Huaisheng Mosque
Ranked as one of the oldest mosques in China, Huaisheng Mosque, also known as the Lighthouse Mosque, was originally built over 1,300 years ago. It is not surprising since that Guangzhou was where Islam was introduced to China in the 7th Century. The earliest disseminator of Islam, Wan Gesi, built Huaisheng Mosque in the early Tang Dynasty (618-970), made it one of the four great mosques along the coastal area of Southeast China( the other three being he Crane Mosque in Yangzhou City, the Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou City, and the Phoenix Mosque in Hangzhou City). Huaisheng means 'remember the sage' in Chinese, as the mosque is established for remembering the prophet of Islam, Mohammed. Covers an area of more than 2,966 square meters (3,547 square yards), the main buildings in the mosque are the Light Tower, the Main Hall, the Wangyue Pavilion, the Stele Pavilion, the ambulatory, the water house, and the reception room, etc. The 35.75 meters high Light Tower is most prominent building in the mosque, which used to serve as a beacon for boats on the Zhujiang River. The current Main Hall rebuilt in 1935 is located at the rear part of the mosque. The carvings outside the Main Hall are of local features with dragon eye tree and phoenix eye tree on each side of it.
Even though Huaisheng Mosque still plays a leading role in Muslim life in Guanzhou nowadays, it maybe a bit hard to find for many cabs and people don't know about it. Huaisheng Mosque is located at No. 56, Guangta Road in Ximenkou, you had better write this address down and take it out when asking the way.
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