Beijing Niujie Mosque

Niujie Mosque is located in the Ox Street of Guanganmen in Beijing. It is the largest and oldest mosque. Niujie Mosque was established in 966, and restored twice respectively in 995 and 1442. In 1696, Emperor Kangxi restored it, conforming to the original scale. The main buildings include Chapel Hall, Banggelou, Wangyuelou, and Stele Pavilion.

Chapel Hall is the major building in the mosque. It has three-layer roofs. There is a vertical half-arch wall. It is the special decoration of the roof. There is also a six-angle pavilion-style building in the font of the mosque. The habitacle of hall features the Arabian language and delicate flowery carving. Banggelou is in the frontage of Chapel Hall. It is a double-brim and square pavilion-style building. This building was used for revealing time to the followers, so it is also called Awakening Building. Stele Pavilions are located on two sides of the platform of Chapel Hall. They are symmetrized. The steles were built in 1496. The inscriptures are written in Chinese and Arabian language.

Apart from the buildings inside the mosque, the important cultural relics also include an iron incense burner with the height of 2.70 meters, a copper incense burner with the weight of 900 kilograms and a stele used for recording the event of restoring the Chapel Hall. The architectural style of the Chapel Hall is characterized with Chinese traditional wooden building-structure. The detailed decoration of the main buildings has the features of Arabian decoration.