NIUJI MOSQUE

Located in southwest Beijing, south of Guang'An Mennei Dajie, along Niu Jie (Beef Street), a neighbourhood where more than 10 000 Muslims lived.

Established in the 996 th century (1442) under the Song, the mosque was then rebuilt under the Ming in, when it was elevated to the rank of the four official temples in Beijing, then enlarged during the Qing and finally restored twice during the Cultural Revolution. It covers a surface area of 5 800 m ². The mix of Chinese styles (toitures roofs and vives in bright colours) and middle east is striking in this architecture with an observation tower (wang yue lou), a very Chinese-style roundabout, where observations and statements needed to establish the Muslim calendar. The main door is reserved for the large ceremonies, the entrance is usually done by a small side door that ends in an inner courtyard where you will be greeted in summer by beautiful pink laurels. At the center of the courtyard is a tower serving as minaret looking towards Mecca according to the rule of Islam.

On both sides of the tower, there were two pavilions with inscriptions in Arabic and Chinese, but became illegible by the wear of time. Then we arrive in the large prayer room with five naves. Notice the ceilings, sometimes with caissons, sometimes with apparent frames. The central hall, dating from the Ming river, draws a special eye to its vaults and pillars with Arabic-style gold inscriptions. Once the mosque of Niujie had a publishing activity, which is why in the Imam's library, alongside manuscripts of the Koran, we find old wooden timber. Just next, in a smaller courtyard, two tombstones in the wall are found, these are the graves of two imams who came to China in the th century as missionaries of Islam.