Dongguan Great Mosque
东关清真大寺
One of the Four Great Mosques of Northwest China and the heart of Xining's Hui community. On Friday prayer days, tens of thousands of Muslims pray in the square, a truly striking sight.
Dongguan Great Mosque is on Dongguan Street in Xining's Chengdong District. It was founded during the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty (around 1380) and is the largest and oldest mosque in Qinghai Province. Together with the Huajue Lane Mosque in Xi'an, the Qiaomen Street Mosque in Lanzhou and the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, it is counted among the Four Great Mosques of Northwest China. The existing buildings were rebuilt in the early 20th century. The main prayer hall blends traditional Chinese palace architecture with Islamic style and can hold several thousand people. In front of the mosque, two minarets and a white marble gateway stand in the square.
The most famous scene is the Friday noon congregational prayer, when tens of thousands of Muslims gather in the mosque grounds and on Dongguan Street to pray together, a sight rarely matched anywhere in China. The Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha festivals draw enormous crowds as well. Non-Muslim visitors can enter the courtyards and the outer areas of the main hall free of charge outside prayer times, and some periods offer guided explanations. Dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered, and women are advised to bring a headscarf. Do not enter during prayers, do not walk in front of worshippers, and do not photograph them.
The surrounding Dongguan Street is a Hui neighborhood with dense halal food stalls. Try hand-grabbed mutton, beef noodles, niangpi (cold rice-skin noodles) and tianpei, a sweet fermented glutinous rice dessert. A taxi from the city center takes about 10 minutes, and many bus lines serve the area. Allow 30 to 45 minutes for your visit.
Opening hours
Approx. 8:00 am–6:00 pm; closed to visitors during prayer times (especially Friday 12:30–2:30 pm)
Nearby sights
- Mojia Street & Shuijing Lane
- Ma Bufang Mansion
- Beichan Temple (Tulou Taoist Temple)
- Nanchan Temple, Xining
- Nanshan Park & Puning Pearl Tower
- Qinghai Provincial Museum
- Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wild Zoo
- China Tibetan Medicine Culture Museum