The Great Mosque of Xi’an
A couple of weekends ago my friends and I visited the Great Mosque nestled in the Muslim Quarter of Xi’an. The Muslim Quarter is worth writing about in its own right, but I’ll save that until I have more time to properly explore the area.
Stepping off the streets and entering the mosque is like transferring into a different world. The Muslim Quarter is usually very crowded and, because of limited space, many of the businesses are tightly squeezed together which creates significant pedestrian congestion. However, the hustle and bustle of the surrounding shops and eateries does not penetrate the walls of the sanctum. It is a very strange effect that gives an overwhelming sense of serenity and peace. I suppose it is only fitting for a holy place such as this. At only 15 RMB (maybe 20 RMB? I don’t really remember) a person, I highly recommend visiting this site if you ever find yourself in Xi’an. A definite must go if you come here.
That’s me! Standing in front of the first “gate” near the entrance. The mosque is designed as a series of four courtyards separated by gates-similar to this one, albeit smaller-leading up to the prayer hall.
This is looking into the next courtyard from the entrance. All the way at the end is the prayer hall. Each courtyard is cordoned off by different gates and each one has a different layout. This gave me the impression of passing through different rooms of a temple or a museum on my way to the destination at the end.
All of the stone work and wood carvings are incredibly intricate. I have no idea what this is supposed to be (an incredibly over-sized flower pot?) but I just love the design. The intricate work of the scales must have been done by a true master of his craft. On the right is that the sun or a fireball the dragon expelled? I like to imagine it’s the latter; much cooler that way.
The prayer hall. Unfortunately non-Muslims are not allowed to go in as it is an active place of worship. Nonetheless the outside is quite impressive, don’t you think? I apologize for the white out in the upper left, the sun was right behind the hall so there was not much I could do about it at the time.
A close up of one of the ancient stone tablets. If you look closely, you can see Chinese characters on the left and Arabic characters on the right. It is a very early translation of some Muslim texts that has survived for centuries. Just an FYI, the tablet is actually a dull gray color-I played with the levels so that the characters are easier to read.
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