Xiguan Mosque, Islamic place of worship in downtown Lanzhou, China.
Xiguan Mosque is a four-story place of worship in downtown Lanzhou, built around a circular main hall that rests on twenty arches at ground level. The upper floors are reserved for prayer, while the lower levels house washing facilities and secondary rooms.
The mosque was founded during the Ming Dynasty and substantially rebuilt in 1684. Further work carried out in the early 1700s gave the building much of the form it has today.
The prayer hall displays Chinese wood carvings on its pillars alongside Arabic calligraphy on the walls. Walking through the space, visitors can read the two design languages side by side in a single room.
Weekdays tend to be quieter and allow for a more relaxed visit, as the building is in active use for prayer throughout the week. Non-Muslim visitors are generally welcome outside prayer times, and modest dress is expected.
The building combines traditional Chinese roof shapes with Islamic arched colonnades, a pairing that was unusual in northwest China at the time it was built. This came about because local craftsmen were trained in both building traditions and applied them together on the same site.
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