Dongguan Mosque

Dongguan Mosque is one of the larger mosques in Qinghai Province and a very popular destination in Xining. The mosque was first built during the Ming Dynasty, and its current layout was largely established during a major renovation and expansion around 1913. Since then, it has undergone multiple repairs, and today it is a spacious courtyard enclosed by a gatehouse, side buildings, and a central prayer hall. The entire complex is based on the style of classical Chinese palaces: the prayer hall is a brick-and-wood structure with blue brick walls, a roof covered in colorful glazed tiles, and Tibetan-style gilded vases standing on the roof ridge. The fusion of Han-style architecture, Tibetan-style decorations, and Islamic prayer functions is quite rare among similar mosques.