The Niujie Mosque is the oldest mosque in Beijing, China. It was first built in 996 and was reconstructed as well as enlarged under the Qing Emperor Kangxi (r. 1661-1722).
The Mosque is located in Beijing’s Xuanwu District, the spiritual centre for the 10,000 Muslims living in the vicinity and it is the biggest and oldest one in Beijing. Niujie in Xuanwu District, where the mosque is located, is the largest area inhabited by Muslims in Beijing.
The Niujie Mosque covers an area of approximately 6000 square meters. The mosque reflects a mixture of Islamic and Han Chinese cultural and architectural influences. From the outside, its architecture shows traditional Chinese influence while the inside has mostly Islamic decorations. The mosque, built out of timber, is home to some important cultural relics and tablets such as the upright tablet of an emperor’s decree proclaimed in 1694 during the Qing Dynasty.