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Summary: This Muslim travel guide to Hong Kong covers halal airport food, prayer rooms with wudu facilities, Disneyland halal dining, local Muslim restaurants, Kowloon Mosque, and the century-old Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association.

A Halal Tour of Hong Kong: The Century-old Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association (Zhonghua Huijiao Bo'aishe) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Hong Kong reopened after three years, and my travel permit for Hong Kong and Macau changed from a paper booklet to a chip card. The account keeps its focus on Hong Kong Travel, Kowloon, Muslim Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Hong Kong reopened after three years, and my travel permit for Hong Kong and Macau changed from a paper booklet to a chip card. Getting the permit is simple. You just book an appointment online, then go to the local police station's entry and exit office to take a photo and pay. You do not need to do this in your hometown. You can apply for the permit and the travel endorsement at the same time. Each endorsement lets you stay in Hong Kong or Macau for 7 days. You can use a self-service machine for future endorsements, which takes less than 10 minutes.

To save money, I suggest entering Hong Kong from Shenzhen. Flights to Shenzhen are usually cheaper than flying directly to Hong Kong. Taking the subway from Shenzhen to Hong Kong takes about an hour, including customs, which is about the same time it takes to get from Hong Kong airport to the city center.



You need to call customer service at least 24 hours in advance to book a halal meal on Hong Kong Airlines. WeChat Pay and Alipay are now widely used in Hong Kong. You can also use your phone to pay for most subways and buses. I did not exchange any Hong Kong dollars for this trip, but some shops still insist on cash, so it is good to have some on hand just in case.

Old Town White Coffee (no alcohol)



Old Town White Coffee is the only halal-certified restaurant at Hong Kong International Airport. It serves Southeast Asian food and does not serve alcohol. It is open from 7:00 to 21:00 and is located in the food court.





I ordered a bowl of Ipoh chicken noodle soup (ipoh jisi hefen), a side of fried chicken, and lemon tea. It tasted good.



Hong Kong airport now has two prayer rooms, one near gate 43 and another near gate 211. The prayer rooms are for people of all six major religions and include a place to perform wudu. An airport cannot be called an international airport without a prayer room.



Gate 43 prayer room





Wudu area



Qibla direction







Gate 211 dua room



Disneyland Tahitian Terrace (alcohol-free)



Disneyland is a must-visit spot when bringing kids to Hong Kong. I went alone in 2015 and took the Disneyland Resort Line subway to get to the park.



You can book Disneyland tickets online in advance. The park has two halal restaurants that do not sell alcohol and serve Southeast Asian flavors. There is also one called the Explorer's Club Restaurant. You can see people dressed in Southeast Asian Muslim attire all over the streets of Hong Kong now.







Hong Kong-style halal Wai Kee (alcohol-free)



Wai Kee is a Hong Kong-style roast duck stall run by local Hui Muslims. It is located at Stall 5, Cooked Food Centre, 1/F, Bowrington Road Market. Wai Kee has been open in Hong Kong for over sixty years and has passed down through three generations. According to local Hui Muslims in Hong Kong, the original owner's surname was Wang, and Wai Kee was likely the surname of the owner's wife. Later, it was passed down to the son-in-law, whose surname was Chow.



I thought the elderly gentleman in the shop was the owner of Wai Kee, but I heard from a local friend (dosti) that these staff members are not the owners, just employees. The owner of Wai Kee is responsible for ingredient quality control and teaching the techniques. There is another roast duck shop in this market called Hoi Kee, which is said to have been opened by a former Wai Kee employee who went out on their own.



Wai Kee is quite famous locally and is open from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Brother Jin brought me here to get takeout, including roast duck, curry beef, and pomelo peel with shrimp roe.



There is more than one halal restaurant run by local Hong Kong people, but as time passes, some families are no longer willing to take over the family business. People say the descendants of Ma Kee Halal Restaurant have all immigrated.



The famous hanging-oven roast duck is truly delicious, with crispy skin, tender meat, and great flavor. Later, during a gathering, another friend (dosti) brought some as takeout, and I ate more than half of it.



Famous hanging-oven roast duck



Smooth and savory curry beef

Beef curry tastes best mixed with rice. It is slightly spicy, salty, and savory, and I like it too.



Shrimp roe pomelo peel (xiazi youpi)

Shrimp roe pomelo peel (xiazi youpi) is a cold dish made by marinating pomelo peel. It has a strange, indescribable taste and a texture I have never had before, but locals seem to love it, and it is one of the signature dishes at Wai Kee.



To prepare for a dinner party, Brother Jin from Hong Kong specifically came to this Pakistani-run Mehrab Halal Beef Shop to buy steaks. He said some Pakistani shops in Hong Kong are unreliable and sell beef that seems to have been injected with water, but the meat at this shop looks more trustworthy.

Hong Kong-style Islamic Centre Canteen (alcohol-free)



The Islamic Centre is a mosque, also known as the Wan Chai Mosque. On the fifth floor, it opened Hong Kong's first Cantonese halal tea restaurant, which serves dim sum and main meals.





I filmed this restaurant in 2015, but to this day, it remains the only halal Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong that serves dim sum.



Most people wearing headscarves in Hong Kong are Indonesian. Many work in domestic service. Although the pay is not high, it is still more than what they earn in Indonesia, though sometimes they have to help their employers prepare non-halal food.



Dim sum is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Prices in Hong Kong are on the high side, and the average cost per person here is about 150 RMB. After eating, you can pray and study in the mosque.



Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association



The Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association was founded in 1917. It has a history of 106 years and is a Chinese Islamic organization approved by the Hong Kong government. The first chairman was Jin Yiqing, and the current chairman is Sa Zhisheng. This functions like a board of directors, and the imam is hired by the board. The association has its own properties, including the Islamic Kindergarten in Yau Oi Estate in Tuen Mun, the Islamic Fraternal Kindergarten in Cheung On Estate in Tsing Yi, an Islamic primary school, and an Islamic English secondary school. The income from these properties is used to cover the association's daily expenses.



There are currently 11 Muslim organizations in Hong Kong:

1. Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association of Hong Kong;

2. The Chinese Muslim Association of Hong Kong;

3. Muslim Women's Association of Hong Kong;

4. The Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong;

5. Islamic Union of Hong Kong;

6. Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association;

7. Hong Kong Islamic Centre;

8. International Islamic Society of Hong Kong;

9. Pakistan Association of Hong Kong;

10. Hong Kong Indian Muslim Association;

11. Dawoodi Bohra Association of Hong Kong (Shia).



I met a Pakistani friend (dosti) here on Saturday. He has lived in China for over 40 years and speaks fluent Chinese. He studied in Beijing when he was younger, and his two children now work in Hong Kong. During our chat, he shared his views on the Afghan Taliban. When I learned he does not eat at the same table with women outside his family, I understood his perspective and once again marveled at Hong Kong's openness and tolerance.



Friends (dosti) gather at the Bo'ai Society every Saturday and Sunday because most people work during the week.



The Bo'ai Society has many books, including a large number of Chinese translations of Islamic law and doctrine that are no longer sold in mainland China.



One of my goals for this trip to Hong Kong was to buy books. Imam (ahong) Yang told me to check out the Eslite Bookstore in Hong Kong, saying I would find something good. The largest Eslite Bookstore is only about 800 meters from the Bo'ai Society.



Imam Yang showed me a rare book from the society's collection. The book in the picture below is a textbook for the Hui Evangelism (huixuan), an organization dedicated to spreading Christianity among Muslims. This book teaches missionaries how to communicate with Muslims. Hui Evangelism has been active in China for 200 years. They usually disguise themselves as Muslims and learn a little about basic Islamic concepts, then use deceptive methods to lead Muslims toward Christianity. However, there is no need to worry; in the 200 years they have been working in China, the number of Muslims they have converted is very small.



That is why I say Hong Kong is an open and tolerant place where you can always find something new, not just in people, but in these books as well. The books in the picture below are what I bought at the Eslite Bookstore. Just by looking at the titles, you can tell these books could not be published in mainland China anytime soon. The red book in the top left corner is an original, authentic copy of Al-Qaradawi's famous work, The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam. I have only read pirated versions in the mainland. This book was a gift from Imam Yang, and it is worth keeping. Imam Yang once visited the home of Elder Al-Qaradawi and speaks very highly of him.



These books were imported from Taiwan, and the book bands feature recommendations from several Taiwanese friends (dosti) I know. To show my support for Islamic academic work in Taiwan, I spent over 800 Hong Kong dollars on these five books, which is 1.5 to 3 times more expensive than the price in Taiwan.



The first floor of the Bo'ai Society is a prayer room. Men stand in the front row and women in the back. Imam Yang led everyone in prayer (namaz). Afterward, we sat in a circle to talk and learn. I happened to meet several local Hong Kong friends (dosti) that day, including two Hui Muslim elders. One was a retired police officer whom everyone called 'Sir,' and the other was a 'Miss Ma' who moved to Hong Kong from Beijing at age 17. 'Miss Ma' is a nickname; she is actually over 80 years old but is as lively as a young girl. When I first saw her from a distance, she was wearing a pink headscarf, which made me mistake her for a young girl.



Another person is a local convert in his twenties. He said he converted during the pandemic after being moved by the friends (dosti) around him, which led him to learn about Islam. There are also friends (dosti) from the mainland working or studying in Hong Kong. Some have already received Hong Kong residency, and some are new Hong Kongers who have brought their families to settle in the city.



The friends (dosti) brought lamb chops packed from a Hong Kong Pakistani restaurant (bayi canting). The address on the bag is 43 Water Street, Sai Ying Pun, ground floor. We chatted while eating. Many of the friends (dosti) working in Hong Kong are in the finance industry. We exchanged thoughts on current Islamic finance concepts, and I have published my ideas on my official WeChat account.



The picture below shows the steak Brother Jin bought from a Pakistani friend and pan-fried himself. Brother Jin is from Shandong. He is warm and generous, exactly the image of a typical Shandong man in my mind. He is not used to southern food and likes his steak well-done.



The picture below is the Henan version of Xinjiang big plate chicken (dapanji). The chef is a brother from Henan, or more precisely, from Luoyang. He didn't make the noodles like the traditional Xinjiang belt noodles (kudaimian) but tried something new. You could call them hand-pulled noodles (latiaozi), but the taste is just as great. Everyone said they had homemade Xi'an meatball spicy soup (rouwan hulatang) last week. I am very grateful to be able to eat these in Hong Kong.



Friends (dosti) who have the chance to visit the Bo'ai Society on weekends can also enjoy the homemade food, but it is best not to come empty-handed. The remaining Hong Kong food spots I haven't visited yet are listed below. These are screenshots from Dazhong Dianping, and you can use Google Maps to search for the restaurant names to find their locations.



There are currently five mosques in Hong Kong:

1. Jamia Mosque (Shelley Street Mosque): Located on Shelley Street in Central, Hong Kong Island.

2. Kowloon Mosque: Located in the "Golden Mile" of Nathan Road in Kowloon, right next to Kowloon Park.

3. Ammar Mosque (Oi Kwan Road Mosque): Located at 40 Oi Kwan Road.

4. Chai Wan Mosque: Located inside the Chai Wan Muslim Cemetery.

5. Stanley Mosque: Located on the Stanley Peninsula at the southern tip of Hong Kong.

I have visited three of them. I have not been to the Stanley Mosque, which is built inside a prison, or the Chai Wan Mosque, which is built inside a Muslim cemetery.

Kowloon Mosque



Kowloon Mosque was first built in 1896 by Muslim soldiers from the British Indian garrison. It is currently the largest mosque in Hong Kong. It is a three-story building with offices on the first floor, classrooms on the second, and a prayer hall on the third. It is managed by a committee of Muslims from different countries.







Pakistani brothers are teaching the children Arabic. In many places around the world where Muslims are a minority, Pakistani brothers often help maintain the faith. From my observations, these Pakistani brothers have strong language skills. Some born in Hong Kong speak fluent Cantonese and English, and some families have been rooted in Hong Kong for three generations.

Jamia Mosque



Jamia Mosque is the oldest mosque in Hong Kong, built in 1870. The street it is on is called Mosque Street.





It was initially built with funds raised by over 100 Hong Kong Muslims. In 1905, a Muslim philanthropist from Mumbai, India, named Ishaq, funded its reconstruction. He also built a shelter for elderly and widowed Muslims. The mosque is managed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong.



For someone like me born in the 1980s, Hong Kong symbolizes a memory of youth. My early impressions of Hong Kong all came from the Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies and TV shows I watched as a teenager. Back then, compared to the mainland, Hong Kong was more prosperous, fashionable, and international. But looking at Hong Kong now, I always feel like I am in a scene from an old movie.

The old street views, narrow alleys, and the crowds of busy workers all suggest that Hong Kong's economy has fallen behind major mainland cities. I entered Hong Kong from Shenzhen, and the gap in hotel facilities and service quality was very obvious. I do not know if Hong Kong will ever return to its former prosperity, but that does not matter to me. If it were not for nostalgia, the existence of the Hong Kong Muslim community would probably be the only reason I would come back. view all

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Summary: This Muslim travel guide follows a road trip from Beijing to Baotou for a Hui Muslim wedding, with stops at Zhangjiakou Dongguan Mosque, Inner Mongolia halal food, local shaomai, mosques, and community life.

A Halal Travel Journey in Baotou, Inner Mongolia is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Last weekend, I drove from Beijing to Baotou to attend the wedding of Zhe-Zhe, the COO of Halal Life. The account keeps its focus on Halal Travel, Yiwu Food, Mosque Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Last weekend, I drove from Beijing to Baotou to attend the wedding of Zhe-Zhe, the COO of Halal Life. I have known her for a long time. We first followed each other on Weibo, then added each other on WeChat. I only learned she grew up in Qinghai when she came to support the opening of my mother-in-law's new shop.

Zhe-Zhe is a Tsinghua University graduate who later studied in France. She is the kind of girl who looks smart and sharp at first glance, with high IQ and EQ, so she is very easy to get along with. When I was building my Mingya insurance brokerage team, I invited her to join. Mingya already had a Tsinghua alumni group. Although she did not refuse at the time, I could see her heart was set on continuing her career at Halal Life. Her dream was to do what she could for the Muslim community, so I did not push her. As a result, among the top domestic university graduates in my team, she is the only one missing from Tsinghua, which is a small regret.

I am honored that Zhe-Zhe is also my VIP client, so how could I miss her wedding? I decided to leave on Saturday with Jiche-Tian to attend the wedding on Sunday, then drive back to Beijing overnight. I did not have to rush, but Jiche-Tian had to be back at the office on Monday.



It takes about seven or eight hours to drive from Beijing to Baotou. We left at 5:00 after passing Bangda and arrived in Zhangjiakou around 8:00. We decided to stop for breakfast and visit the local mosque.



Following the GPS, we arrived at the Zhangjiakou Dongguan Mosque. There was a breakfast shop right next to it. I had hoped to have a bowl of lamb bone broth (yangtang) there, but unfortunately, the nearby shops were all closed. We ended up eating yuanbao soup and fried dough cakes (youbing) instead.



The fried dough cakes were very fluffy and crispy. Eating them with the yuanbao soup, also known as wontons, was delicious. Hui Muslims in North China usually call wontons yuanbao soup to distinguish them from non-halal versions.



Sesame flatbread (shaobing) and lamb bone broth are very special in the Zhangjiakou area. If you have the chance to visit, remember to find a place to try them.



The Zhangjiakou Dongguan Mosque was funded by Hui Muslims from Changping and was first built in 1919 during the Republic of China era. Many Hui Muslims in Changping worked as bodyguards. The Guangyu Escort Agency in Yangfang Xiguanshi, Changping, once escorted Empress Dowager Cixi as she fled to Xi'an.



The mosque we see today was renovated not long ago. According to the elders in the mosque, the original building had a dome. The main prayer hall has two floors, but the second floor is not open. About a hundred people can attend Friday prayers (Jumu'ah), mostly locals.



Zhangjiakou is a city in Hebei Province with a relatively large Hui Muslim population and some famous ancient mosques. We did not visit them because they were not on our way, but I hope to visit the Xuanhua Great Mosque next time.



After leaving Zhangjiakou, we drove straight to Baotou and arrived at 2:00 PM, just in time for the afternoon prayer (Asr). We prayed at the Baotou Qingkun Mosque. Since we were traveling, we were allowed to shorten and combine our prayers, so it was quite convenient.



I visited Qingkun Mosque before 2016, when it had a dome. Now it has been renovated into a traditional style. Three other mosques in Baotou are also being renovated and are currently closed; they all originally had domes.



The interior of Qingkun Mosque still looks the same as it did before 2016. I asked, and the time for the call to prayer (bangda) is 4:30. We arranged to meet our friends there for namaz the next morning.



Finding lunch after leaving the mosque was difficult. All the restaurants here close after 2:00 PM. We checked the entire Qingkun District but could not find a single place open.



The halal steamed dumplings (shaomai) on May 1st are something only those in the know understand; don't let your imagination run wild.



We decided to go back to our hotel to rest. The wedding was held at the Qingshan Hotel, where we were also staying. The hotel has a halal banquet restaurant.



We arrived at the Shalimai Music Restaurant at the wrong time; it doesn't open until 5:00 PM. We checked three or four halal restaurants. By 4:30 PM, we finally found one place open. It wasn't really a restaurant, but a beef and lamb butcher shop that sells halal barbecue.



The shop's storefront had pictures of cows, sheep, pandas, horses, and tigers, which looked quite interesting. I asked the owner what a panda sheep was, and he said it's a sheep with black circles around its eyes. The name is very descriptive.



We were almost past the point of hunger, so we ordered a set from the menu. It was surprisingly delicious, especially the crispy baked flatbread (beizi) stuffed with lamb skewers. I don't think many people can resist this way of eating meat in bread.



This is the same type of flatbread (beizi) I ate when I first came to Baotou. Before I arrived, I asked a local if they still sold this kind of bread. My friend said these shops that bake bread over coal fires are hard to find now and asked me to let him know if I found one. See the Halal Food Map for Ordos, Baotou, and Hohhot for details.



Remember that Sunite lamb skewers are better than beef skewers, and you should try the liver wrapped in fat (youbaogan).



If I come to Baotou again, I will definitely eat at this barbecue place. That day, the bride and groom were hosting us guests from afar in the evening, so we didn't dare eat too much for fear of not having room for dinner.



For our first dinner in Baotou, we chose the old Ma Shoujiang restaurant. I noticed this place when I visited Baotou before, but I was alone then and felt I couldn't order many dishes, so I skipped it. It shows that traveling and eating alone is much less fun.



Today the groom is hosting, and since many people came, we can try all the signature dishes and eat everything on the menu.



Ma Shoujiang lived in the late Qing Dynasty and was one of the first Hui Muslims to make halal steamed dumplings (shaomai) in Baotou. The current Ma Shoujiang restaurant is run by his apprentice, whose surname is Zhou.



Surprisingly, the signature dish at Ma Shoujiang is not lamb, but crispy bone fish (sugu yu). As the name suggests, you can even eat the fish bones. Almost every table orders this fish. When the server brings it out, they say some auspicious words, though I couldn't hear them clearly.



This is lamb head meat. You can eat lamb anywhere in Baotou, and it tastes good no matter how it is cooked. The quality of the meat is excellent and the supply is high, so you can really eat your fill.



Shredded potato stir-fry (yangyu caca) was likely brought over by people from Shanxi. The Baotou accent is very similar to the northern Shanxi dialect, and many Shanxi people have settled here, so the food is very similar.



This is Baotou lamb offal (yangza). You could say this table is a full lamb feast, with every part of the lamb included. The lamb in Baotou is cooked very tender and melts in your mouth, which is perfect for lazy people like us who don't want to chew too much.



Here is a photo of the bride and groom with us. On the left is Jiche Tian, and on the right is a part-time muezzin from the Huxi Mosque who came all the way from Shanghai. They are both our old friends. We were in a rush to get back to Beijing after the wedding and didn't get a photo with the newlyweds in their wedding clothes, but life is rarely perfect.



The next morning, we went to the Ma Family Shaomai Restaurant again. We missed the meal time the day before, so this time we ordered three liang of lamb shaomai, served in six steamer baskets. This shop is well-regarded by locals and has several branches.



Shaomai is a breakfast food, and it was very crowded in the morning. It was cooler sitting outside, but we waited a long time for the shaomai. An auntie next to us said regular customers call the shop to order before they leave home, so it's ready when they arrive, which saves time.



Baotou shaomai, also called shaomai, is pronounced 'shaomei' to better match the local Baotou accent. The biggest difference from Hohhot shaomai is the size. In Hohhot, one liang is eight pieces, while in Baotou, one liang is six pieces. This 'liang' refers to the weight of the dough wrapper, so don't order a whole jin, or you won't be able to finish it.



Besides the delicious shaomei, another favorite food of mine in Baotou is lamb offal soup (yangza). It is a bit pricey, costing 20 yuan for a small bowl.



I eat the lamb offal soup with fried dough (youxiang) dipped in the broth. The fried dough here is different from the kind in North China, and I still prefer the North China version.



Although the lamb offal soup is expensive, the side dishes are free and come in many varieties.



After breakfast, I returned to the wedding venue to watch the ceremony. It was held at the halal restaurant in the Qingshan Hotel.



The wedding venue was decorated with many brightly colored flowers. The color scheme was inspired by the French painter Monet, as the couple first met in Paris.



I cannot share the details of how they fell in love, but the point is to keep an open mind and travel more. Marriage is destined by Allah, but you still have to take action to find it.



At the wedding banquet, we sat with the bride's family and met her close relatives. The elders came to eat only after they finished their dua (pieshi).



Since we had to drive back to Beijing overnight, we met with Ma Dudu, the founder of Dudu Design Studio, after the wedding. She is a true Baotou local and happened to be visiting her parents. It is rare for us to get together. I have known Dudu for a long time, but we had not seen each other since she moved to Jiangmen. We last met in 2017 in Urumqi while eating at a Kazakh uncle's house. Now, she is a mother of two.



We took a different route back to Beijing when leaving Baotou. By nine in the evening, we passed through Datong and ate spicy hot pot (malatang) and grilled meat skewers at Jiang Jibing New Style Barbecue.



This was not my first time in Datong. I previously visited specifically to see the ancient mosque in Datong. See the Ulanqab and Datong Winter Halal Tour for details.



Jiang Jibing's way of serving barbecue is quite novel. You pick the skewers yourself and grill them at your table. You take only what you eat, which helps avoid waste.



The spicy hot pot (malatang) next door is owned by the same people, so you can bring it over to eat in the barbecue shop. The spicy hot pot tastes good, but it is really quite spicy.



We arrived in Beijing safely at 3:00 a.m., and this trip ended peacefully.

Traveling everywhere over these years, besides visiting Muslim communities and checking out mosques, the most valuable thing is meeting a group of friends who have faith and personality. Otherwise, my perspective would still be limited to my own life and work. Some travel experiences are not mentioned in books, and some feelings cannot be conveyed by books either. Through traveling these years, I have corrected some fixed ideas I previously gained from reading. So, if you have the ability, you should go out and travel more. Insha'Allah. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Travel Guide China 2026: Xishuangbanna Hui-Dai Muslim Villages, Mosques and Halal Food is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, starting with this scene: —— Hello, Travel ——. It keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Xishuangbanna Muslims, Mosque Travel, Halal Travel.



—— Hello, Travel ——

Xishuangbanna is not new to me. I visited in 2016 and heard there were mosques made of bamboo. I specifically went to the Manluanhui and Mansaihui Hui Muslim villages in Menghai County to find them, but I had no luck. After asking around, I learned that bamboo mosques were temporary structures from the early days when conditions were tough and they did not last long. When I visited, I only saw the new-style Mansaihui Mosque and the Manluanhui Mosque, which was still under construction.

This trip to Xishuangbanna was a reward from my company's branch office. According to our 2020 fourth-quarter incentive plan, staff at the rank of senior broker or higher could join the Xishuangbanna trip for free. Our company's job hierarchy goes: consultant, broker, senior broker, senior broker, and partner. I have been promoted to partner, which is higher than a senior broker, so I was honored to join this year-end honorary trip.

If you follow the standard tourist route, there are several popular spots in Banna. The company arranged a custom tour for us, and I spent the first two days with the group. However, I had planned to go off on my own to start a halal travel mode. Since most of my colleagues have traveled all over the world, they were not interested in typical tourist spots and asked to join my small, private tour instead.

Based on my experience and recommendations from local friends in Banna, the most worthwhile popular spot is the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with the nearby Dayi Manor or Nannuo Mountain. Both Dayi and Nannuo Mountain are tea mountains. Banna used to be part of Pu'er, so Pu'er tea is not actually produced in Pu'er; Banna is the original home of Pu'er tea. Locals do not like other spots like the Gaozhuang Night Market, Dai villages, or Wild Elephant Valley because they are too commercialized and full of tourists.



Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

It takes about an hour to drive from Jinghong, the capital of Banna, to the botanical garden. The garden is not just a research base but also a 5A-rated scenic spot that combines science and entertainment. The most impressive plants are in the west section. If you visit in summer, you can see the lake full of giant water lilies (dayanglian) that are strong enough for children to stand on. The east section features tropical rainforests and a green stone forest, which is quite large and requires a sightseeing cable car.

Tickets are 80 yuan per person, half-price during the pandemic. Battery car tickets are 50 yuan per person, or 100 yuan for the whole park.

Main gate opening hours: 8:00-18:00. Suspension bridge north gate opening hours: 7:30-18:30.







Driving south from the botanical garden for about two hours, you reach the Sky Tree (wangtianshu) scenic area. The Sky Tree is a symbol of the tropical rainforest, with trunks reaching over a hundred meters high. The discovery of this dipterocarp plant proves that China has tropical rainforests. I should mention that driving from downtown Jinghong to the Sky Tree scenic area takes over three hours, the road is long, and the conditions are not great.



The hundred-meter-tall Sky Tree.







We all walked across the suspension bridge in the trees.



There are no halal restaurants at the Sky Tree or the botanical garden, so you need to bring your own food. Luckily, we found the only halal Yunnan bridge-crossing rice noodles (guoqiao mixian) in a shop at the Sky Tree scenic area. Being able to eat a bowl of hot noodles when hungry felt like a blessing.



To visit tea mountains, you can go to Dayi Manor. Tickets are 40 yuan, and horse-drawn carriage or electric car tickets are 60 yuan. Dayi tea is very famous locally, but remember not to buy tea in the scenic area. It is much more expensive and hard to find good quality. I showed a friend who works in the tea business in Banna some Pu'er tea that a colleague bought at the Nannuo Mountain scenic area, and they said it was overpriced.



Riding a horse-drawn carriage through Dayi Manor.



Tea plants cover the mountains and plains.

Jinghong is livelier at night than during the day, with a rich nightlife. The days are hot, reaching over 30 degrees, but the nights are cool. The show our Banna friends highly recommended is "Dai Show" (Daixiu), which is arguably the best stage play in the area. The performance level of "Dai Show" is world-class. We were all shocked after watching it and felt it was worth the price. Regular tickets are 328 yuan online, but we got them for 260 yuan through a local friend.



"Dai Show".

The show lasts one hour and leaves you wanting more. Everything from entry to exit was arranged very carefully and naturally. The actors' skills and stage effects were excellent. Friends who have the chance to visit Banna should not miss it.









We took a group photo with the lead actors of the Dai Show.

After the show ended, we took photos with the cast. That was when I noticed one of the leads was a foreigner. He was the man wearing a snail shell on his back, a Black yoga master with incredibly flexible joints.



Jinghong Mosque is in the north of the river. I took the photo in 2016. When I went there for Jumu'ah prayer this year, the old mosque had been torn down and the new one was still under construction. It is just a building site now, so we prayed in a temporary prefab room. The new mosque will likely be built in the Dai style.



Jinghong Mosque, photographed in 2016.





Signs in the Dai language.



A snack stall next to the mosque.

Next, I will introduce the halal food in Jinghong. Jinghong is the busiest capital city in Xishuangbanna. It is quite easy to find halal restaurants here. Most are small eateries serving Yunnan-style food, run mainly by Hui Muslims from Dali, Shadian, and Pu'er. There are also barbecue shops that mix Hui and Dai flavors.



Yijun Food.

On the first day, just after landing in Jinghong, I brought my colleagues to Yijun Food to try local Yunnan dishes. The owner is a Hui Muslim woman from Shadian who wears a headscarf. She was pleasantly surprised when I greeted her with 'Assalamu Alaikum,' as she thought few Hui Muslims from Beijing knew about our faith. She said she had met Beijing Hui Muslims at her shop before who didn't even know how to say the greeting. After telling me this, she had her young daughter say 'Assalamu Alaikum' to me and even gave us some free dishes.



At small Yunnan restaurants, if you want vegetables, there is usually no menu. You just point to the ingredients in the display case and tell them how you want them cooked. It is very convenient, and you can see right away if the food is fresh. Vegetables are usually stir-fried plain without chili.



Oil-drizzled beef jerky (youlin niuganba).

To remember the name of every dish, I specifically asked the owner to write them down on paper. Otherwise, I would have forgotten what I ate once I got back to Beijing, because Yunnan has such a wide variety of ingredients—many were fresh things I had never seen or heard of before.



Dai-style fish (daiwei yu).



Lahu-style chicken (lahu ji).



Lemon shrimp (ningmeng xia).



Stir-fried squid (qiang youyu).



Stir-fried white flowers (chao baihua).



Stir-fried thorn buds (chao ciya).



Stir-fried baby corn (chao xiao yumi).



Ali Barbecue Shop.

This Ali Barbecue Shop is a local spot highly recommended by friends in Banna. It was a hit with me and my colleagues. Banna barbecue is famous for its Dai style. Besides marinating the meat skewers beforehand, you also dip them in a local sour and spicy sauce.



We chose to go to Ali for skewers at 10 p.m. Just like at a hot pot stall, you pick your ingredients from the freezer and ask the staff to grill them in the back. We sat around a round bamboo table, eating skewer after skewer. Even the friend who joined us later couldn't help but dig in after trying a few pieces of grilled beef.



I chatted with the owners and learned they are Hui Muslims from Pu'er who have been running the business here for many years. The shop has a great reputation among locals. Interestingly, none of the restaurants we visited sold drinks; they only provided free tea. If we wanted a drink, the staff told us to buy one ourselves at a nearby shop. The cost of living in Banna is low. A hearty meal costs only 30 to 50 yuan per person, and you can get a simple fast-food meal for 10 yuan.







We went to the famous Gaozhuang Night Market in the evening and saw many pretty influencers taking photos. The market was packed with people selling snacks and small souvenirs. It is nice just to look around. The Lancang River flows through the middle of Jinghong, splitting the city into the south and north banks. The south bank is the old town and attracts many tourists, while the north bank is the new town, which is well-developed, cleaner, and tidier.



Juedui Niu Hui Muslim Restaurant

I also want to list a few local Yunnan-style halal restaurants I have visited. Juedui Niu Hui Muslim Restaurant and Hongfu Halal Restaurant are places I ate at back in 2016. They are still open today, and you can find their exact locations on Baidu Maps or Dazhong Dianping.



Hongfu Halal Restaurant



Jinghong 786 Muslim Hotel

I found a Muslim hotel by the road with an interesting name, 786. I once introduced 786 in my Tibet halal food map. It is very common in South Asia, where local Muslims use 786 as a code for halal.



Halal Snack Bar

A friend in Banna recommended this halal snack bar. They come here to eat every so often. The business is very good, and you might have to wait for a table during meal times.



I recommend the steak and black-palm chicken (wuzhangji). It is best to book in advance, or you might miss out if you arrive late.





If you go to Wanda Plaza to watch the Dai Show, you can eat rice noodles at this nearby Ma Si Halal Snack Shop. They also serve stir-fried dishes with Yunnan flavors.



Paxidai Halal Restaurant

My main reason for going to the Gaozhuang Night Market was to visit a large Hui-Dai halal restaurant called Paxidai, located right at the entrance. It is very easy to find. 'Paxi' means Hui Muslims in the Dai language. The owner is a Hui-Dai woman. We met for the first time and immediately felt close after exchanging salaams. The owner is from Manluanhui and her surname is Yu. Most Hui-Dai women have the surname 'Yu', while men have the surname 'Yan', following Dai traditions.



The restaurant environment is beautiful. It is built on the riverbank like a boat and has three floors. Eating by the window and looking at the scenery feels like being on a boat trip down the river.





More than ten colleagues came to this dinner, and we ordered almost every dish on the menu with Dai flavors. The owner was very hospitable and gave us a few extra dishes to try. The overall taste was good, focusing on sour, spicy, salty, and fresh flavors. When you come to Banna, you must try the local food, especially when dining in such a beautiful setting. After the meal, the Hui-Dai owner warmly invited us to visit her hometown, Manluanhui.



Dai-style beef rice noodles



Lemon shredded pounded beef jerky (shousi xiaochui niuganba)



Lemon jelly noodles (liangfen)



Passion fruit hot and sour fish



Nammi dipping sauce platter



Hui-Dai white-palm chicken (baizhangji)



Peanut and beef jerky platter



Lemongrass grilled fish



Stir-fried beef with sour bamboo shoots



Stewed oxtail with radish



Seafood pineapple rice



Hui-Dai style roasted chicken

We said goodbye to the landlady of Paxidai for a while, and the next day we hired three cars to head to Mansaihui and Manluanhui in Menghai County. Mansaihui and Manluanhui are about 4.5 kilometers apart. Starting from Jinghong city center, you can take a bus at the Jinghong Bus Station or use Didi. Didi is less likely to have route detours because the trip is monitored. It is a 45-kilometer drive that takes about an hour.



Mansaihui was formed relatively late, about 100 years ago. Hui Muslims from other parts of Yunnan, such as Dali and Tonghai, came here to do business and married local Dai people, gradually forming a village. Currently, there are about eighty households and over four hundred people. The local villagers keep Dai living habits, wear Dai clothes, and speak the Dai language, but they follow Islam. The Dai women here also wear headscarves, so you cannot tell if someone is a Hui Muslim just by looking at their headscarf.



The Mansaihui mosque has not changed much in recent years, except that the imam has changed from Imam Tang to Imam Guan. Both are from Yunnan and have settled in Mansaihui.



Since most of my colleagues traveling with me were not Muslim, I invited the imam to the small classroom in the mosque to give everyone a brief introduction to the history of the Hui-Dai people and the basic concepts of Islam. The group listened with great interest and felt that this kind of in-depth travel was very meaningful. I appreciate my company's open and inclusive corporate culture. In our company, everyone can express their personality without worrying too much.











There is Dai script written next to the donation box.















After saying goodbye to Imam Guan and leaving Mansaihui, we arrived at the nearby Manluanhui. The history of Manluanhui is older than that of Mansaihui. The ancestors of the Hui-Dai people here were from the time of the Du Wenxiu Uprising in the Qing Dynasty. A Hui Muslim named Ma Wulong fled from Dali to Xishuangbanna for refuge. The Dai King accepted his request for asylum and let him settle in Manluan. In the Dai language, Manluan means a place overgrown with weeds.



Boyaohehanmu Bridge

The local chieftain built a bridge in Manluan and handed it over to Ma Wulong to manage. Boyaohehanmu means golden bridge in the Dai language.

Ma Wulong married a local Dai girl. According to Dai tradition, a son-in-law who moves into his wife's family must change his name to "Yan," and if it is a woman, she must change her surname to "Yu." Ma Wulong had a son named "Yanhan."

The Dai people believe in Theravada Buddhism, which belongs to Hinayana Buddhism. It has a strict hierarchy divided into royalty, nobility, and commoners. Royalty has the surname "Zhao," nobility has the surname "Dao," and commoners have the surname "Yan."



A photo provided by the landlady of Paxidai to see if the Hui-Dai girls are pretty.







Main hall of Manluan Mosque

The new building of Manluan Mosque uses traditional Dai architectural style. It is magnificent and blends in with the local environment.















San Ge Farmhouse Restaurant

For lunch, we chose the San Ge Farmhouse Restaurant next to the mosque. The owner of this shop is the cousin of the Paxidai landlady. The cousin arranged two tables of local farmhouse dishes for us.



Hand-shredded small-hammered beef jerky (niuganba)

Beef jerky (niuganba) is a unique Hui Muslim food in Yunnan. There are many ways to make it. A common one is oil-fried beef jerky used for cooking. Another is the Banna-style small-hammered beef jerky, which is charcoal-grilled and can be eaten as a snack.



Scrambled eggs with toon buds



Sticky eggplant



Beef steak stewed with radish



Hui-Dai white-palm chicken (baizhangji)



Stir-fried pea pods



Deep-fried cow skin (zha niupi)

This dish is very popular. When it was served, we thought it was fried shrimp chips because it was so crispy. My friend from Banna said it was deep-fried cow skin (zha niupi). I was skeptical that it was actually made from cow skin, but the owner confirmed it.



After the meal, we drank tea at my cousin's house. The tea was made that very day and still had a smoky scent. March is the peak season for tea, and the Hui Muslims in Mansaihe and Manluanhe mainly grow tea. The village was quiet that day because the young people were all out picking tea.



While wandering around the village, I bought a cup of milk tea. It was sweet, tangy, and delicious.





Thai Cottage Milk Tea Shop (Tai Xiaowu Naicha Dian)



There are many halal restaurants in the village, all along the main road. If you want to eat, come to Manluanhe.







I saw flowers and plants on a house planted in the shape of a star and crescent. I took the opportunity to tell my colleagues about the origin of the star and crescent symbol and some history of the Ottoman Empire.



A halal barbecue shop in the village with signs in both Dai and Chinese.





Beef rice noodles (niurou migan)

A specialty breakfast in Paxidai is rice noodles (migan). Rice noodles (migan) and rice vermicelli (mixian) are the same thing, just in different shapes; rice noodles (migan) are flat and wide.



Menghai Mosque

After leaving Manluanhe, you can go to Menghai County to catch a bus back to Jinghong. You can visit the Menghai Mosque on the old street.



The mosque was first built in the 1930s and was completely renovated in 2015.







Eight Kilometers (Ba Gongli) is a place name.

I ate at this shop back in 2016. When I mentioned it to the owner of the Paxidai shop, it turned out the owner of that place is her cousin. Truly, Hui Muslims are one big family everywhere.

TIPS: About accommodation



For accommodation in Banna, I recommend searching for 'Zhiyu Homestay' on Tujia. You can also find it on Trip.com, but Tujia shows more details. This is a homestay run by my friend in Banna, located next to the InterContinental Hotel. There are detached villas and townhouses available, and it can host a team-building group of up to 20 people.



Homestays are cozier than hotels and feel like home, plus the environment is great. I stayed at my friend's homestay the first time I came to Banna and even met other guests. Chatting and sharing life experiences during our free time is a way of relaxing that I really enjoy.





The rooms are clean and bright, the location is excellent, and there is a terrace where you can drink tea and enjoy the view. Tell the owner you came because of my public account to get a discount. We are able to experience Banna culture in depth all thanks to the help of my Banna friends.





Zhiyu Homestay view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Mosque Near Me in China: Beautiful Mosques from Beijing to Sanya and Hong Kong is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: This is my hand-picked collection of mosques I have visited across China. I used photos and short descriptions to introduce them. I chose these mosques because they represent their regions well, such as those designated. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on China Mosques, Mosque Travel, Muslim Heritage.

This is my hand-picked collection of mosques I have visited across China. I used photos and short descriptions to introduce them. I chose these mosques because they represent their regions well, such as those designated as national cultural heritage sites or those that showcase traditional architectural styles. Two years ago, I wrote a map of Chinese mosques that received a lot of attention from friends (dosti). This article updates, trims, and adds to that old post with significant changes.

So far, I have visited over 400 mosques. The ones in this post make up only one-tenth of those I have seen. If you think the mosque in your hometown is more beautiful, please leave me a message. I will visit them one by one when I have time, insha'Allah.

— Hello, Travel —

Beijing: Niujie Mosque



I have counted 78 existing mosques in Beijing. Among them, Niujie Mosque is the oldest, largest, and highest-ranked cultural heritage site in the city. It was first built during the Northern Song Dynasty by a scholar named Nasruddin who served in the Liao Dynasty. It has a history of over a thousand years and was named a national key cultural heritage site in 1988.















Beijing: Yongshou Mosque



Located on Sanlihe in the Yuetan sub-district of Xicheng District, Yongshou Mosque was first built in the 33rd year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty. There was once a Hui Muslim cemetery within the mosque grounds, but it was moved in the 1950s. The scholar Wang Daiyu was once buried here, and now only a stone tablet recording his life remains.







Beijing: Tongzhou Mosque



Tongzhou Mosque was first built during the Yanyou era of the Yuan Dynasty. In the 21st year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, the abandoned site of the Tongzhou Left Guard was added to expand it. Side halls were added in the 47th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty, and classrooms were added in the 20th year of the Daoguang reign.





Tianjin: Jinjiayao Mosque



Jinjiayao Mosque was first built in the second year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1574) and is one of the oldest mosques in Tianjin.

It is known as the number one mosque in Tianjin.





Tianjin: Great Mosque of Tianjin



The Great Mosque of Tianjin is one of China's famous mosques. It is located in the Hongqiao District of Tianjin and covers an area of 5,000 square meters. It is generally believed to have been founded in the early years of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).







Hebei: Cangzhou

North Great Mosque



This mosque was first built at the end of the Jianwen era of the Ming Dynasty (1420). Many imams from Shaanxi, Gansu, North China, and Inner Mongolia completed their studies and received their certificates at the North Mosque of Cangzhou.





Cangzhou City, Hebei Province

Botou Mosque



Botou Mosque in Cangzhou was first built in the second year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty (1404) and is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. Inside the main prayer hall, there is a large minbar (minbailou) donated by a Tianjin duosi, which is valued at 260,000 yuan.







Langfang, Hebei

Beiwu Mosque, Dachang Hui Autonomous County



It was first built during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1573–1619) and is one of the key mosques in Hebei Province.





Baoding City, Hebei Province

Dingzhou Mosque



Dingzhou Mosque was first built in the eighth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1348). The mosque houses a stone tablet from the Zhizheng era titled 'Record of Rebuilding the Mosque,' which is the earliest record to link the term 'Huihui' with Islam, the earliest to use the four-character translation for 'Muhammad' (originally translated as Mahema), and the earliest to pioneer the integration of Confucianism with Islam. It is now a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.





Taiyuan, Shanxi

Ancient Mosque



This mosque was built during the Zhenyuan era of the Tang Dynasty (785–804) and rebuilt during the Jing era of the Song Dynasty (1034–1038). A stone tablet inside the mosque records its renovation during the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty.





Datong, Shanxi

Great Mosque



Datong Mosque is located on Jiulou Lane in Datong. According to the History of Yuan (Yuan Shi), the mosque was first built in 1324. Most of the current structures date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. A stone tablet titled Imperial Edict to Build the Mosque, re-erected in the seventh year of the Qianlong reign (1742), claims the mosque was founded in the second year of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang dynasty (628), though this may be a false attribution.









Hohhot, Inner Mongolia

Great Mosque



It was built in the thirty-second year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1693). According to the Tablet Record of the North and South Lecture Halls of the Mosque, it has been established for many years since the Qing dynasty took power. It was quite simple when first built. It was renovated in the fifty-fourth year of the Qianlong reign (1789).





Ordos, Inner Mongolia

Dongsheng Mosque



This is the only mosque in Dongsheng District. It was completed in 1990 with a main building area of 375 square meters and 45 square meters of auxiliary facilities.











Chifeng, Inner Mongolia



Chifeng North Great Mosque is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. Built in the fourth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty (1739), it was modeled after the style of the South Great Mosque of Fengtian (now the South Mosque of Shenyang). There are 26 mosques in the Chifeng area, and this is the only one with national protection status.







Xi'an, Shaanxi

Huajue Lane Great Mosque



The exact founding date of this mosque is unknown, but it dates back to at least the Ming Dynasty. It was renovated and expanded in the 25th year of the Hongwu reign (1392) and was known as Qingxiuzhuan. In the 30th year of the Qianlong reign (1765), the local Muslim community raised funds to renovate it again, and it was named the mosque (qingzhensi).







Hanzhong, Shaanxi

Luling Mosque, Xixiang County



Luling Mosque in Xixiang County, Hanzhong, was built in the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It is 330 years old and is one of the three holy sites of the Qadiriyya (Gaderenye) gongbei menhuan. It is an important place where the founder Qi Jingyi practiced, preached, and passed away. It is as famous as the Great Gongbei in Linxia, Gansu, and the Baba Mosque in Langzhong, Sichuan. The designers were professors from Tongji University and professors Kunihiro and George from Japan.







Zhengzhou, Henan

Beida Mosque



It started in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties and houses two Ming Dynasty incense burners (xuandelu). China has four districts named after Hui Muslims, and

Henan has three of them, including the Guancheng Hui District in Zhengzhou.







Kaifeng City, Henan Province

Zhuxian Town Mosque



The Zhuxian Town Mosque in Kaifeng was built during the Ming Dynasty. It is the largest mosque in Kaifeng and is now a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level. The mosque contains stone tablets with Arabic inscriptions recording the Guxing sect. Starting in the early Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the appearance of Guxing tablets in places like Kaifeng, Henan, was directly related to Ma Laichi coming to Henan to lecture. The main reason was to address the scriptural views of the new sect in Henan, which was influenced by both She Yunshen and Ma Laichi.







Jiyuan, Henan

Xiajie Mosque



This mosque was first built in the 35th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty by the Yuan family of Hui Muslims. Their ancestors moved here from Chunshu Hutong near Qianmen during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties to escape war, and they built the Xiajie Mosque.







Mengzhou City, Henan Province

Shangpo Village, Upper Mosque (Shangsi)



First built in the 24th year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1819 AD), Shangpo Village has 11 mosques, including 6 for men and 5 for women. The Upper Mosque in Shangpo is the liveliest mosque I have ever visited, with children playing everywhere inside.







Qinyang City, Henan Province

North Great Mosque (Beidasi)



The North Great Mosque in Qinyang was built during the Yuan Dynasty and is now a major historical and cultural site under state protection. It is a classic wooden structure made of precious materials. It includes a women's mosque and a martial arts school, covering a total area of over 3,300 square meters. Qinyang is a home of martial arts, and the Hui Muslim style of Chaquan boxing is very popular here.





Tongxin, Ningxia

Great Mosque



The Tongxin Great Mosque was first built in the early Ming Dynasty on the site of a collapsed Lama mosque and has a history of about 600 years. It was renovated three times during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In 1936, when the Red Army marched west, they established the Shaan-Gan-Ning Province Yuhai County Hui Muslim Autonomous Government here.







Lanzhou, Gansu

Nanguan Great Mosque



According to local historical records and stone tablets kept at the mosque, the Nanguan Great Mosque has been one of the six most famous mosques in Lanzhou since the Ming and Qing dynasties, with construction starting during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1398).





Tianshui, Gansu

Houjie Mosque



The Houjie Mosque in Tianshui is a major historical and cultural site under national protection. It was first built during the Yuan Dynasty as a wooden structure. The Arabic stone inscriptions kept inside the mosque are the earliest ones discovered in Gansu.



Zhangjiachuan, Gansu

Zhaochuan Mosque



Located at the foot of Xuanhuagang Mountain in Zhangjiachuan, Zhaochuan Mosque was completed on October 30, 2017. Zhaochuan is a place name, located in Zhaochuan Village, Zhaochuan Town, Zhangjiachuan County.





Longnan, Gansu

Wudu Grand Mosque



Based on the stone tablets and documents kept in the mosque, it was first built during the Chenghua or Jiajing periods of the mid-Ming Dynasty. It has been rebuilt eight times, merging the original front and back mosques into one on the same site.





Xining, Qinghai

Dongguan Grand Mosque



The mosque was founded in the early Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). It was damaged many times throughout history but was constantly repaired. The current building was rebuilt in 1913, renovated and expanded in 1946, and repaired again in 1979.





Xunhua, Qinghai

Jiezi Mosque



Jiezi Mosque in Xunhua is the second largest mosque in Qinghai. First built in the Ming Dynasty, it is a provincial-level cultural heritage site. It houses hand-copied Qurans from the early Salar people. In the square, there are the tombs of two Salar sages named Ahamang and Galamang, who moved from Samarkand in Central Asia to Qinghai during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.







Haidong, Qinghai

Hongshuiquan Mosque



Hongshuiquan Mosque in Hongshuiquan Hui Muslim Township, Haidong City, was built during the Ming Dynasty and is a seventh-batch Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. The mosque uses a brick-and-wood structure and blends architectural styles from Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. The main hall roof features a treasure vase (baoping), and the interior is decorated with the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism along with many carvings representing folk good fortune. The umbrella-like canopy structure (tianluosan) on the roof of the rear hall is unique to mosques in the Qinghai region, and you can also find this design at Kangjia Mosque in Jianzha and Heyin Mosque in Guide.







Xunhua, Qinghai

Zanbuhu Mosque (Hongguang Mosque)



Hongguang Village was originally called Zanbuhu. It was renamed Hongguang Village in 1987 to honor the martyrs of the Western Route Army. Hongguang Mosque is the only mosque in the country built by the Red Army. Between 1939 and 1946, Ma Bufang forced over 400 captured soldiers from the Red Western Route Army to work as laborers and brought them to what is now Hongguang Village in Xunhua County. While building the mosque, the Red Army soldiers carved patterns like the red five-pointed star, sickle, axe, the character 'gong' (for worker), and collar badges into the decorative bricks while they were firing them.







Chengdu, Sichuan

Upper Mosque (Qingzhen Shangsi)



The Upper Mosque is also called Tuqiao Mosque. It consists of two parts, an upper mosque and a lower mosque, and was first built in the 56th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1791).









Chengdu, Sichuan

Imperial City Mosque (Huangcheng Mosque)



The mosque gets its name because it is located near the ruins of a historical imperial palace. It was first built in the 16th century. The mosque was severely damaged by war in 1917. Although it was rebuilt shortly after, limited funds meant the original site area of over 6,600 square meters was reduced to just over 5,000 square meters. Even so, it remains the largest mosque in Sichuan Province.









Nanchong, Sichuan

Baba Mosque in Langzhong



The Baba Mosque in Langzhong was built after the 29th-generation descendant of the Prophet, Khwaja Abdullah, passed away while preaching in Sichuan during the Kangxi reign. His student Qi Jingyi and the Northern Sichuan military commander Ma Ziyun built the shrine (gongbei) under the order of the Kangxi Emperor to honor him and thank him for curing the Emperor's serious illness. Qi Jingyi was the founding master of the Qadiriyya order. He established the mosque's complete rules and a system for rotating imams to guard it. He also created the generational naming system to continue the Qadiriyya tradition. The Qadiriyya order has three major holy sites: the Great Shrine (gongbei) in Hezhou, Gansu; Luling Mosque in Xixiang, Shaanxi; and the Baba Mosque in Langzhong, Sichuan. The Baba Mosque is the first among these three.





Urumqi, Xinjiang

Shaanxi Mosque



First built during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, it was later rebuilt with funds raised by Hui Muslims who moved here from Shaanxi. It is the largest mosque for Hui Muslims in Urumqi and serves as the headquarters for the Urumqi Islamic Association.





Urumqi, Xinjiang

Tatar Mosque



This is a Central Asian-style mosque built in 1897 with donations from the Tatar people. In 1919, a local company called Dehe Foreign Firm funded its reconstruction, so it is also known as the Foreign Firm Mosque (Yanghang Dasi).



Turpan, Xinjiang

Sugong Pagoda Mosque



Completed in 1778, it was funded by the Turpan Prince Emin Khoja during the Qing Dynasty and built by his son, Suleiman. That is why it is named Sugong Pagoda.





Shenyang, Liaoning

South Mosque



First built in 1627, it is the most influential mosque in Northeast China. According to the Tie Family Genealogy: 'Our ancestor Tie Kui performed military service in the early Qing Dynasty, reaching the rank of Cavalry Commandant and General. He was devoted to the faith and, with his prominent status, donated his own wealth to build the South Mosque in the Hui Muslim community of Xiaoxiguan, expanding the site to its current scale.'







Changchun, Jilin

Changtong Road Mosque



Founded in 1824, it is the largest mosque in Jilin Province, covering an area of over 16,000 square meters.





Harbin, Heilongjiang

Acheng Mosque



Acheng Mosque is the oldest mosque in the Harbin area, built during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1777). This mosque looks very similar to the Niujie Mosque; the Arabic calligraphy on the main hall's beams and pillars and the plaque on Datianjun Road are both similar to those at Niujie.







Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province

Bukui Mosque



Bukui Mosque was built in the 23rd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1684). It predates the founding of Qiqihar city, leading to the saying, 'First there was the mosque, then there was Bukui city.' The East Mosque was built first for the Gedimu tradition, and later the West Mosque was built for the Jahriyya menhuan. Together, the east and west mosques are called Bukui Mosque.







Jinan, Shandong

North Great Mosque



Located on Yongchang Street in the Shizhong District of Jinan, it is a municipal-level cultural heritage site. The mosque was first built during the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty and underwent several renovations during the Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Guangxu reigns of the Qing Dynasty, as well as during the Republic of China era. It now covers 8.1 mu with a building area of 2,252 square meters.







Qingzhou, Shandong

Zhenjiao Mosque



According to the stone inscriptions inside the mosque, 'The Hui mosque was established in the 6th year of the Dade reign of the Great Yuan Dynasty (1302 AD) by the descendants of Bayan.' It covers over 6,000 square meters with a building area of over 2,000 square meters.









Jining City, Shandong Province

Jining East Mosque



Jining East Mosque sits by the Grand Canal, so it is called the River-Side East Mosque (Shunhe Qingzhen Dongdasi). It was first built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty and is a major historical site under national protection. Chang Zhimei, a famous master of Islamic scripture and founder of the Shandong school, once wrote books and biographies here.







Linqing City, Shandong Province

Halal

East Mosque



Linqing East Mosque was first built during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty and is a major historical site under national protection. Linqing is full of halal restaurants, but there are only two mosques. The other is the North Mosque. The two mosques are two hundred meters apart, and the North Mosque is also a major historical site under national protection.





Nanjing, Jiangsu

Jingjue Mosque



It was first built in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (1388 AD) and later rebuilt by Zheng He. It is currently the largest mosque in the Nanjing area.





Yangzhou, Jiangsu

Xianhe Mosque



It was first built in the first year of the Deyou period of the Song Dynasty by Pu Hadin, a descendant of the Prophet. The building looks like a crane, and it is one of the four great ancient mosques in the Jiangnan region.









Zhenjiang, Jiangsu

Shanxiang Mosque



According to the Zhenjiang Prefecture Records revised during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, it was first built in the second year of the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty (628 AD), but this cannot be verified. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the mosque was used as a shelter. The mosque was once a center for printing Islamic scriptures in Chinese. It printed more than 20 types of woodblock-printed Chinese classics, including The Philosophy of Islam (Tianfang Xingli), The Rites of Islam (Tianfang Dianli), The True Interpretation of the Orthodox Religion (Zhengjiao Zhenquan), and The Essential Collection of the Four Classics (Sidian Yaohui).





Shouxian, Anhui Province

Mosque



The Shouxian Mosque in Huainan, Anhui, was first built during the Tianqi era of the Ming Dynasty (1621-1627). It is now a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. The famous imam Wang Jingzhai taught here for two months during the Republic of China era. He left for Taiwan after being invited to help revitalize the Muslim community there and because he could no longer tolerate harassment from the Eighth Route Army.





Anqing City, Anhui Province

Mosque



The Nanguan Mosque in Anqing, Anhui, was built by Ma Yi, a second-rank regional military commander during the Ming Dynasty. It is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. In 1381, Ming Dynasty General Ma Jucheng led Hui Muslim soldiers to garrison Anqing and established the Anqing Garrison, which has a longer history than the Tianjin Garrison. The first mosque in Tianjin, the Jinjiayao Mosque, was also founded by Hui Muslim boatmen from Anqing. To this day, many Hui Muslims in Tianjin still say their ancestral home is Anqing Prefecture.





Jiaxing, Zhejiang

Mosque



First built in the Ming Dynasty, the Jianzhen Mosque in Jiaxing has a stone tablet record. The writer of the inscription, Jiaxing Prefect Che Daren, and the calligrapher, local resident Ma Mengzhen (who served as a deputy director for compiling national history and has a biography in the History of Ming), were both Muslim officials.







Hangzhou, Zhejiang

Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si)



This mosque was first built in the Tang Dynasty, destroyed in the Song Dynasty, and rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty. It is one of the four great ancient mosques in the Jiangnan region. The roof of the main hall features three octagonal spire-topped structures dating back to the Song Dynasty. One of them is carved with verses from the Quran, a relic said to date back to the second year of the Jingtai era of the Ming Dynasty. The stone scripture platform and the stone pillar bases inside the Phoenix Mosque have also been verified by cultural heritage authorities as relics from the Song Dynasty.





Ningbo, Zhejiang

Yuehu Mosque



Built in the 38th year of the Kangxi reign, this is currently the only mosque in Ningbo and serves as the headquarters for the Ningbo Islamic Association.







Lishui, Zhejiang

Mosque



Lishui Mosque was first built in the 12th year of the Guangxu reign (1886) and was funded by the religious leader Ma Huanzhang. Records show that in the mid-Qing Dynasty, Hui Muslims with the surnames Ma and Yuan moved from Shaanxi to Lishui, and the Lishui county magistrate was also a Hui Muslim from Yunnan. Lishui Mosque was built right across from the local government office at that time and covers about 5 mu of land. Before 1958, an imam from Shandong named Li Yuliang managed religious affairs at the mosque, but religious activities stopped after that. However, several elderly women including Jin Maizi, Yuan Aiwu, Ma Xiuzi, and Grandma Wu continued to practice their faith.





Songjiang Mosque, Shanghai



Shanghai Songjiang Mosque is the oldest mosque in the Shanghai area. It was first built during the Yuan Dynasty (1341-1367). It contains a cemetery for Hui Muslims, where a Yuan Dynasty Songjiang official known as a Darughachi is buried. The main prayer hall (yaodian) features a style that blends Chinese and Arabic architecture, similar to the mosques in Dingzhou, Dongsi, Hangzhou Phoenix, and Shanghai Songjiang.







Quanzhou, Fujian

Qingjing Mosque



First built in 1009, this is the oldest existing mosque in China with an Arabic architectural style and is one of the four great ancient mosques in the Jiangnan region.









Shaoyang, Hunan

South Mosque



Built in 1914, Shaoyang is a city in Hunan Province with a relatively large Muslim population, and there are two mosques in the urban area.







Guiyang, Guizhou

Mosque



This is the only mosque in Guiyang, built in the second year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1724). The great imam Wang Jingzhai once taught here, and after he passed away, he was buried in the Muslim cemetery on the outskirts of the city.







Najiaying, Yunnan

Gucheng Mosque



The Gucheng Mosque is located in Najiaying Village, Nagu Hui Muslim Township, Tonghai County. It was first built in 1370, the third year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, when Nasulu and his son settled in Najiaying.





Shadian, Yunnan

Great Mosque



The Shadian Grand Mosque was first built in 1684, the twenty-third year of the Kangxi reign. It has a long history and covers a total area of 21,000 square meters. The current building was started in 2005, and its architectural style is similar to mosques in Southeast Asia.







Xishuangbanna, Yunnan

Mansaihui Mosque



Xishuangbanna has two Hui-Dai villages, one called Manluanhui and the other Mansaihui. The Hui-Dai are Dai people who practice Islam and speak the Dai language. I came here to see the legendary bamboo-style mosque. After arriving, I was told that the bamboo mosque existed in the early days, but because it was not practical, it has been rebuilt into a brick and tile building. This Mansaihui Mosque was built in 1985, and you can see Dai script inside.







Guilin, Guangxi

Liutang Mosque



The mosque in Liutang Village, Guilin, is the largest existing mosque in the city. It was first built during the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns of the Qing Dynasty. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, when the Beiping Chengda Normal School moved south to Guilin, it established its first affiliated experimental primary school at this mosque in early 1939. There are currently 9 mosques in Guilin.







Lhasa, Tibet

Great Mosque



Lhasa has five mosques. The Lhasa Great Mosque was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and is the largest mosque in the city. The imam at the mosque is a Tibetan Hui Muslim. Many Tibetan Hui Muslims live in the old city of Lhasa. Their ancestors came from Kashmir. They speak Tibetan and look just like other Tibetans today, but their ID cards list them as Hui Muslims, and they practice Islam.











Shigatse, Tibet

Mosque



Built in 1343, it was funded by Arabs, Indians, and Chinese people. The mosque's architectural style shows clear Tibetan influences.









Guangzhou, Guangdong

Huaisheng Mosque



The exact date of its founding is unknown, but it was destroyed in 1343 during the third year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty. Also known as the Light Tower Mosque (Guangta Si), it is one of the four great ancient mosques in the Jiangnan region.





Shenzhen, Guangdong

Mosque



Shenzhen Mosque was completed in 2016. The main building has five floors, with a prayer hall on every level and a restaurant on the first floor. You can reach the floors by elevator.





Muslim Cemetery, Macau

Mosque



Built on June 27, 1973, it was funded by Mrs. Halima Bisheik. The mosque does not have a full-time imam, so an imam from Hong Kong comes to lead the Friday prayers (Jumu'ah) each week.









Kowloon, Hong Kong

Kowloon Mosque



Hong Kong has five mosques, with the first built in 1896. The Kowloon Mosque is the largest, and a Pakistani imam teaches religious classes there.





Sanya, Hainan

Huixin Village South Mosque



The South Mosque is in the center of Huixin Village in the Tianya District of Sanya. It was the first mosque in ancient Yazhou, with its original site dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty. It was severely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, rebuilt in 1978, and renovated in December 2016. I was lucky to attend the completion ceremony in January 2017. The ceremony was held on a Friday, and the Sanya imam gave a sermon (wa'ez) in the Huihui language. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Travel Guide China 2026: Changsha Han-Hui Village, Mosque Life and Hunan Heritage is presented here as a clear English account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: — Hello, Travel —. The article keeps the original names, food details, mosque details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Changsha Muslims, Hunan Heritage, Mosque Travel.



— Hello, Travel —



I have been to Changsha twice, once for work and once for personal reasons. On these two trips, I visited the only two mosques in the city. One is the Changsha Mosque, which is well-known to local Muslims in the city center. The other is less known, the Han-Hui Ethnic Village Mosque in the suburbs.



Han-Hui Ethnic Village

Han-Hui Village is in the northern suburbs of Changsha. The name dates back to the early days of the People's Republic of China. The Hui Muslims here have a history of over 100 years. The village has a total population of over 1,400, with Hui Muslims making up one-third. Han-Hui Village covers 2.8 square kilometers. The village is home to a Buddhist Tielu Mosque, a mosque, and a Taoist mosque, where three religions coexist.



Han-Hui Village road sign



Han-Hui Village signpost



The golden-roofed building in the distance is the mosque. In 2009, Yusuf Zhang Weidong, chairman of the Juzhou Donglaixing Halal Restaurant, donated the funds to build it. Unfortunately, the mosque has never been open since it was completed.



I looked through the crack in the door and saw only weeds covering the ground.



I asked the villagers and learned that the village committee might have the key, so I went to their office.



Unfortunately, no one was on duty at the village committee that day, and the building was completely empty.



I found a staff phone directory on the bulletin board and saw a phone number for someone with the surname Lan. I thought they must be a Hui Muslim and would be easy to talk to, so I called. The voice on the other end was not friendly. I said I was a Hui Muslim from Beijing and wanted to visit the mosque, but the person named Lan was firm: the mosque is not open now and will not be open in the future. Then they hung up.

I was not surprised by this result, because if the villagers still had Iman, they would not let the mosque grow over with weeds, while the local Earth God Mosque is quite busy with visitors.



Earth God Temple

Since I could not enter the mosque, I walked around the village. In the Han-Hui Village Ethnic Square, there is a stone tablet recording the history of the Hui Muslims in the village.



Establishment of Han-Hui Village

Islam first arrived in Hunan in the second year of the Deyou era of the Song Dynasty (1276), according to information released by the Hunan Provincial Religious Affairs Bureau. Hui Muslims including Ali Han, Wuerma, Lamadan (Kanmalading), Sademishi, Saliman, Bolantai, Qulie, Luoli, Ma Mousha, Alilan, Mahemu, and Macheng came to Hunan one after another to serve as officials. During the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Hui Muslim soldiers moved to Hunan and settled down. Ming Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang granted titles to a group of Muslim generals who entered Hunan for military service, such as Puluode (given the surname Zhang), Sutong, Haimengshi, Caineng, Halebashi (given the surname Jian), and Madecheng. They settled in Baoqing and Changde.



According to stone inscriptions, defeated Hui Muslim soldiers settled here during the Ming and Qing dynasties. They were mainly from the Ma and Lan families, along with the Zhang, Ou, and Ha families. The Ma family of Hui Muslims moved from Wanping County, Hebei Province, to the area around Wuxi Bridge and Yanjia Laowu during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty.



The ancestors of the Lan family of Hui Muslims were from Wanping, Beijing. One ancestor became a son-in-law of the Ma family after winning a martial arts competition to find a husband, and he settled down in Changsha.



The stone inscriptions in the village also record the story of the first Hui Muslim doctor named Ma to settle in Hanhui Village. Legend has it that he once treated a descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang.



The statues decorating the ethnic culture square now seem to be just symbols or window dressing, lacking real substance.

Niubenwei Hui Muslim Restaurant



Niubenwei Restaurant

Before I arrived, I found a Hui Muslim restaurant in the village on Dazhong Dianping that featured local Changsha Hui Muslim specialties. I thought I had found a treasure, but after learning about the current state of faith in Hanhui Village, I did not dare to try it.



I sat in the shop for a while and chatted with the staff. The staff said they do not use lard. Changsha people love using lard for cooking, even for stir-frying vegetables, but this place does not use it. Niubenwei is the only restaurant in the village, and many Changsha residents come here on weekends specifically to eat beef. The staff called namaz 'praying' and said no one here goes to the mosque to pray, so I did not ask anything else.



Looking at the small text on the wall describing the Islamic method of slaughter, I only felt regret. It would be great to have a restaurant serving authentic traditional Changsha dishes, but unfortunately, there are none in Changsha, and Niubenwei is not reliable.



It is impossible to find a restaurant with local characteristics in Changsha now, but you can eat Shaoyang Hui Muslim rice noodles. Shaoyang is a prefecture-level city in Hunan, not far from Changsha and accessible by high-speed rail. I once visited two mosques in the city of Shaoyang. The center of the faith in Hunan is in Shaoyang, and my impression of Shaoyang is that there are Hui Muslim noodle shops everywhere in the streets and alleys.

Shaoyang Hui Muslim rice noodles



Shaoyang rice noodles in Changsha

This shop is on Xiangzhang Road in Changsha. The staff are Hui Muslims from Shaoyang. The difference between Shaoyang rice noodles (shaoyang fen) and Changsha rice noodles (changsha fen) is that Shaoyang noodles are round, while Changsha noodles can be flat. Both are equally spicy. This rice noodle shop on Xiangzhang Road has special snacks, but they only sell them after autumn because Changsha summers are very hot and the food spoils easily.



Price list



Shaoyang rice noodles (shaoyang mifen)



Tofu pudding (douhua)

Besides this special rice noodle shop, Changsha mostly has hand-pulled noodle shops (lamian guan) and Xinjiang restaurants. When I visited Changsha before, I saw many Uyghurs doing business and running shops here. This time, I found that many of those Xinjiang restaurants have closed.

Changsha Mosque



Changsha Mosque is located at No. 115 Sanxing Street in the West District of Changsha. It was first built in 1711 during the 50th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty. The original mosque was destroyed in the 1938 Changsha 'Wenxi' fire, and the current building was rebuilt in 1992.



The mosque has three floors and covers a total area of 5.92 mu. The main prayer hall is on the third floor.



There are very few local Muslims in Changsha. Most Hui Muslims in Hunan live in Shaoyang (40,000), Changde (60,000), and Yiyang (12,000). They have established six ethnic minority townships: Shanjie Hui Ethnic Township in Longhui County, Fengshu Uyghur-Hui Ethnic Township and Qinglin Uyghur-Hui Ethnic Township in Taoyuan County, Zhabu Hui Ethnic Township in Taojiang County, and Maojiatan Uyghur-Hui Ethnic Township and Xujiaqiao Uyghur-Hui Ethnic Township in Dingcheng District. More than 10,000 descendants of Uyghurs still live in Taoyuan County, Changde City, though they have been mostly assimilated into Han culture.



To maintain national unity, suppress rebellions in the south, and consolidate his rule, Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Hale Bashi, a descendant of Hale and the then-commander of Yanjing, as Grand Commander. He led his troops south into the Xiangchu region. Because Hale Bashi was successful in eliminating hostile forces, Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang promoted him to General of Southern Pacification and National Stability and added the title of Crown Prince's Guardian. He was granted the surname 'Jian' and his name 'Bashi' was changed to 'Bashi' (using a different character). He was ordered to guard the Hubei, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou regions. Jian Bashi stationed his troops in Fengshu, Taoyuan, and set up a base camp called the 'Hale Banner Camp' (Ha Qi Ying). This is the origin of the Uyghurs in Hunan.



It is rumored that Taiwanese singer Angela Chang has Uyghur ancestry. I checked the records and found that her maternal grandfather was originally from Taoyuan County, Hunan. Her mother, Jiang Rouyi, originally had the surname 'Jian' before changing it to Jiang. So, Angela Chang actually has Hunan Uyghur ancestry, which is quite different from the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim friendly Dalian travel account keeps the original Qingming route, halal restaurants, mosque-side food, seafood stops, streets, and photos. It gives English readers a clear halal travel view of Dalian without changing the source facts.

We spent the three-day Qingming Festival holiday in 2018 in Dalian. Dalian is not too far from Beijing. It takes just over four hours to reach Dalian North Station by high-speed rail from Beijing, and tickets are easy to find. For the return trip, we chose to fly from Dalian to Tianjin. The flight took one hour and cost 300 yuan, which was cheaper than the high-speed train. We enjoyed a good meal in Tianjin before taking a half-hour intercity train back to Beijing.



Once we arrived in Dalian, I knew I had made the right choice. While other places were packed with crowds during the holiday, Dalian felt like a ghost town.



A friend from Dalian told me that the locals all travel away during the holidays, which is why you don't see many people in the city.

Yiding Restaurant



For dinner, we ate crispy shrimp, spicy squid, and steamed dumplings (shaomai) at Yiding Restaurant near the Dalian mosque, and we also bought some halal food. The stir-fried dishes at halal restaurants in Dalian are quite tasty and come in large portions.













Address: Next to the mosque at 98 Beijing Street

Dongshengxiang



The stir-fried dishes at this place are truly fragrant, especially the shredded potatoes with celery, which I have loved since I was a child. Dalian food is not greasy, salty, or spicy.







Double-cooked pork (guobaorou) and steamed dumplings (shaomai) are considered signature Northeast dishes.





Address: 49 Nanguanling Road

Tongqing Hui Muslim Restaurant



This shop is quite popular locally. It stays open late at night and attracts many diners.











Sweet and sour stir-fried meat (guobaorou).





Hairtail fish (daoyu). You can eat halal seafood here.

Address: 51 Tongqing Street.

Huixiangyuan beef tendon soup.



I think this is a must-visit restaurant in Dalian. The beef tendon soup and sesame flatbread (shaobing) are both delicious. They have opened two branches now, and this original shop has moved to a new location.











Address: 2 Qianshan Road, Huadong Road.

Donggang Music Square.





Dalian is as beautiful as a European city.



Donggang Music Square, Zhongshan District.









Even the mall cafes are empty.

Laohutan Ocean Park.



Laohutan Ocean Park is a must-visit 5A-rated attraction in Dalian. Tickets cost 175 yuan per person online and take two hours to activate after purchase. I recommend visiting the Polar Ocean World and the Bird Forest inside.



The birds in the Bird Forest roam freely. They are not afraid of people and will not hurt you. You can buy some bird feed to feed them.































When I entered the Dolphin Pavilion, I felt like every person in Dalian was there watching the dolphin show. I had not seen that many people anywhere else in the city.



















At the oceanarium, they have dolphin and beluga whale shows. When I watched shows at the Georgia Aquarium in the United States, the staff did not allow photography, probably to avoid protests from animal rights groups.



Dalian buses have bilingual stop announcements, and the subway even has announcements in Japanese.



Dalian Mosque



Dalian Mosque is the only pink-colored mosque in China. It is located at No. 96 Beijing Street in Dalian and was first built in 1922.











End view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This second Huailai and Zhuolu road trip entry continues through Hebei mosque sites, local Hui Muslim stories, village routes, and Qingming travel notes from the original Chinese article.

In the last post, we had lunch in Shacheng Town, Huailai, Hebei, and visited two old mosques in Ganji Liang and Mayukou. See 'Visiting Old Mosques in Huailai and Zhuolu, Hebei during the Qingming Holiday (Part 1)'. In this part, we head to Xinbao'an Town and Zhuolu County to experience the local Islamic culture.

On April 5, we had breakfast in Xinbao'an Town, Huailai, Hebei. We arrived a bit late, so the soft tofu (laodoufu) and brown sugar flatbread (shaobing) were sold out. We had a steamer of buns with fried tofu soup, and Suleiman really enjoyed the purple rice porridge.

Xinbao'an Town is a key town on the ancient Beijing-Zhangjiakou road, with a post station built as early as the Yuan Dynasty. After the Tumu Crisis in the Ming Dynasty, a city was built here in 1451 (the second year of the Jingtai reign) to strengthen the northern defense line of Beijing. The Bao'an Garrison, originally located in Zhuolu, was moved here, and it has been called Bao'an New City ever since. After the Qing Dynasty, Xinbao'an gradually changed from a military town to a commercial hub, connecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou.



















At the Xinbao'an town market, we bought old-fashioned five-nut mooncakes (wuren yuebing) and honey cakes at a roadside bakery. They were made that day and were perfect as tea snacks.



















After breakfast, we went to the Hui Muslim residential area in the northwest of the old town to visit the famous 'Nine-Link Courtyard' (Jiulianhuan Dayuan). This was originally a wealthy merchant's residence in the Qing Dynasty. Later, the merchant declined and Hui Muslims moved in, so it is also called the 'Hui Muslim Courtyard'. The gate of the courtyard is very beautiful and is a classic example of Qing Dynasty residential style in Zhangjiakou, featuring complex brick, wood, and stone carvings. The courtyard was caught in the fighting during the 1948 Battle of Xinbao'an, and you can still see clear bullet marks today.

The Hui Muslims in Xinbao'an mainly have the surnames Liang and Zheng. The Liang family's ancestors moved from Nanjing to Liangjiapo, Weinan, Shaanxi, in the late Ming Dynasty during the Chongzhen reign. In 1677 (the 16th year of the Kangxi reign), they moved to Xinbao'an Town to farm and guard the capital. During the Qianlong reign, the Liang family began doing business in Zhangjiakou. By the Tongzhi reign, their camel caravans reached as far as Kulun in Outer Mongolia and Lanzhou. They later opened five shops known as the 'Five Great Guangs'.

The Zheng family shares the same origin as those in nearby Huailai and Zhuolu counties. Their ancestors moved from Shaanxi in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, first to Shacheng Town in Huailai, then spreading to Wangjialou, Yanzhuang, Xinbao'an, Xuanhua, and Zhangjiakou. Zheng Kuishi was a famous Hui Muslim general in the late Qing Dynasty. He fought against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom during the Xianfeng reign, won many battles, was given the title 'Shalama Baturu', and was awarded a yellow riding jacket. During the Tongzhi reign, he served as the acting Zhili provincial commander, guarding the capital region and suppressing the Nian Rebellion in Zhili to keep the capital safe. In his later years, he returned home to work on water conservancy, building the Yonggu Dam to manage the Liu River. He also repaired the Zhenshuo Tower and Four Archways in Xuanhua and opened the Huoshi Slope road to improve transportation. He was highly respected locally.





































Xinbao'an Mosque is right next to the Nine-Link Hui Muslim Courtyard. Some say it was built in 1621 (the first year of the Tianqi reign), while others say it was built in 1677 (the 16th year of the Kangxi reign). The main hall consists of a front hall, a middle hall, and a rear kiln hall. It is larger than other old mosques in Huailai and still has beautiful brick carvings, though the moon-watching tower on the kiln hall roof is gone.

During the 1948 Pingjin Campaign, Xinbao'an was a key battlefield. The Xinbao'an Mosque became the command post for the Nationalist 35th Army, and the walls of the main hall are still covered in bullet marks. In 2008, the mosque was listed as a Hebei Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Unit under the name 'Site of the Battle of Xinbao'an—Command Post of the Nationalist 35th Army'.



















The only remaining stone tablet at Xinbao'an Mosque is likely a donation tablet, which lists many business names.

















We drove from Xinbao'an Town to Zhuolu County to visit another old mosque in Zhangjiakou—Zhuolu Mosque.

Zhuolu Mosque is located in the east gate area of the county. It was first built during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty. It is a famous historic mosque north of Beijing and was listed as a key cultural relic protection site in Hebei Province in 2008. The main hall of Zhuolu Mosque is made of three connected hard-mountain roofs with a front porch. Behind the kiln hall stands an 11-meter-high octagonal spire-roofed Moon-Watching Tower (wangyuelou), which is more spectacular than the common hexagonal spire roofs found in North China. Wind bells hang on the Moon-Watching Tower. When the wind blows, the bells ring, creating a refreshing and soothing sound. A wooden partition screen is built between the main hall and the kiln hall, featuring a unique design of the Basmala (tasimi) written in hard-pen calligraphy.

The Hui Muslims in Zhuolu are mainly of the Shan surname. The Shan family are descendants of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din. One branch originally came from Shanjia Gou in Xi'an Prefecture, Shaanxi. They moved to Zhuolu during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and during the Qianlong period, they built the Shan Family Nine-Linked Ring Courtyard in the west gate area. The Shan family is known for their military service. Five members once passed the military imperial examinations, and they were known as the 'Five Dragons of the Shan Family'. The east gate area where Zhuolu Mosque is located was also a residential area for Hui Muslims. It once had alleys named after local Hui Muslim families: Ma Family Alley (Majia Xiang), Fei Family Alley (Feijia Xiang), and Shan Family Alley (Shanjia Xiang). Unfortunately, the east gate area was demolished in 2018, and only the mosque was preserved.



















Zhuolu Mosque is famous for its exquisite brick carvings. The brick carvings on the sides of the three-room hard-mountain main hall are all different. Inside the main hall, there are eighteen precious murals featuring themes of plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, chrysanthemums, landscapes, and utensils, which are very rare in the main halls of mosques.



















Plaques inside Zhuolu Mosque:

The 'Wanxiang Zhenzong' plaque from 1809 (the 14th year of the Jiaqing reign).



The 'Daotong Tianren' plaque from 1859 (the 9th year of the Xianfeng reign).



The 'Zhenshi Wuwang' plaque from 1870 (the 9th year of the Tongzhi reign).



The 'Tianxiu Wohe' plaque from 1919, which is the only one with an inscription, signed by 'Shan Xiangchen'.



At noon, I returned to Shacheng Town in Huailai for lunch. At Qingyizhai, I had lamb and mushroom with oat noodles (youmian wowo), stir-fried millet with chive flowers, and a clay pot of winter melon and meatballs. The prices at restaurants here are cheaper than in Beijing, and the food is delicious.

The lamb and mushroom dish had quite a few potatoes, but it was stir-fried well. There were several types of mushrooms, making it fresh, fragrant, and rich. The oat noodles were firm and chewy, carrying the unique, natural wheat aroma of whole grains. It was my first time eating stir-fried millet with chive flowers. The taste was slightly salty. The golden millet grains were dry and distinct, mixed with the unique spicy fragrance of chive flowers, giving it a coarse yet refreshing texture. The winter melon and meatball soup was the most amazing. The clear soup with meatballs was especially good—firm and bouncy. It tasted better than what I make myself, and one bite told me there wasn't much starch, as it was mostly meat. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Qingming road trip leaves Beijing for Huailai and Zhuolu in Hebei, visiting old mosques, Hui Muslim communities, village streets, and local history in the first half of the route.

During the Qingming holiday, I took a two-day road trip to Huailai and Zhuolu counties in Zhangjiakou, Hebei. I visited four ancient mosques and tried the local food. I left home after breakfast on Saturday and didn't reach Shacheng until noon because of highway traffic. At Ma Laoda in the county seat, I ate cornmeal dumplings (nieba), yellow rice cake (huanggao), braised carp, stewed Chinese cabbage with yam, and beef stew. Prices here are much lower than in Beijing. A bowl of corn noodles costs 10 yuan, and a large carp is 28 yuan.

Cornmeal dumplings (nieba) and yellow rice cake (huanggao) are both rustic snacks from Zhangjiakou. Cornmeal dumplings (nieba) are made from a mix of cornmeal and wheat flour. The texture is just right, and the side of pickled mustard greens adds a great flavor.

Yellow rice cake (huanggao) is made from local broomcorn millet that is peeled and ground into flour. It is soft and chewy, much like African fufu. You pinch off a piece and dip it into the broth from the stewed Chinese cabbage and yam.

The large carp is a reservoir fish from Guanting Reservoir, braised to perfection. It tastes great, doesn't have many bones, and has no muddy aftertaste. I really enjoyed it.

The only issue was that their beef stew was spicy, so the kids couldn't eat it.

Shacheng Castle was built in 1451 (the second year of the Jingtai reign of the Ming Dynasty). It was constructed after the Tumu Crisis to defend the northwest of the capital. To boost the population and strengthen the capital's defenses, the Ming government repeatedly ordered people from Shaanxi and Shanxi to move to the area south of the Zhangjiakou dam to farm and settle. They farmed during peacetime and served as soldiers during wartime. This is how some Hui Muslims settled in Huailai. After the Beijing-Suiyuan Railway opened in 1909, a station was built in Shacheng. The town became a busy commercial hub, and the population grew quickly. In 1951, the old Huailai county seat was flooded to build the Guanting Reservoir, and Shacheng became the new seat of Huailai County.

















After eating in Shacheng, I headed to the nearby Ganji Liang Village, the closest Hui Muslim village to the Huailai county seat.

Ganji Liang Village was originally called Gan Jilang. The main family there was the Han Chinese Gan family, but they later moved away, and the Zheng family, who are Hui Muslims, became the main residents. The Zheng family is a major Hui Muslim clan in Zhangjiakou. Their ancestors moved from Shaanxi in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, first to Huailai, and then spread throughout Zhangjiakou. The most famous member of the Zheng family in Zhangjiakou was Zheng Kuishi. He was a well-known late Qing Hui Muslim general. He joined the army in the early Daoguang years and fought against the Taiping Rebellion during the Xianfeng years. He served in Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, and Anhui, earned many military honors, was given the title Shalama Batulu, and was awarded a yellow riding jacket. During the Tongzhi reign, he served as the acting Zhili provincial commander, guarding the capital region and suppressing the Nian Rebellion in Zhili to keep the capital safe. In his later years, he returned home to work on water conservancy, building the Yonggu Dam to manage the Liu River. He also repaired the Zhenshuo Tower and Four Archways in Xuanhua and opened the Huoshi Slope road to improve transportation. He was highly respected locally.

The Ganji Liang Mosque was built during the Qianlong reign and is a standard courtyard-style building. The main hall from the Qing Dynasty is still well-preserved and features beautiful brick carvings. Unfortunately, the religious life in Ganji Liang Village has declined, and imams come and go. There is currently no imam at the mosque, and it looks abandoned. The main hall is covered in dust and rubble, and the backyard is overgrown with weeds.



































Inside the main hall, there is a wooden board with ink writing that records the history of the mosque: it was built by the community during the Qianlong reign, expanded in the sixth year of the Xianfeng reign, and land was purchased in the fourteenth year of the Daoguang reign. All the donors listed were from the local Zheng family. Unfortunately, it is hard to see the second half clearly because it was not well preserved.



Ganjiliang Village is built on a mountain ridge. Below the ridge are terraced fields, and on top are wind turbines. The wind here is much stronger than in Beijing.

Because of the terrain, Ganjiliang developed more slowly than the surrounding plains, which helped it keep more of its Qing Dynasty houses. Like many traditional villages, you rarely see young people here. Mostly, only the elderly remain.



























After leaving Ganjiliang Village, we went to another old mosque, Mayukou Mosque. Mayukou is in Wangjialou Hui Muslim Township in Huailai, an area where many Hui Muslims live. We received a warm welcome from Imam Yang at the mosque. Imam Yang keeps the mosque in great order. Later, the assistant imam (hou ahong) invited us to eat dumplings made by the local women elders during Ramadan.

Xingwang Fortress was built in Mayukou during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty. It was one of the border forts built in the early Ming period to defend against the Northern Yuan. Hui Muslims settled in Mayukou in the mid-Qing Dynasty, and the Mayukou Mosque they built is now 200 years old. Mayukou Mosque and Ganjiliang Mosque have the same layout, consisting of a main prayer hall, north and south side rooms, and a front gate. The main prayer halls of Mayukou Mosque and Ganjiliang Mosque are also identical. They serve as typical examples of Qing Dynasty mosque halls in the border fort regions of Hebei. The difference is that the gate of Mayukou Mosque may have been rebuilt later. It is taller than the one at Ganjiliang Mosque and features beautiful brick carvings. It is a pity that the mosque renovated the side rooms and the interior of the main hall last year, so we could not see the traditional calligraphy preserved inside.





























Scenery of Mayukou Village. view all

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Summary: Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province has a Hui Muslim community tied to the Grand Canal, Ganpu Port, and more than 700 years of local history. This nine-year return visit preserves the source's mosque history, street changes, restaurant details, community notes, and photographs.

I first visited the Muslim communities along the Grand Canal in 2016-2017. I went to Jiaxing back then, as described in my post, "Halal Travel Review: Jiaxing, Zhejiang in 2017." I took advantage of the New Year holiday to visit Jiaxing again and see how the local Muslim community has changed over these nine years. Overall, although the traditional neighborhood right next to the Jiaxing Mosque was cleared in 2019, there are still many Hui Muslim restaurants scattered throughout the old city. This shows that the Muslim community in Jiaxing remains very active.

The Muslim community in Jiaxing began in the Southern Song Dynasty and has lasted for over 700 years. Even though it was interrupted for a few decades by war at the end of the Qing Dynasty, it remains one of the most important Muslim centers in Zhejiang.

In 1246 (the sixth year of the Chunyou era of the Song Dynasty), the Song government set up a maritime trade office at Ganpu Port in Jiaxing, and foreign merchants began to gather there. Many Hui Muslim merchants settled on Luli Street in the southeast of Jiaxing city. Goods arriving from Ganpu Port were transferred here before being sent to the capital, Lin'an. Luli Street gradually became known as "Hui Muslim Street." In the early Yuan Dynasty, a large number of Hui Muslim troops were stationed near Lin'an. In 1276 (the 13th year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan Dynasty), the Jiaxing military command was changed to the Jiaxing Pacification Commission, and these Hui Muslim soldiers settled down permanently. Records show that in 1295 (the first year of the Yuanzhen era of the Yuan Dynasty), when Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar served as the governor of Songjiang Prefecture, he brought 30,000 Hui Muslim soldiers from Jiaxing.

During the Ming Dynasty, due to policies that allowed tribute but restricted trade, the Hui Muslim soldiers and foreign merchants gradually became the Hui Muslim population. Jiaxing saw the rise of several major family names, including Xu, Guo, Jin, Sha, Ma, and Yang, and they built the Jiaxing Mosque in 1602 (the 30th year of the Wanli era). The mosque still houses a stone tablet from the 30th year of the Wanli era titled "Record of the Construction of the True Religion Mosque in Jiaxing Prefecture." It was written by Ma Hualong, who was a Jiaxing official from Xinye, Henan, and a successful candidate in the imperial examinations in the fifth year of the Wanli era. The back of the tablet was inscribed in 1774 (the 39th year of the Qianlong era) with a "Record of the Renovation of the Jiaxing Prefecture Mosque." According to the Wanli tablet, "Among the provinces, Hangzhou has the most Muslims, and they have built mosques in the Jiaxing area for a long time." "Now, Muslims like Ma Zhonglü and others have donated money according to their means, bought a piece of vacant land south of Tongji Bridge east of the government office, and built this mosque, modeling it slightly after the style in Hangzhou."

Jiaxing originally had a large mosque and a small mosque. The large one was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, so the small mosque inside the East Gate became known as the Jiaxing Mosque. The Jiaxing Mosque underwent major repairs in 1747 (the 12th year of the Qianlong era). A local official named Sha Dacheng funded the renovation and expansion of the halls and corridors, and he also added three lecture rooms. In 1774 (the 39th year of the Qianlong era), Sha Dacheng's nephew, a student named Guo Zaifen, rebuilt the main gate of the mosque and added five rooms.

After the Taiping Rebellion, the Jiaxing Mosque fell into ruin. It was not used again until the early 20th century, when Hui Muslims newly arrived from Henan began using it. Since then, most of the imams have been hired from Henan. One of them, Imam Guo Qingxin, was from Kaifeng, Henan. He had previously taught at the Wangjia Hutong Mosque in Kaifeng. In 1948, he led more than 40 students from the Henan Arabic Language School to move south to Jiaxing. He was hired as the imam of the Jiaxing Mosque in 1950 and served for over 30 years.



















The current imam of the Jiaxing Mosque is from Ningxia. The people attending Friday namaz are half from Henan and half from the Northwest, along with some foreigners. During the opening prayer and the sermon, people arrived one after another. Eventually, they filled not only the main prayer hall but also the side halls, which shows how vibrant the Muslim community in Jiaxing is. After the prayer, several friends (dost) from Henan and the Northwest were selling cooked food and noodles at the mosque entrance, making the area very lively.





















The Jiaxing Mosque preserves some very beautiful Arabic wood carvings from the mid-Qing Dynasty, which were likely carved during the renovations in the Qianlong era.

















The Henan friends (dosti) who moved to Jiaxing in the 20th century also brought the Henan tradition of women's religious education. Jiaxing's women's religious education began in 1942, with Yang Huizhen serving as the first head teacher (jiaozhang). In 1946, Yang Huizhen founded the Jiaxing Islamic Care Home to provide shelter for the elderly, weak, women, and children.









Jiaxing Hui Muslims love martial arts, so they formed the Jiaxing Hui Muslim Martial Arts Team in 1980, led by Han Haihua of the Han family. There is still a martial arts school run by Han Maosen at the mosque entrance today.



When I first visited Jiaxing in 2017, there were many snack shops at the mosque entrance, and I even ate a beef rice dumpling (niurou zong). However, the area was cleared out in 2019, and there are far fewer snack shops now.





Among the Hui Muslims who moved south from Henan to Jiaxing during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, half belonged to the Han family from Zhecheng, Shangqiu, Henan, known as the Great Han Family. The Han surname Hui Muslims in Zhecheng are said to be the Salar Hans who moved from Xunhua, Qinghai, in the late Yuan Dynasty. Their ancestor was originally named Shamuhan, and they later took the last syllable to change their surname to Han. In 1404 (the second year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty), the Han family moved to Yucheng, Shandong, and later a branch led by Han Yuanchen moved to Zhecheng, Henan, to settle down.

To this day, many Hui Muslims with the surname Han still live near the Jiaxing mosque. Han Haili's family, located on Xiuzhou Road behind the mosque, moved to Jiaxing in 1938 when Henan fell. They have made a living selling Hui Muslim snacks for nearly 90 years, making them a famous old Jiaxing brand. When I came to Jiaxing in 2017, their shop was quite simple, but this time it has been renovated to look very refined, and they serve full meals to snacks. We ordered pan-fried dumplings (jianjiao), beef offal vermicelli pot (niuza fensi bao), fried fish noodles (baoyu mian), and crispy sesame flatbread (xiangsu bing). The beef offal pot arrived at the table bubbling and was very comforting, perfect for winter. The crispy sesame flatbread is very popular with children, and it is convenient to buy a few to take along when visiting the nearby ancient town.



















The old city of Jiaxing is home to many Hui Muslim snack shops, including Haiqin's Deli, Henan Snack Shop, Guo's Beef Pan-fried Buns, Yudong Heritage Whole Lamb Restaurant, Pan-fried Bun and Beef Soup Shop, and Alin's Pan-fried Dumpling Shop. You don't have to worry about finding food when traveling in the old city of Jiaxing.



















In the evening, we had dinner at Jingyage on Xiuzhou Road near the Jiaxing mosque. This place is also run by Henan friends, and they specialize in lamb soup and flatbread (yangtang shaobing), though I think the flatbread is only truly fragrant when made fresh in the morning. We ordered lamb soup braised noodles (yangtang huimian), stacked meat (duozi rou), and osmanthus beef tenderloin (guihua niuliu). The braised noodles and stacked meat both had a very authentic Henan taste and were very comforting to eat. The osmanthus dish is actually stir-fried eggs. Eating the beef tenderloin and stir-fried eggs wrapped in lotus leaf buns (heye bing) is very suitable for the tastes of Northerners, and our whole family thought it was delicious.



















The most worth-eating Hui Muslim restaurant in Jiaxing is undoubtedly Siruchun on Yuehe Street. Siruchun has a history of over 100 years and is now listed as a Jiaxing intangible cultural heritage for its "Hui Muslim pan-fried bun and dumpling making technique."

Siruchun was founded in 1919 by a Hui Muslim from Henan named Bai Tisheng. It first opened inside the East Gate near the Jiaxing Mosque. At that time, Bai Tisheng mainly sold soy-sauce beef (jiang niurou), beef and lamb steamed buns (baozi), and pan-fried pancakes (jianbing). Because the buns were the most popular, the shop was also called the Bai Family Buns of the East Gate. When the Japanese army occupied Jiaxing in December 1937, the East Gate was destroyed by artillery fire, and the Bai family fled to the countryside for safety. After the fighting calmed down at the end of 1938, Bai Tisheng opened the Siruchun Stir-fry Restaurant at the street corner near Xuangong Bridge. Later, it became one of the most famous Hui Muslim stir-fry restaurants in Jiaxing, alongside Chunhuayuan and Yuxinglou.

During the public-private partnership period in the 1950s, Siruchun merged with several other Hui Muslim snack shops. It stopped selling stir-fried dishes and only served beef noodles and pan-fried pancakes. In 1969, Changshuitang was widened and Xuangong Bridge was demolished, causing Siruchun to disappear.

After the 1990s, the three-story YSL Garden Hotel opened near Zhongshan Bridge in Jiaxing. Many of the veteran chefs and their apprentices from the old Chunhuayuan and Siruchun returned to work there, making the Garden Hotel the go-to spot for authentic Hui Muslim stir-fry in Jiaxing at the time. In 1998, the Garden Hotel was demolished for the construction of the city moat green belt. That same year, the Hui Muslim restaurant Chunhuayuan on Jianguo Road was also torn down, leaving Jiaxing's Hui Muslim dining scene in a difficult spot.

In 2008, Bai Tisheng's descendant, Bai Qingmin, and his children reopened the Bai Family Bun Shop on Yuehe Street. The chefs and bun makers who had worked at Chunhuayuan and the Garden Hotel came to help, some of whom were already over seventy years old. In 2012, the Bai family continued by restoring the Siruchun Stir-fry Restaurant, which became the most famous time-honored Hui Muslim brand in Jiaxing.

When I visited Siruchun in 2017, I ate fruit soup (shuiguo yuanzi geng), crab roe tofu (xiehuang doufu), Indian aster greens (malantou), and Bai family fried fish (baojia baoyu). This time, I ordered beef strips with pickled mustard greens and edamame (xuecai maodou niurousi), stir-fried eggs with silverfish (yinyu chaodan), soy-sauce duck (jiangya), braised gluten (suji), and Indian aster greens. If you want to eat traditional Jiaxing Hui Muslim cuisine, this is the right place to come. Our favorite dish is the beef strips with pickled mustard greens and edamame. It is cooked very lightly, and both adults and children love it. Stir-fried eggs with silverfish is also a specialty of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai regions, and it is very nutritious. The soy-sauce duck is a bit cold to eat in winter, so I heated it up in the shop's microwave. Since the other dishes are quite light, the soy-sauce duck helps balance the meal. I have always loved braised gluten, and it is hard to find it this good in the north. I really liked the Indian aster greens last time I ate them because they are so fresh and crisp. I recommended them to my family this time, and they all liked them too.

Because the shop is on Yuehe Street, the foot traffic is very high, and the service can't always keep up. This is understandable, and even though there are many people eating, the food still comes out quickly.



















There are two other unique Hui Muslim restaurants in Jiaxing: one is a Jiangxi home-style restaurant run by Hui Muslims from Xi'an, and the other is a Northeast-style iron pot stew. If any friends (dosti) want to try a different flavor, they can check those out. We actually really wanted to try the Jiangxi home-style food, but we gave up because we had children with us and couldn't eat spicy food. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Damascus Old City contains important Shia holy sites, including Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque near the old city's northern gate. This account keeps the source's shrine names, religious history, location details, photographs, and travel observations.

The most important Shia holy site in the old city of Damascus is the Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque, located inside the Gate of Paradise at the north gate of the old city. People say the young daughter of Imam Hussein, Ruqayya, is buried inside. The mosque dates back to the 15th century and was rebuilt to its current size in 1985.

Ruqayya was born in 676 and was only three years old during the Battle of Karbala in 680. She was taken by the Umayyad dynasty to the capital, Damascus, and passed away shortly after arriving. Early books record that one night, a four-year-old daughter of Hussein woke up crying from a nightmare. She asked about her father, saying she had just seen him in great pain in her dream. The girl's crying woke the Umayyad Caliph Yazid I. He asked his men why she was crying and then ordered them to bring Hussein's head to the girl. The girl was terrified when she saw the head and passed away a few days later. Shia Muslims view her passing as martyrdom, which freed her from the suffering caused by the Umayyads.





















I joined a Shia congregation (jama'at) for the first time at the Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque in Damascus. There are big differences between Shia and Sunni namaz. First, the content of the call to prayer (adhan) is different. When we stand with our hands folded, they keep their hands at their sides, and they prostrate on natural materials, usually clay tablets. They raise their hands multiple times during dua and hold their hands out to make dua. The rows are not tight, and it is fine to have some space between people. After the afternoon prayer (asr), they recite praises for a while, then stand up to call the adhan again for the sunset prayer (maghrib).

The friends (dosti) at the mosque were very tolerant of me. They were not unfriendly because I am Sunni and all greeted me with smiles. Because Assad has close ties with Iran, the new government has banned Iranians from entering Syria, so the number of Shia friends visiting here has dropped significantly. When the new government first took power, many Syrian Shia fled their homes for fear of being accused of colluding with Iran. Many have returned now that the government has provided guarantees. The Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque is currently operating normally. Aside from a security post at the entrance, everything else is normal.

















Another Shia holy site in the old city of Damascus is the tomb of Sakina bint Al Hussein and Umm Kulthum bint Ali, located inside the Bab al-Saghir cemetery in the south. Unfortunately, the tomb was closed when I arrived after Friday prayer (Jumu'ah), so I could not go inside.

Sakina was another daughter of Imam Hussein. She was taken to Damascus and imprisoned after the Battle of Karbala in 680. In Shia ceremonies commemorating the Battle of Karbala, Sakina is usually the one who tells the story of the battle. People perform scenes of Sakina jumping in front of her father's horse to spend the last few seconds with him before he is killed. Sakina was later released and returned to Medina. Early historical records describe her as beautiful, generous, and humble, and she was known for her eloquence and poetry. Sakina has tombs in Medina, Damascus, and Cairo, but people generally believe she is buried in Medina, while the tombs in Damascus and Cairo represent the longing people have for her.

Umm Kulthum was the youngest daughter of Imam Ali and Lady Fatimah. After the Battle of Karbala in 680, she was taken prisoner to Damascus. Once released, she returned to Medina and became a narrator of Shia hadith. There are two different accounts regarding the location of her tomb, with some saying it is in Medina and others saying it is in Damascus. view all

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Summary: Songpan County in Sichuan preserves old Hui Muslim mosque quarters, gongbei shrines, and residential lanes inside the ancient city of Songzhou. This travel account follows the Upper Mosque, Lower Mosque, Hui Muslim homes, graves, streets, and local religious landmarks recorded in the source.

The ancient city of Songzhou in Songpan, Sichuan, originally had two mosques, the Upper Mosque and the Lower Mosque. The Upper Mosque was destroyed after 1966, leaving only the Lower Mosque today. Songpan Lower Mosque is located on Middle Street inside the city and is an ancient mosque from the Ming Dynasty. In 1379 (the 12th year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty), General Ding Yu rebuilt Songzhou City. As the tea and horse trade routes between Sichuan, Gansu, and Qinghai became busy, Hui Muslim horse and cattle caravans from Shaanxi, Qinghai, Gansu, and Yunnan traveled to Songzhou. Because the original Dongshan Mosque was destroyed in war, the local Tie, Sha, and Chang families of dost (dosti) funded the construction of the Songpan Lower Mosque in 1379.

Songpan Lower Mosque was destroyed multiple times in 1663 (the second year of the Kangxi reign), 1860 (the tenth year of the Xianfeng reign), and 1911 (the third year of the Xuantong reign), and was rebuilt each time. The main prayer hall was rebuilt in 1988, and the Moon-Watching Tower (wangyuelou) was rebuilt in 1996.

After the Friday prayer (Jumu'ah) at the mosque, when there is a funeral (janazah), many Han and Tibetan neighbors come to pay their respects, showing the harmony of the local community.





















After Jumu'ah, enjoy a slow moment drinking Pu'er tea in the 200-year-old Hui Muslim residence of Ma Chongxian inside Songzhou City.

The residence was first built by Songpan Hui Muslim Ma Chongxian in 1819 (the 24th year of the Jiaqing reign), and Ma's descendants have lived there for generations. After 1951, the house was used as a grain warehouse. It was returned to the Ma family in 1970 and has now been passed down for eight generations.

The Ma Chongxian residence still preserves its all-wood frame and column-and-tie (chuandou) structure from the Jiaqing era. It is a typical example of traditional northwest Sichuan architecture and was named one of the first historical buildings in Songpan County in December 2017.

Since 2012, the Ma family has run the Ancestral Home Inn here. You can stay, drink tea, or eat, and all dost are welcome to experience it.





















Hui Muslim residences in the ancient city of Songzhou include the Ma Zhiliang residence, the gatehouse of the Ma Zhide residence, and the gatehouse of the Sha family courtyard.



















After the Qing Dynasty, the tea and horse trade in Songpan flourished. In 1896 (the 22nd year of the Guangxu reign), tea merchant Ma Jian built the Songpan North Mosque by the Minjiang River outside the north gate of Songzhou ancient city. Songpan North Mosque was destroyed twice, in 1911 and 1919, and was later rebuilt under the leadership of Imam Mi Depei from Gansu. The mosque houses a plaque inscribed by Bai Chongxi that reads 'Promote Education and Build the Nation.' The main hall was rebuilt in 2005, and the gatehouse and Moon-Watching Tower were rebuilt in 2011.



















Songpan Guangzhao Pavilion Gongbei is located northeast of Songzhou City and belongs to the Qadiriyya (Gaderenye) Sufi order (menhuan). According to the Republic of China-era 'Songpan County Annals,' in 1686 (the 25th year of the Kangxi reign), Huazhe Abudonglaxi traveled from Linxia to Songpan to preach, then continued to Langzhong to meet Ma Ziyun, the commander of northern Sichuan. In 1689 (the 28th year of the Kangxi reign), Huazhe passed away (returned to Allah) in Langzhong. On that same day, the dost in Songpan suddenly saw Huazhe arrive. He stayed for a few days and then left without saying where he was going. Only when the Songpan dost received a letter from Ma Ziyun days later did they learn the date of Huazhe's passing and realize that his visit was a miracle. The Songpan dost then built a pavilion over the grave (gongbei) under the elm tree at the foot of the mountain east of the city where he had stayed, naming it Guangzhao. Since then, whenever there are floods or droughts, people go to the gongbei to make dua.

According to the 'Biography of the Grand Master,' Qi Jingyi, a disciple of Huazhe and founder of the Great Gongbei, went to Guangzhao Pavilion Gongbei in 1694 (the 33rd year of the Kangxi reign) to teach. People came in an endless stream to listen, and even the local Songpan garrison commander came to see him. Later, the commander was inspired by Qi Jingyi, gave up his high position and wealth, and followed Qi Jingyi to pursue a life of spiritual practice.

The Light Pavilion (Guangzhao Ting) was torn down after 1966. In 1997, Yang Jiefang, the head of the Great Gongbei (Da Gongbei), led its reconstruction. It was renovated again in 2019 to reach its current appearance. I was welcomed by an imam at the Gongbei Mosque (Gongbei Si), where I learned a lot about Sufism and enjoyed tea and steamed buns (momo). I felt very grateful.



















In the dua hall of the Light Pavilion Gongbei, the mihrab features three wooden carvings of dua in the shapes of a fan, a circle, and an incense burner. Building a prayer hall inside a gongbei is a characteristic of the Great Gongbei menhuan, which is why it is also called the Gongbei Mosque. There is an imam inside the Gongbei Mosque.















Walking further up the mountain from the Songpan Light Pavilion Gongbei leads to a Hui Muslim cemetery. Continuing to climb higher, you can see another site, the Hidden Immortal Pavilion (Yinxian Ting) Gongbei. The Hidden Immortal Pavilion Gongbei is usually closed. You need to contact the imam at the Light Pavilion Gongbei Mosque down the mountain to open the door.

The Hidden Immortal Pavilion Gongbei is also called the Upper Gongbei. In 1736 (the first year of the Qianlong reign), it became the burial site for Ma Guangzu, who came to China to preach during the Kangxi reign. According to the Republic of China era 'Songpan County Annals, Volume 8, Miscellaneous Records,' Ma Guangzu traveled through Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces before finally arriving at a cave on a slope near the Light Pavilion in Songpan to meditate. He lived on dates and chestnuts. When local Songpan dostis (friends/disciples) came to seek his guidance, he taught them to respect Allah and purify their hearts to see their true nature. Ma Guangzu was 120 years old when he returned to Allah in 1736. To honor him, the Songpan dostis built a gongbei pavilion over his thatched hut. In the early years of the Jiaqing reign, when the White Lotus Sect attacked Songzhou City, they passed by the Gongbei. They suddenly saw an old man in a green robe who was as tall as the mountain, leading soldiers in white armor to fill the valley, which scared the White Lotus Sect members away. To thank the old man for his miraculous protection, the Qing official Hong Fan personally wrote the plaque 'Protect My People' (Bao Wo Limin) and hung it on the middle door of the main hall of the Gongbei.































Yousuotun Mosque is located in Yousuotun Village, 5 kilometers north of Songpan City. It was built over two years starting in 1933, after villagers Ma Bolong and Ma Qijun donated the land. It stopped being used after 1958, was destroyed after 1966, rebuilt in 1986, and reconstructed again in 2008 into its current form.









The Hui Muslim homes in Yousuotun retain the traditional architectural style of the Sichuan-Tibet region and are well worth seeing.





























Huoshaotun Mosque is located in Huoshaotun Village by the Min River, north of Songpan City. It was first built in 1920, and it was being rebuilt when I visited. Huoshaotun Village has branded itself as a 'Ten-Mile Hui Muslim Cultural Town,' but in reality, there are very few places to eat there. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This first part of the Yangon mosque guide records visits to twenty-three mosques in and around the old city, including Indian Sunni, Indian Shia, and Yunnan Hui Muslim sites. It keeps the source's mosque sequence, community background, architecture, and historical observations.

A detailed introduction to the twenty-three mosques in Yangon, Myanmar (Part 1)

On this trip to Yangon, I visited twenty-three mosques in the old city and surrounding areas. Eighteen belong to Indian Sunni Muslims, four to Indian Shia Muslims, and one belongs to Hui Muslims from Yunnan.

I have already introduced the Shia and Hui mosques in Yangon in my articles 'The Largest Shia Mosque in Southeast Asia—Yangon' and 'Hui Mosques and Hui Food in Yangon, Myanmar.' This time, I will introduce the eighteen Indian Sunni mosques in Yangon.

Although I have visited Southeast Asia many times, countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia follow the Shafi'i school of thought. Their prayer movements and timings are different from ours, and I often felt out of place during namaz. This time, I finally reached a Hanafi region in Southeast Asia: Yangon, Myanmar. The prayer movements of the brothers (dosti) in Yangon are exactly the same as those of the Hui Muslims, so I felt very at home in the mosques every time.

There is another special feature in Yangon's mosques: almost every mosque has a shoe storage area with a brother (dosti) specifically in charge of looking after the shoes. This man has a great memory. After you finish your namaz, he will bring your shoes out and hand them to you before you even ask. He never mixes up anyone's shoes. Also, he does not accept any tips at all. In India and Egypt, I have always been charged a tip for shoe storage. That is why some brothers (dosti) in India would rather carry a bag for their shoes than use a storage service.

In the mosques of Yangon, the time between the afternoon prayer (dhuhr) and the late afternoon prayer (asr) is for studying scripture. Both adults and children sit in a circle to learn from the imam, and the atmosphere is wonderful.

Unlike in Malaysia, mosques in Yangon are not open all day and are usually locked outside of the five prayer times. This made visiting them more difficult, but alhamdulillah, I managed to visit most of the ones I wanted to see.

Indian brothers (dosti) have been settled in Yangon for 200 years. After the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826, merchants from British India began traveling to Myanmar for business. The first to arrive in Yangon were Gujarati merchants from Surat in western India. In 1826, they built the Surti Sunni Jumu'ah Mosque in Yangon. In the same year, two officers from the Konbaung Dynasty of Myanmar also built the Triangle Mosque in Yangon. These were the first two mosques in the city.

After the British occupied Yangon in 1853, brothers (dosti) from Gujarat, Bengal, and the Tamil and Andhra regions of South India arrived in Yangon one after another. Many Gujarati merchants opened companies and built mosques in Yangon. The Mamusa family alone built two. Because the British made Yangon part of the Bengal Presidency of British India, a wave of Bengali immigration to Yangon began. The Bengali community also built three mosques in Yangon. At the same time, Tamils from South India followed the Indian Ocean monsoon winds across the Bay of Bengal to Yangon and also built two mosques.

Below, I will introduce the eighteen Indian Sunni mosques in Yangon one by one.

The Sunni Jumu'ah Bengali Mosque is located next to the Sule Pagoda in the center of Yangon's old city. It was founded by Bengali brothers (dosti) in 1862. After the British occupied Yangon in 1852, they made it part of the Bengal Presidency of British India, which triggered a wave of Bengali immigration to Yangon.

The Bengali Mosque was originally a wooden structure. It was rebuilt as a brick building in 1902 and renovated into the current tiled building in 1992. Now, you can see Arabic, English, Bengali, and Burmese on the gate and the prayer schedule. Because it is in the center of Yangon's old town and due to the Rohingya issue, some Burmese nationalist groups have long wanted to tear down the Bengali Mosque.



















The Bengali Mosque (Bengali Dosti) was the second Sunni Friday mosque built in Yangon in 1932. It is located on 91st Street in the northern part of the old town, right next to the railway. The mosque looks very grand, and its minaret decorations are also quite ornate.



















The Chulia Friday Mosque is in Yangon's Indian quarter, not far west of the Bengali Mosque. It was built in 1856 by South Indian Tamil Dosti. The name Chulia comes from the Chola dynasty that once ruled the Tamils. Long ago, Tamil Dosti followed the Indian Ocean monsoon winds across the Bay of Bengal to the coasts of Southeast Asia. The Jamae Mosque in Singapore's Chinatown was built by Tamils in 1826. After the British occupied Yangon in 1852, the number of Tamils immigrating to Yangon kept growing, and the Chulia Friday Mosque was established as a result.

The Chulia Friday Mosque was originally a wooden structure. It was rebuilt as a brick building in 1869, and in 1936, it was rebuilt into its current form by the Iranian-Armenian contractor AC Martin. AC Martin built many structures in Yangon, including the General Post Office.

There is a water well inside the Chulia Friday Mosque, and whenever there is a water shortage, it provides water for the Indian quarter. In 1941, the Japanese military bombed Yangon on a large scale, and the Chulia Friday Mosque was also damaged. Later, a porch was built in 1955, and the main hall was built in 1963. Currently, the shops on the first floor of the main hall are very busy, and the second floor can host wedding banquets. When we visited, there were wedding banquets being held every morning.



















The Chulia Muslim Dargah Mosque is located opposite Bogyoke Aung San Market in the northern part of Yangon's old town. It is the second mosque built in Yangon by South Indian Tamil Dosti. It was funded by a Tamil couple born in Myanmar, Kassim Kaderlt and Daw Nyein Mae, in 1886, and renovated into its current appearance in 1995.

The original meaning of Dargah in Persian is 'portal,' which later evolved to mean a Sufi gongbei shrine. However, I did not find any gongbei or shrine inside the mosque.



















The Surti Sunni Friday Mosque is located on Mogul Street in the Indian quarter of Yangon's old town. It was first built in 1826 by Gujarati merchants from Surat in western India, but it was destroyed during the British invasion of Yangon in 1852. In the 1860s, the wealthy Gujarati company Sooratee Bara Bazaar led the reconstruction of the Surti Mosque, and it officially opened in 1871.

Many of Yangon's Gujarati Dosti came from the town of Rander near Surat. Historically, this was an important port in western India. As early as the 13th century, a large number of Arab merchants from Kufa, Iraq, lived there, and by the 16th century, the port was piled high with Sumatran spices and Chinese porcelain. After the 19th century, Gujarati merchants from Rander began to go to Yangon for business. Currently, many old houses in Rander are built of Burmese teak, and restaurants in Rander even serve a snack called Yangon paratha.



















The Muhammadiyah Madrasa in Yangon, Myanmar, is located opposite the Surti Sunni Friday Mosque. It was first built in 1855 by Gujarati merchants from the town of Rander in Surat, western India. Before 1900, the madrasa only taught religious knowledge and Urdu. In 1900, it officially introduced English education, and in 1909, it officially transformed into the comprehensive Rander High School.

Although it was founded by wealthy Gujarati Dosti merchants, the school was open to everyone. Sunnis, Shias, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists could all enroll. By 1927, all the teachers except for the principal were British. Before 1948, the school was supported by the British and taught in English. After 1948, it switched to teaching in Burmese, and after 1965, the government officially took over the school.





The Mamsa Mosque is located on 26th Street in the Indian quarter of Yangon's old town. It was built in 1923 by the Mamsa family, who were Gujarati merchants from Surat in western India. The Mamsa family gained a great deal of wealth by investing in real estate and still collects rent from more than 150 buildings today.















The Esof Ahmed Mamsa Family Mosque is in Tamwe Township, north of Yangon's old city. The Mamsa family, merchants from Gujarat, India, built it in 1937. In 1995, they renovated it to its current look using rent collected from family-owned properties.

The mosque has a tall clock tower facing the street. At the top is a clock made by the old Berlin, Germany, watchmaker C. F. Rochlitz, which still works today. If you look closely at the clock tower, you can still see bullet holes left from when the Japanese army invaded Yangon in 1942. The German company C. F. Rochlitz started in 1824 and specialized in clocks for towers. It won many international awards in the 19th century and stayed under the Rochlitz family until it was bought in 1984.



















The Narsapuri Moja Sunni Jame Mosque is in the middle of Mogul Street in Yangon's old Indian quarter, north of the Surti Mosque. Friends (dosti) from Andhra Pradesh on the southeast coast of India first built it in 1855, and it was rebuilt into its current form in the 1890s.

Unlike northern India, where the faith spread through occupation, the faith in southern India mostly grew through merchants and Sufi saints. The dosti from Andhra Pradesh speak a special Deccan Urdu. Compared to northern Urdu, it keeps more ancient words from the pre-Mughal era and adds many loanwords from local Deccan languages like Telugu and Tamil.

The mosque is named after Narsapur, a coastal city in Andhra Pradesh, India. The dosti from Andhra Pradesh in Yangon boarded ships there to come to Yangon. The Dutch used Narsapur as a port in the 17th century. By the 18th century, it became an important Indian trade port and shipbuilding center, exporting large amounts of teak to the world.















The Gulam Ariff Mosque is on Lanmadaw Road in Yangon's Chinatown. The Indian real estate developer Gulam Ariff built it in 1888. Gulam Ariff owned a famous real estate company in Yangon. This mosque has fewer people, but it provides great convenience for the dosti who live and work near Chinatown.



















The Hashim Kasim Patel Trust Mosque is on the far west side of Yangon's old city. The Kasim Patel family from Surat, India, built it in 1922, and the family still manages it today.

After the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826, merchants from British India began traveling to Myanmar for business. The Kasim Patel family moved from Mumbai, India, to Myanmar in the 1830s. They first worked in the silk trade in Mawlamyine. After the British occupied Yangon in 1853, they moved to Yangon to open shops. The family started a company named after the eldest son, Hashim Kasim Patel. They also ran the Gulam Ariff Company and the Boglay Bazzar Company. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the Kasim Patel family held a very high status among the Gujarati dosti in Yangon.



















The Chittagong Sunni Arkaty Chota Mosque is on 40th Street on the east side of Yangon's old city. Dosti from Chittagong, Bangladesh, built it. Chittagong is an ancient natural port in Bangladesh. It has been an important passage for the southern Silk Road since ancient times. Arab merchants began trading there in the 9th century, and the famous traveler Ibn Battuta and Zheng He's fleet both visited. After 1666, the Mughal Empire ruled Chittagong. During this time, Chittagong developed quickly and became a shipbuilding center. After 1823, the British occupied both Chittagong and Lower Myanmar, and the dosti from Chittagong began moving to Myanmar to make a living.













The Triangle Mosque is on Upper Pansodan Road, north of Yangon's old city. It is one of the oldest mosques in Yangon. Two officers of King Bagyidaw (who reigned from 1819 to 1837) of the Konbaung Dynasty, U Shwe Thie and U Shwe Mie, built it in 1826. This mosque was badly damaged during the Japanese invasion of Yangon in World War II, but it was later renovated.









The Mayin Gon Jame Mosque is in Sanchaung Township, north of Yangon's old city. It was first built in 1930. The spiral staircase inside the mosque was provided by Cowie Brothers, an exporter from Glasgow, Scotland. The company's founder, Charles, was once a manager at the Rangoon Oil Company and exported many goods to Myanmar from the late 19th to the early 20th century.

Mogul Street Jumu'ah Mosque (Mogul Street Jumu'ah Mosque) is located at the very busy Mogul Street intersection. Surrounded by many shopping malls, it is known as the New York Times Square of Yangon. Every Friday, many friends (dost) come to the mosque for Jumu'ah prayers. Although the mosque director has been applying to expand the mosque, it has never been approved due to the current situation.



















Musmeah Yeshua Sunni Jumu'ah Mosque (Musmeah Yeshua Sunni Jumu'ah Mosque) is located in the Tamwe Township in northern Yangon. It was founded in 1908 by the Indian businessman Musmeah Yeshua. The top of the main hall features twenty-two intricate domes and small towers, making it the most distinctive mosque in Yangon. Despite damage from two earthquakes, most of the original design of the main hall, including the stained glass windows imported from India, has been preserved to this day.

According to newspaper records from the early 20th century, Musmeah Yeshua was once a famous gang leader in Yangon. At that time, two major Indian families in Yangon, led by Musmeah and Mamusa, were long-term rivals, which led to many gang incidents. The Straits Times reported on December 21, 1923, that Musmeah Yeshua himself clashed with a rival gang called the Sultans. He was injured by a series of glass soda bottles thrown from a roof and was later forced to apply to the police for protective custody.

In every mosque in Yangon, the time between the dawn prayer (fajr) and the sunrise prayer (shuruq) is for studying the Quran. Adults and children learn the Quran sentence by sentence in the mosque, which is the best time to experience the religious atmosphere of Yangon.



















Kantaw Kalay Ywar Houng Mosque is located on Upper Pansodan Road, north of the old city of Yangon and not far north of the Triangle Mosque. Its founding date is unknown, and it was rebuilt into its current structure in 1940. This is another area in Yangon outside the Indian quarter where Indian friends (dost) live. Yunnan Hui Muslims also live here, so there is a lot of delicious food on the street, much like Shuncheng Street in Kunming or Niujie in Beijing. view all