Chengdu’s Huangcheng Mosque

Tucked away of the large Tianfu Square in central Chengdu, complete with Mao statue and grandiose Stalinist wedding cake architecture and, now, a Cartier store and a Starbucks, is the Huangcheng Mosque on the narrow Xiaohe Street. Established in the 16^th century it has been added to and repaired over the centuries and was rebuilt after warlord clashes trashed it in 1917.  It is the largest mosque in Sichuan Province (and the headquarters of the Islamic Association of Sichuan) and, on the day I visited, appeared well attended and busy with Muslim street food vendors outside and a couple of busy Muslim restaurants along the street. The more recently added frontage rather obscures the classical architecture of the mosque but you can see the roofs peaking out in the photos below. Couldn’t find anywhere I could high enough up to capture the mosque properly.

The mosque consists of an entrance wall, two gates, an ambulatory, a bathroom, a sutra library and a worship hall. A tablet with the name of the mosque on it is hung on the first gate, and a tablet with four Chinese characters Kai Tian Gu Jiao (the most ancient religion) on it hangs on the second gate, and dates to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).