Nanguan Mosque
Nanguan Mosque is one of the largest mosques in Arabic style in Ningxia, It first built outside Nanguan (sou gate) of Yinchuan at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Destroyed in the 1960s, it was rebuilt in 1981.
The mosque covers an area of about 10,000 sq. m. Its main hall is 26 m tall, facing the east. It has a large green dome in the center, measuring nine meters in diameter; and four small green domes on the four corners, measuring three meters in diameter, each topped by a sword-hilt-like object, known in Chinese as the “treasure bottle” with a crescent atop. The major hall can accommodate 1,300 people. The big dome has 24 skylights. There are also 19 palace lanterns hanging on the roof. On the walls are magnolia-shaped lamps.
On the first floor of the main hall are bathrooms, minor worship halls, women’s worship halls, the Imam’s dormitory, and reception rooms, all linked by winding corridors. In the center is a fountain measuring 15 m in diameter, surrounded by wooden rails. On both sides of the main hall are two minarets, each 30 m tall.
In recent years, heads of government, envoys and friends from over 90 countries and regions worldwide have visited the mosque.
