Photographer Jordan Thomas Mitchell explores Beijing’s Muslim area

This month is Ramadan. In honor, I went to check out Niujie Mosque—Beijing’s oldest and largest. It sits just at the North end of Xuanwu District, which starts around the South Western part of Line 2. Xuanwu has the largest Muslim concentration in Beijing and the mosque is the spiritual center for about 10,000 people. Luckily, before making the journey down there, I read online that wearing long pants and covering the shoulders is mandatory—as I was about to set off in the Beijing heat with shorts and a tank top.

I got off of Line 2 at Changchun Station. From there I took a cab to Niujie. It’s about 1km away, so it’s definitely possible to walk. Niujie, Ox-Street in English, is a large and very average looking street for Beijing. Other than the men in skullcaps and women in hijabs, there’s nothing to distinguish the area as particularly Muslim. I got to the gate of the Mosque and an old man greeted me, invited me into his little air-conditioned room to purchase the ten kuai ticket, handed me a map of the grounds and sent me on my way.

The campus covers approximately 6,000 sqm and looks to be a Ming era temple. It uses that familiar traditional Chinese architecture with the standard red, blue, and green. From the outside, the only noticeable difference is the Arabic inscribed on the buildings instead of Chinese characters. As I walked around the Mosque, I was greeted by many with the traditional, “As-salaam Alaikum.” Which is a common greeting in Arabic meaning, “May the peace of Allah be with you.” For a steamy Tuesday afternoon, the place was lively—not with tourists, but with worshipers.

The prayer hall is a huge open room with rows of carpet for kneeling. I took my shoes off and entered. The hall is an extremely peaceful place with a certain silence to it that is more than just a quiet room. The noise of the construction and traffic from outside seemed to disappear. I decided to try my hand at praying. I went over to one of the prayer rugs, knelt down, and said the only prayers I know. I stood up slowly, feeling thankful.

Coming out of the prayer hall, I found a grove of pomegranate trees lining the outside of the hall. They were already starting to ripen. Continuing around I came to a minaret, the tower that the Imams use to call believers to prayer, that looked far more Chinese than Arabic. Similar in style to the minaret is the astrological observation tower for observing the moon and determining the dates for fasting. The grounds also contain the tombs of former Imams. As I wandered the rest of the Mosque I found a gift shop where you can buy Islamic themed trinkets—which doesn’t seem very tasteful.

The whole complex can be explored in 30 minutes, even with a stop for prayer—if you’re into that kind of thing. I exited and started walking up Niujie to see what else it has to offer. There is a small, but lush, park just north of the Mosque walls. It would be a nice place to picnic. Passing by there I found vendors selling naan bread, sweets, and nuts. Unfortunately for me, when I was walking about at around 3 pm, most of the restaurants were closed. I checked with five different Muslim restaurants in the area and each of them told me to come back later. It seems they are either serious about their fasting, or their nap time.

One block West, there’s a large hutong that runs parallel to Niujie called Jiaozi Hutong. If you’re into hutong exploring—especially the gritty, un-restored kind—you’ll probably like this area. Here begins a maze of dirty alleys that is nearly uninterrupted until you hit The Temple of Heaven Park, 2 km further west. To the south, there is a huge Muslim school, but it looked closed when I passed it. If you’re interested in spending the day in the area, I would recommend scheduling in some time at Temple of Heaven or one of the other parks in the area such as Xuanwu Park or Wanshou park. As lovely as Niujie mosque is, itself and its street will not be enough to entertain for very long.

Niujie is a must see for Muslims, lovers of history, the spiritual wayfarer, and the cultural anthropologist. There’s tons of good Muslim food in the area, but that’s not exclusive to Niujie. It seems rare to experience religion first hand in Beijing, but the Niujie Mosque is a place that is both real and welcoming to visitors. I enjoyed myself and even thought it was worth wearing jeans in the 30 degree heat to visit.