Phoenix Mosque

The Phoenix Mosque is one of the four great mosques along the coastal area of China. It is also called Zhenjiao Mosque. It is located at Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is a mosque established in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and was ruined in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In 1281, A Laoding, a famous Islamite during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), began to reconstruct the mosque. It was repaired and expanded during the period from 1451 to 1493 in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and finally the complex of the Phoenix Mosque was formed. In 1646, the Qing government ordered to rebuild the mosque, making it one of the largest mosques. In 1929, the gate and the five-storeyed wooden Wangyue Pavilion (a place to view the moon) on the top of the gate were removed because of the city construction, seriously damaging the overall image of the mosque. Later the mosque underwent several reconstructions.

At present, the Phoenix Mosque covers an area of about 2,600 square meters, and consists of the entrance hall, the auditorium and the worship hall, etc. The worship hall was built without any girder during the Yuan Dynasty. Many cultural relics and artworks, including some wooden lections and steles, are preserved in the mosque.