang Zuochen, the uncle-in-law of the great imam Da Pusheng, along with fellow members of the faith in Zhuzhen. It was originally located on Zhuzhen Middle Street and was rebuilt in 1931 by Wu Tieqian and others along the south riverbank outside the East Bridge. After 1966, the Zhuzhen Girls' School was occupied by the Hui Muslim food processing factory. It was renovated in 2007 and is currently not open to the public. During the Republic of China era, the Zhuzhen Girls' School was led by two female imams, Teacher Dai and Teacher Bai, who taught scriptures and religious doctrines to local Hui Muslim women.

Wu Tieqian was a famous Hui Muslim anti-Japanese patriotic businessman. His original name was Wu Jiashan. At age 22, he inherited his father's business and ran the Wudeyuan Grain Store. After 1938, when the New Fourth Army entered Zhuzhen to lead the anti-Japanese resistance, Wu Tieqian took the lead in donating grain, money, and guns. He also served as the chairman of the Zhuzhen Merchants' Anti-Enemy Association. In 1942, Wu Tieqian became the first mayor of the Zhuzhen Anti-Japanese Democratic Government. He took risks to rescue and protect many comrades and also mobilized ambitious young people to join the revolution. After the founding of New China, Wu Tieqian was elected as the vice director of the Nanjing Islamic Association. He passed away (guizhen) in 1967. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: The first part of the Nanjing mosque journey focuses on Jingjue Mosque, Caoqiao Mosque, Taiping Road Mosque, and other historic Muslim sites in the old city. This account keeps the original mosque names, inscriptions, dates, architecture, street context, and photographs.

Jingjue Mosque.

Jingjue Mosque is located on Sanshan Street in the south of Nanjing. It was originally called Sanshan Street Mosque. During the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, it was given the name Jingjue Mosque, making it the first mosque in Nanjing during the Ming period.

One account says Jingjue Mosque was built in 1388 (the 21st year of the Hongwu era) by imperial order to house officials from the Western Regions who had submitted to the Ming, such as Yibulajin and Kemaluding. Another account says it was built in 1392 (the 25th year of the Hongwu era) by imperial order of Saihazhi, a seventh-generation descendant of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din. Both accounts are supported by stone inscriptions from the Ming Dynasty.

According to a 1493 (the 5th year of the Hongzhi era) inscription titled 'Record of the Two Imperial Mosques Built in the South of the City of Yingtian Prefecture in Jiangnan,' it states: 'In the 21st year of the Hongwu era, Yibulajin, Kemaluding, and others, originally from the Rumi Kingdom in the Western Regions, submitted to China along with the Duke of Song after the conquest of Jinshan and Kaiyuan... Therefore, two mosques were built to settle them, and Kemaluding and four other households were assigned to live at the Wangyue Tower Jingjue Mosque.' The family genealogies of two Hui Muslim branches with the surname Ma, known as 'Weiyitang' and 'Baojitang' in Hushu, Nanjing, both record that they are descendants of Ma Gutai and Ma Baihao, who were settled at Jingjue Mosque at that time.

According to a 1405 (the 3rd year of the Yongle era) inscription at the Great Mosque on Huajue Lane in Xi'an, 'On the 14th day of the third month of the 25th year of the Hongwu era, Saihazhi, the seventh-generation descendant of the Prince of Xianyang Sayyid Ajjal, went to the inner court to announce the imperial decree: On that day at the Fengtian Gate, the imperial decree was received:...build two mosques in two locations, one at the copper workshop on Sanshan Street in Yingtian Prefecture, Nanjing, and one on Ziwu Lane in Chang'an County, Xi'an Prefecture, Shaanxi Province.' The 'Genealogy of the Sayyid Ajjal Family' records that Saihazhi was granted the hereditary title of Marquis of Xianning, and 'When the Ming Taizu established the capital in Jinling, he entrusted Saihazhi to build a mosque in Jinling.' After the work was finished, he built the Great Mosque in Chang'an. When the Tiemao Lane Mosque in Taicang, Jiangsu, was renovated in the 1980s, a stone tablet was found inside a wall, revealing that the Taicang mosque was also built by Saihazhi.

Additionally, according to the Republic of China era 'Zhongnan Huaibei Regional Gazetteer,' 'North of the street is Jingjue Mosque. Wu Ru, a man from the Western Regions during the Ming Dynasty, came to China to serve in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. He lived in Nanjing and built this mosque next to his residence.' Therefore, Jingjue Mosque may have originally been part of Wu Ru's residence.

Jingjue Mosque was destroyed by fire in 1430 (the 5th year of the Xuande era), and Zheng He requested its reconstruction before his seventh voyage to the Western Oceans. According to the 'Record of the Imperial Eunuch Zheng He Rebuilding the Mosque,' it states: 'Your request has been received: The mosque on Sanshan Street in Nanjing has been burned down.' 'You wish to rebuild it to pray for the safety of the funds, grain, people, and ships for your voyage. This shows your respectful heart, so how could it be neglected?' 'As an imperial envoy, since you have set your heart on this, how could your wish be abandoned?' 'If the personnel and materials you use are insufficient, and the project is delayed, you may draw what is needed from the Nanjing Directorate of Palace Servants and the Ministry of Works so that it can be completed in time for you to wait for the favorable winds to set sail. This is the decree.'

During the Taiping Rebellion, most of the bricks, tiles, and wood from Jingjue Mosque were taken down to build a local government office. The mosque was rebuilt in 1877 (the third year of the Guangxu reign) and renovated in 1879 (the fifth year of the Guangxu reign), which created its current layout. In the early years of the Republic of China, a wealthy Nanjing couple, Jiang Xiudong and his wife, paid to build the north and south lecture halls and the main hall. The mosque was repaired again in 1957. After the 1960s, a rubber company and the No. 3 Rubber Factory occupied the mosque. They tore down the only remaining Ming Dynasty brick and stone archway and the Butterfly Hall (hudieting), and destroyed many plaques, couplets, and stone tablets. The mosque was repaired in 1982, reopened in 1983, and the archway was rebuilt in 1985.



During the Ming Dynasty, the main prayer hall of Jingjue Mosque had 81 rooms and was built with nanmu wood. The current main hall was rebuilt in 1877 (the third year of the Guangxu reign). Its floor plan projects outward at the rear, like a raised middle section, and it uses a traditional post-and-beam wooden frame. The main hall and the opposite hall are linked by a covered corridor, forming a straight central axis with halls at both ends. This layout is typical of Jiangnan architecture. The mihrab was moved here from the original mosque on Xiaowangfu Lane, and the surrounding wooden carvings of scripture were added in 2001.



















The back of the prayer hall connects directly to a high wall. This is a typical feature of Jianghuai courtyard-style architecture, which is very rare in the north.





During renovations in 2007, the main hall was raised by one meter. Workers dug two meters deep and found Ming Dynasty glazed tiles, brick carvings, stone railings, and huge Ming Dynasty stone column bases. These bases were twice as wide as those from the Guangxu period.













The only remaining Ming Dynasty structures, the brick and stone archway and the Butterfly Hall, were both torn down in the 1960s. The archway was rebuilt in 1985, the Butterfly Hall in 2004, and a new stele pavilion was built in 1996.



















The only Jahriyya mosque in Nanjing.

Inside Jingjue Mosque, there is a stone tablet from 1891 titled 'Dahua Guizhen'. It records how Wu Defa followed his father Wu Dasong's final wish and donated the back part of their family home at 59 Shigu Road (formerly Xiaofuyuxiang) to establish the Shigu Road Mosque. The tablet mentions two Jahriyya imams, Fan Yuncai and Zhan Fengxiang. Witnesses included neighbors surnamed Chen, Cai, Zhou, and Yu; fellow Muslims surnamed Sun, Li, Wu, Zhan, Zong, and Jin; close relatives surnamed Ha, Ma, and Mai; and clan members surnamed Wu. This tablet was originally kept at the Shigu Road Mosque. After that mosque was torn down in 1986 for road expansion, the tablet was moved to Jingjue Mosque.

Shigu Road Mosque is the only Jahriyya mosque in Nanjing. In the late years of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, a Hui Muslim named Wu from Taiyuan, Shanxi, who followed the Jahriyya (Zhepai) order, settled on Shigu Road in Nanjing. Influenced by him, followers of the Jahriyya order (Zhepai gaomu) began to appear around Shigu Road, Sanmaogong, and Nantai Lane in Nanjing, and most of them worked in the fish fry farming industry. At first, the Nanjing Jahriyya followers performed their worship at the Wuxueyuan Mosque (Yuan Mosque) near Shigu Road. During the Taiping Rebellion, the Wuxueyuan Mosque was destroyed by war, so the followers moved their worship to the Fengfu Road Mosque. Because their practice of loud chanting (gaosheng zannian) was different, Wu Defa later invited the Jahriyya followers to perform worship at his own home on Shigu Road, and in 1891 (the 17th year of the Guangxu reign), the Shigu Road Mosque was finally established.

The Nanjing Jahriyya order belongs to the Beishan menhuan. The Beishan menhuan is centered in Beishan, Zhangjiachuan, Gansu. Its leader, Ma Yuanzhang, was well-read, proficient in both Islamic scriptures and Chinese classics, and adopted the ideas of Liu Jielian to interpret Islam through Confucianism. After the Shigu Road Mosque was built, Fan Yuncai and Zhan Fengxiang from the Beishan menhuan served as imams. Imam Fan Yuncai was from Siyang, Jiangsu. During the Republic of China era, his son Fan Zhaofa opened the Faji Carriage Company in Nanjing, which was very successful. In 1905, Wu Wenlian, the grandson of Nanjing's Wu Defa, went to Gansu to study scriptures. After completing his studies in 1911, he was appointed by Ma Yuanzhang to serve as the imam of the Shigu Road Mosque.

After the Beishan order leader Ma Yuanzhang passed away (guizhen) in 1920, his nephew Ma Dianwu took over the religious affairs. It was still called the Beishan menhuan, overseeing over 100 mosques in places like Zhangjiachuan, Tianshui, and Longnan in Gansu, Qiqihar in Heilongjiang, Runan in Henan, and Long County in Shaanxi. Nanjing's Shigu Road was its only mosque in East China.

In 1937, Ma Dianwu appointed Imam Su Ziying from Zhangjiachuan, Gansu, to serve as the imam of the Shigu Road Mosque. Imam Su actively visited other mosques, connected with community elders, and promoted education, which helped the Shigu Road Mosque flourish and trained more than 20 students (hailifa). In 1953, Imam Yang Junwen succeeded as the imam of the Shigu Road Mosque. In 1958, the Shigu Road Mosque closed, and Imam Yang Junwen became an imam at the Fengfu Road Mosque. After that, Imam Yang no longer maintained contact with the Beishan menhuan, and his worship practices gradually merged with the Gedimu order.

In 1986, the Shigu Road Mosque was demolished due to road widening. Although the mosque closed, some descendants of the Nanjing Jahriyya followers still held firmly to their worship. For example, Fan Songshou, a descendant of Imam Fan Wencai, made a living running a tofu shop. Even in his nineties, he insisted on performing the five daily prayers (namaz) without fail. In his old age, he still insisted on fasting (zhai), and in the 1960s, he continued to volunteer to wash and bury the deceased and help with funeral arrangements.



Plaque inscriptions at Jingjue Mosque:

Only pure, only one: Erected on an auspicious day in the first month of summer in the Gengyin year, the 16th year of the Guangxu reign of the Great Qing Dynasty, by the Commander of the Jiujiang Garrison in Jiangxi.



Rectify the heart and be sincere: Erected in June of the 11th year of the Republic of China by members of the Nanjing Islamic Association.



The stele from the 47th year of the Qianlong reign records the four boundaries of Jingjue Mosque. To the east, there was a shop for rent, and to the west, a shop in Maxiang Alley was rented out as a flower shop. The elders who donated funds included those with the surnames Chen, Ma, Wu, Jin, Zheng, and Sha.



The stele from the 18th year of the Guangxu reign records that Imam Ma donated his own land next to the mosque to build the main prayer hall and the water room (wudu area).





Jingjue Mosque houses a memorial stele for Ma Yitang, a Hui Muslim merchant from Nanjing who worked in Shanghai. It was inscribed in 1931 by Ma Fuxiang, a famous Beiyang general who was then the Chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission.

Ma Yitang was born in 1869. His ancestors ran a money shop outside Jubao Gate in Nanjing, and the family owned the Ma Yulong Satin and Fan Shop. With Shanghai as his base, Ma Yitang expanded his business to include domestic and foreign general merchandise. He set up branches in Chengdu and Chongqing, and his goods were sold as far away as the Tibetan regions. Ma Yitang was devoted to the faith. He served as a director for the North Mosque and West Mosque in Shanghai and helped fund the founding of the Hanximen Girls' School and the Zhuganxiang Girls' School in Nanjing. In 1909, Ma Yitang became a special consultative director for the Shanghai Islamic Board of Directors, participating in all its decisions. In 1921, he was responsible for the expansion of the Shanghai Xiaoshadu Mosque (now the Huxi Mosque).



Jingjue Mosque houses a notice stele from the 15th year of the Republic of China regarding the Shangfuqiao Mosque, issued by the Western District Police Station of the Jiangsu Provincial Capital Police Department. It records that the police stepped in to protect the Shangfuqiao Mosque and the Dajiaoxiang Mosque to uphold the rights of the faith. The petitioners included Hui Muslims with the surnames Bai, Tao, Pu, Ma, Yuan, Liang, Wei, and Jin.

Shangfuqiao Mosque was located in Chuanban Alley and was first built in 1662 (the first year of the Kangxi reign). It was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion in the Xianfeng era and rebuilt in 1876 (the second year of the Guangxu reign). Later, it was occupied by Nanjing No. 62 Middle School, and the notice stele was moved into Jingjue Mosque. Dajiaoxiang Mosque was first built in 1874 (the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign). The mosque once housed trade associations for the pavilion decoration, wedding, and fried rice industries. It was later occupied by a factory and eventually demolished.



Jingjue Mosque houses a Qing Dynasty stone carving from the Neiqiaowan Mosque, which was rescued from under an excavator during the demolition of Neiqiaowan in 2019.

Neiqiaowan Mosque was located on Zhongshan South Road. One account says it was first built in 1645 (the second year of the Shunzhi reign), while another says it was built in 1662 (the first year of the Kangxi reign). In 1898 (the 24th year of the Guangxu reign), Shi Jialiang bought a group of houses in Neiqiaowan to rebuild the main prayer hall. The Shi family came from Wuwei, Gansu. They moved to Nanjing during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty to expand the silk trade. They later became a famous silk-trading family in Nanjing and founded the Shijuxing Silk Firm during the Daoguang reign. The Shi family moved to Shanghai during the Guangxu reign and were members of the Shanghai mosque board of directors.

Neiqiaowan Mosque once housed a primary school and the Glutinous Rice Food Industry Guild. It was demolished in 1991 to widen the road.

















The former Taiping Road Mosque.

Because the Jiangsu Hotel expanded to Taiping Road, the main hall and opposite hall of the Taiping Road Mosque were moved 40 meters south of the old Caoqiao Mosque in 2003. The project was completed in 2005.

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 and later rebuilt with funds raised by elders from the Ha, Ma, Zheng, Yang, Ding, and Chang families. Ma Jingtao led its renovation during the Tongzhi reign. In 1924, wealthy Nanjing merchants and brothers Jiang Muzhou and Jiang Sukan (Guobang) donated money to rebuild a new mosque on the south side, which was still called Huapailou Mosque. When the road was widened in 1931, the gate tower was demolished. Huapailou was renamed Taiping Road, and Huapailou Mosque was renamed Taiping Road Mosque.

After the victory in the War of Resistance in 1945, the Jiang family of Jinling funded the renovation of the main hall and built the Jiang Family Shouxuan Hall in the north courtyard. That same year, the China Islamic National Salvation Association moved into Taiping Road Mosque and changed its name to the China Islamic Association. Its first chairman was Bai Chongxi. It was the highest Islamic organization in the country at the time until it moved to Taipei in 1949. After the 1960s, the Taiping Road Mosque was occupied. It was reclaimed in 1978, reopened in 1980, and named a municipal cultural relic protection unit in 1982. It was demolished in 2003, and the components of the main hall and opposite hall were moved to a new site.

Because the daily expenses of Taiping Road Mosque were paid by the wealthy Jiang family of Jinling, it was the richest mosque in Nanjing during the Republic of China era. The Jiang family of Jinling originally came from Yuncao Ancient Town in Hanshan County, Anhui. They moved to Nanjing in 1808 (the 13th year of Jiaqing). They started as small vendors and later expanded into the silk, salt, and pawn industries. During the Guangxu reign, they opened branches in major commercial ports and became a wealthy merchant family.



















The opposite hall of the former Taiping Road Mosque served as the office for the chairman of the China Islamic Association between 1945 and 1949, where Bai Chongxi once worked.

















The brick carving of 'Washing the Heart and Looking at the Palace' (xixin zhanque) from the water room of the former Taiping Road Mosque.



The former Taiping Road Mosque collected the 'Postscript to the Mother's Filial Piety Arch' written by Jiang Guobang. It records that the father of the wealthy Nanjing merchant Jiang Guobang lost his own father early and was raised by his mother, Madam Ma. In 1911 (the third year of the Xuantong reign), he petitioned to build a memorial arch for his mother's filial piety. Due to the change in government, it was finally completed in 1914.

Jiang Guobang came from the wealthy Jiang merchant family of Jinling, but he cared little for fame or wealth and dedicated himself to the study of traditional Chinese culture. Jiang Guobang was very filial. To provide his mother with a good place to spend her later years, he spent a large sum of money to buy the Xiaowanliu Hall by West Lake in Hangzhou. He later named it Jiang Manor (Jiangzhuang), which was one of the three major manors on West Lake at that time. In 1924, Jiang Guobang oversaw the reconstruction of Taiping Road Mosque and later built the memorial arch for his mother's filial piety inside the mosque. The arch no longer exists today, and only the stone tablet record remains.







The well railing from the Qing Dynasty and a stone tablet from the Guangxu reign at Caoqiao Mosque. Caoqiao Mosque was first built during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty. It was destroyed by fire during the Taiping Rebellion and rebuilt in the early years of the Tongzhi reign. Because it was located in Qijiawan, a neighborhood where Hui Muslims lived, Caoqiao Mosque once had the largest number of congregants in Nanjing. Historically, Caoqiao Mosque had no property of its own. Its daily expenses were covered by the Beef and Leather Trade Association, which was based inside the mosque. After 1958, Caoqiao Mosque was occupied and later rented to the Nanjing Woodworking Factory, which caused serious damage. The mosque property was returned in 1985 but never reopened, and it was demolished in 2003.







The Jiang Family Courtyard in Laomendong.

In the Laomendong scenic area of Nanjing, there is a residence called Jishan Hall belonging to the wealthy Hui Muslim merchant family, the Jiangs of Jinling. It is currently located at 18 and 20 Santiaoying. The residence was open for visits before, but unfortunately, it was closed when we went.

The Jiang family of Jinling originally came from Yuncao, an ancient town in Hanshan County, Anhui. They moved to Nanjing in 1808 (the 13th year of the Jiaqing reign) and started out as small vendors. After the Taiping Rebellion was suppressed in 1864 (the third year of the Tongzhi reign), the Jiang family used sailboats to transport salt from the Lianghuai salt fields to the Yangtze River coast. On their return trips, they brought back large quantities of daily necessities, which helped them build their fortune. Later, they opened the Chunshengjian firm to trade in satin, and their reputation spread throughout the southwestern provinces.

Jiang Shoushan, also known as Changcheng, was a key figure of the Jinling Jiang family in the late Qing Dynasty. He owned the Deda Soy Sauce Shop in Nanjing, the Guangda Oil Mill in Liuhe, and the Chunyuan Oil Firm in Hankou. In 1875 (the first year of the Guangxu reign), the government named his residence Jishantang (Hall of Accumulated Goodness) and the street outside Jishanli (Alley of Accumulated Goodness) to honor his charity work, which included building bridges, paving roads, giving porridge to the poor, and helping those in need.

Beyond his business success, the Jiang family was also very devoted to their faith. Jiang Shoushan's father, Jiang Hanchen, wrote in the preface to the religious book 'Guizhen Yaodao' (Essential Path to Returning to the Truth), which he edited for his fourth son Jiang Changsong: 'Building wealth from nothing through business is all due to the grace of Allah.' During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the Jiang family made significant contributions to the faith. They led the construction of the Wuxi Mosque and the Xixin Pavilion at the Huashen Mosque in Nanjing, rebuilt the Huapailou (Taiping Road) Mosque in Nanjing, expanded the Taipingfang Mosque in Suzhou, renovated the Hanximen Mosque and Jingjue Mosque in Nanjing and the Jinshifang Street Mosque in Beijing, and also established a charity school in the southern suburbs of Nanjing.













Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque

The Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque was built in the late Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. It is one of the few remaining old buildings among the 33 traditional Hui Muslim neighborhoods in Nanjing. The mihrab (the niche in the wall indicating the direction of Mecca) currently in the Jingjue Mosque was moved here from the Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque. The Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque was used as a residential area for a long time, but it has now been vacated and may soon have a new purpose.

In 1917, the Xiaowangfu Lane Mosque founded the private Wuben Primary School to teach both general subjects and religious knowledge. It moved to the entrance of Xiaowangfu Lane on Fengfu Road in 1953 and became a public school in 1956.



















Anleyuan

Every time I visit Nanjing, I make sure to have morning tea at Anleyuan. The morning tea used to be served in the main dining room, but it has moved to the hot pot hall on the right. The menu, however, remains the same.

We arrived after ten o'clock, and it wasn't very crowded. We ordered roast duck with dried tofu strips (ya gan si), shark fin golden cake, crystal shrimp dumplings, red bean soup with rice balls (chidou yuanxiao), water shield vegetable steamed dumplings (jiao'ercai zhengjiao), duck and pine nut steamed dumplings (shaomai), beef spring rolls, and crispy fried dough (sanzi) with tofu pudding, all paired with Yuhua tea. Anleyuan is a great place to experience the charm of Jinling's Hui Muslim cuisine, especially if you are dining with a group.

Anleyuan was founded in 1920 by Cai Jiheng, a Hui Muslim from Nanjing. Originally called Anleju Restaurant, it has been in business for 105 years. Anleyuan was first located at 64 Pingshi Street (formerly Shuixiangkou) in the Hui Muslim community of Qijiawan. It later moved to the Jiangxi Guild Hall at 19 Pingshi Street, specializing in snacks like sweet red bean paste buns and assorted vegetable buns.

In 1949, owner Cai Jiheng was getting old, so he handed the restaurant over to his son, Cai Yuting. Cai Yuting was a scholar by trade and did not know how to run a business, so the restaurant's sales began to decline. In 1952, Li Fuquan, who ran a restaurant at Chaotian Palace, bought the Anleju Restaurant and renamed it Anleyuan Restaurant. Owner Li introduced signature braised dishes like salt-water duck (yanshui ya), sliced dried beef (ganqie niurou), braised wheat gluten (lu mianjin), and smoked fish (xunyu), which won high praise from customers.

In 1956, during the public-private partnership period, Anleyuan merged with the state-owned Heping Canteen and moved to Shengzhou Road, west of Qijiawan. It grew from a small eatery into a medium-sized restaurant of 400 square meters with 14 tables, gaining a steady base of diners. In 1961, Anleyuan moved again to Mochou Road near Chaotian Palace. The space expanded further, and they introduced new dishes like braised fish maw with three delicacies (sanxian hui yudu) and crispy beef (xiangsu niurou), entering the ranks of high-end restaurants. In 1966, Anleyuan was renamed Victory Restaurant (Shengli Fandian), but it changed back to its original name in 1972. In 2001, due to the development of the Chaotian Palace South Square, Anleyuan was relocated to its current site on Wangfu Street. The new shop expanded to 2,000 square meters, becoming a large restaurant with three separate areas for snacks, main meals, and hot pot.























Li Rongxing

At noon, we went to the old Hui Muslim brand Li Rongxing on Xufu Lane in Nanjing for lunch. I ate at their original shop ten years ago, and this time I found they have opened chain stores, including a branch here in the north of the city.

We ordered beef potstickers (niurou guotie), beef wontons (niurou huntun), beef vermicelli soup (niurou fensi tang), smoked fish noodles (xunyu mian), beef soup dumplings (niurou guantangbao), and assorted vegetables (su shijin), which are all considered typical Nanjing Hui Muslim specialties. The snacks of Nanjing Hui Muslims are characterized by a hint of sweetness. I find this quite unique, but people from the north might not be used to it.

Li Rongxing is a famous old brand from Qijiawan, founded by Li Houming in 1914. It started at the T-junction of Qijiawan and Ganyu Lane, and was best known for its pan-fried beef buns (niurou jianbao), beef soup, and smoked beef. In 2002, Li Rongxing's third-generation successor, Li Bangzheng, opened a Li Rongxing on Fenghuang West Street, and in 2006, it moved to Nanhu East Road. The current owner, Li Guofan, is the fourth-generation successor of Li Rongxing. Additionally, the most famous Li's Restaurant (Liji) in Qijiawan today is run by Li Bangzheng's cousin, Li Bangjie, who once worked with him at a salted duck factory.





















Lvliuju

Next to Li Rongxing on Xufu Lane is another long-standing shop, Lvliuju. Their shop is quite small. Besides their most popular green sticky rice balls (qingtuan), they serve simple meals like duck blood vermicelli soup (laoya fensi tang), bamboo shoot and beef brisket rice (sungand niunan fan), braised three-delicacy rice (hui sanxian fan), and smoked fish assorted noodles (xunyu shijin mian). We bought some of their signature three-colored cakes (sanse gao).

Lvliuju was founded in 1912 at Taoye Ferry by the Qinhuai River. It started as a high-end vegetarian restaurant, and people like Kong Xiangxi, Chiang Ching-kuo, Bai Chongxi, and the Soong sisters often ate there. After 1949, Lvliuju closed for a time. It reopened in 1963 on Taiping South Road at Yanggongjing, hiring the famous chef Chen Bingyu to lead the kitchen and continue serving authentic vegetarian food. A major feature of Lvliuju is making vegetarian dishes taste like meat. Their vegetarian chicken (suji) and vegetarian duck (suya), made from tofu skin, gluten, and dried bean curd sticks with herbal seasonings, are delicious. In 1987, Lvliuju added halal dishes to its vegetarian menu and became a halal restaurant, though it still specializes in vegetarian food. It is now a national-level intangible cultural heritage.





















Liuhe South Gate Mosque

Leaving the Nanjing city area, we crossed the Yangtze River and headed north to Liuhe District, where we performed namaz at the Liuhe South Gate Mosque.

There were once seven mosques and three women's schools in Liuhe. Today, the Changjiang Road Mosque, South Gate Mosque, and Zhuzhen Mosque are open, and the historic buildings of the South Gate Women's School and Zhuzhen Women's School remain.

The Liuhe South Gate Mosque was first built in 1403 (the first year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty) and rebuilt in 1553 (the 32nd year of the Jiajing reign). It was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion and later rebuilt. The famous Imam Da Pusheng, one of the four great imams of the Republic of China, had three generations of his family—from his great-grandfather to his father—serve as the imam at South Gate Mosque. The old Da family home is on the Halal Street (Qingzhen Jie) right at the mosque entrance. Imam Da Pusheng studied the scriptures at South Gate Mosque for seven years, from age 10 to 17, before going to Nanjing and Beijing for further study.

The ancestor of the Da family of the Baiye Hall, where Imam Da Pusheng belonged, was Mubalesha from the Western Regions during the Yuan Dynasty. Research shows he belonged to the Kipchak Yuliberi tribe and served as a Darughachi in Zhenjiang before passing away in Zhenjiang. His sixth-generation descendant, Da Shan, moved from Zhenjiang to Liuhe in the early Ming Dynasty to serve as a county magistrate candidate. He settled in Liuhe, making them the oldest Hui Muslim family from the Western Regions in the area.

After 1966, the South Gate Mosque was used as a kindergarten. During that time, the Shamao Hall (duiting), the north wing, the red gate, and the entrance hall were demolished. The kindergarten moved out in 1975, and Baozhen Primary School borrowed the space for a while. It was finally reclaimed in 2000 after the school moved out. The main hall was raised and rebuilt in 2013. Later, the Unity Pagoda (Tongxin Ta) and Tongxing Building were built, and the site finally opened to the public in 2020. view all