Friday, December 14, 2012

The Great Mosque of Xi'an

On the freezing late afternoon, we walked into the famous Great Mosque of Xi'an at last. We were very stunned and speechless to see its very ancient Chinese architecture instead. It does not have any domes or minarets at all. The whole walled complex of 13,000 sq meters was so well preserved, neat and beautifully landscaped with so many artistic arches and 4 big landscaped courtyards. I took over 100 exciting photos here but will only post some 20+ nice shots.



The mosque was built in the year 742 A.D.during the Tang Dynasty and it was restored over the years with many ancient furnitures and buildings being added on from the period of Ming until Qing Dynasties.




  It is simply awesome to admire them when cold teperature always made Anay's mood very HAPPY.





 They were so many layers of arches and doors to explore........





......... and so many interesting corners to camwhore!




I simply loved this corner as the buildings were so greyish and tranquil looking!



 
 Anay surely had to pose there and do his signature "golek kaki" a bit. Tell me nice or not?



It was lovely to walk around and Winter is definitely the best time to visit Xi'an as thousands of tourists would normally jostle here everyday in Spring, Summer and Falls.




 The grounds were spotlessly clean and well swept. We loved it.






 We spent over 2 hours relaxing on the benches like new courting couples in love.





 There are different arches to pass through before you enter another courtyard.



 Even their washing area before prayers has the majestic and grandeur looking entrance!




 I saw an old bicycle!! ........Anay was going to fetch Letchumy to ronda-ronda!




 Letchumy waited lovingly for Anay to come on his old bicycle.




Poor Letchumy had to carry so many heavy bags of souvenirs!!! Anay bought so much dried fruits for Lina, Ah Hua and the rest of the Hamsap bloggers & relatives!



.....Every door leads you to a new environment.....
"May each new day leads you to a new happy beginnings"



 Letchumy mumbled that she wants to climb the 99 peaks Jianghuai Mountains in Anhui next year!! Poor anay's legssss!



 An ancient well.







 Here is where they kept the big drum to call for daily prayers.




The Chinese Muslims are mostly the Hui Clans and they are friendly & very polite. This grandfather was surprised that Letchumy could speak fluent Beijing's Mandarin but she is from Maaaalaaaaaiiiissiiiaaaaa! (Long ago Letchumy was doing the voice over to speak & report from Malaysia during the News Hour at Astro-Phoenix Channel) So she pandai to croak out her Beijing Putonghua.


This kind man offered to show us around to view some ancient stone tablets which were displayed in the museums. The Great Mosque is over 1,250 years old and has received more than 10 million visitors since it opened it doors to the public in 1978.




There is a lovely mosaic art piece of the Mecca and they were made from tiny pieces of jade pieces in its natural colours!



It was very warm to see all the Muslim brothers chatting away happily in every available corner prior to their prayers.



This is the final arch and you will enter the main building of the big prayer hall. No photos were allowed inside and I had to stay outside as a respect too.





 All the Muslim brothers hurriedly walked into the hall on time for the call of prayers.




 At that moment the Azan filled the air, naturally I suddenly thought of our friend Blogger Lina, therefore I told myself that I had to dedicate this interesting post to her with the hope that she could bring her family there someday in Winter too!










60 comments:

  1. Thank you Anay for this post! :)

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    Replies
    1. Lina, i really think this is a good suggestion from Anay for you to visit Xi'an..

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    2. Lina may never visit Xi'an since her hubby prefers elsewhere. Never mind, browse photos here good enough. Thambee Ah Boy should go then.

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  2. this is indeed a very special mosque!! they don't have the typical dome but indeed very chinese influenced architecture.. someone would most probably thought that's just some palace or temple..

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    Replies
    1. perhaps we have already stereotyped how a mosque should look like?? those moorish architecture which is a must for mosque..

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    2. You should visit the Muzium Warisan Islam near Masjid Negara. They have exhibitions of the many, many mosques if different styles all around the world.

      By the way, Masjid Negara is not "dome" ish. ;p

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    3. If not anay telling is mosque, I thought it is Chinese Temple.

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    4. I was in awe looking at the first mosque which doesn't look like a typical mosque!!

      Sorry for the suaku-ness, Ah Hua grew up in Malaysia, cuti-cuti in Malaysia and thus only is exposed to the "normal" looking mosque in Malaysia :p

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    5. There is not-normal looking mosque in Melaka, you know. :)

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    6. Lina, you must capture all the different mosque designs and post them in your blog :D

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    7. I was stunned for minutes as I was expecting some dooms and minarets. I learnt that our Gods and prayers are in our hearts. The places of worship can be any form anywhere.

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    8. Anay,

      Prayers can be done anywhere.

      When overseas, sometimes you can see Muslims praying at parking lots or even parks. Prayers are compulsory but it can be done anywhere... even while sitting in the plane. There are provisions for that.

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    9. Lina...the other day i went pasar malam and there is a man standing ON the bus stop bench .

      at first i those he homeless or something....but he wore good clothing...

      then he bend down and also touch his ear..then keel down...i baru tau he tengah praying.

      True what u said...prayeing can be done anywhere as long as the heart is there

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  3. very nice and stunning mosque, and built in 742AD meaning it is already 1270 years old!! wow, this is really an antique and a heritage.. Anay should take more "golek kaki" photos there, 100+ is just so little lah..

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    Replies
    1. Yeah pandai cakap yo! If I post 100+ photos Thambee Ah Boy would scream!

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    2. ya wor....even my post with about 20 photos SK already jumping up and down having to scroll

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  4. anyone has idea what is written on that board on the door in the very last photo?? looks like some jawi or arabic characters made into artistic writings..

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  5. why wasn't Anay carrying those souvenirs and make Letchumy carrying them?? must be Anay bullying Letchumy lah.. so poor thing!! the dried fruits are really nice, but Anay only gave me one box, hehehe!! just kidding lah~~

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    Replies
    1. The dried fruits are so nice... but only I like them. Hahaha

      Better as no need to share with hubby and son.

      Thank you again, Anay! :)

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    2. My dried fruit is red date one. I like too. Red date is always a nutrient for women like me. I walloped the whole box myself while watching Wreck It Ralph.

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    3. Oh, I have 8 boxes of the dried fruits! I have to fight with my dad for it and when I wasn't looking he finished 2 boxes of it, uwahhhh!!

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    4. Anay bullied Letchumi of course! She is good girl to sit and wait for me to snap photos for you to see. Next trip to Silk Road will see more dried fruits to try.

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    5. next trip silk road import a lorry/camel full of dry fruit here la

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  6. i have been fascinated by the trees with yellow leaves, in the 2nd last photo.. the previous post you also have a photo with these yellow trees.. i so like the color, so vibrant and so royal..

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    Replies
    1. The yellow trees everywhere grabbed my attention too. They must be leftover Autumn trees!

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  7. Love the calligraphy in the final pic

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    Replies
    1. I love them too. The folks there wrote them like art pieces.

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  8. Honestly if you had not let the small kucing out of the bag with the word 'mosque' and let all of us make a guess mostly likely all our answer would be either a temple or a palace.

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    Replies
    1. It looks temple-ish to me :)

      Their architecture is majestic!!

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    2. Yeah I should have kept it a mystery and reveal the 'Mosque' in last photos.

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  9. Whoa love all your pixz with such lovely and intricate architecture, simple amazing and awesome.

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    Replies
    1. Yes they were really amazing and awesome. I hope to visit more exciting places in future.

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  10. Any specific reason why we cannot take photos inside the prayer hall? Can you go in then? If yes then would love to hear your experience how is it like inside the prayer hall? Bananaz would love to have a feel of the vibration inside there if given a chance just like what i felt in one of the mosque in Egypt, it was phenomenon.

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    Replies
    1. Same here in Malaysia Bananaz.

      It's out of respect, put simply.

      Non-muslims aren't allowed in the prayer hall but can visit other places. It's after all, a place where one prays and be totally one with God. Don't want tourists interrupting your solemn prayer. ;)

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    2. Wow! Bananaz went to Eqypt! How nice! I must go there to feel its vibrations too.

      Lina has explained, we have to respect their places of worship. If too many visitors walked inside, they might dirty the floor.

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    3. Not even on normal days and not during Friday prayers? In Egypt seems we are allowed to take pixz as it was not a Friday maybe. Its compulsory we have to take off our shoes while inside the mosque. Go to Egypt its very nice, we went inside the the core in one of the tomb of the King. Need to crawl in & out through a narrow tunnel.

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    4. Bananaz,
      you can enter the mosque but the prayer hall (main one) is usually off-limits near/during prayer time.

      You don't want to be disturbing those who wants to pray with tourists.

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    5. BTW, we don't only pray on Friday yer...

      we pray 5 times a day so there are 5 off limits time daily.

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  11. the calligraphy on the last picture is bismillahirrahmanirrahim.managed to at last read it after 2-3 minutes of stare!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much Ash Godiva. I was curious too like them.

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  12. Your posts about Xian coincide with Travel Channel's airing about the place, these past few days. I am more interested of Xian after reading your posts and learnt more watching TV!

    Thank you!

    But dunno whether Zaini wants to go there or not. He's written China off our travel itinerary years ago.... ;p

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    Replies
    1. There are too many countries and places to visit until I myself pening. So we just have to decide our priority and interests.

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  13. Letchumi looks good in all the pictures here. Amazing at her fluent Beijing Mandarin. Anay, people may think you married a China doll.
    Just kidding.

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    1. Annay pandai pose with his golek kaki signature look and also pandai bully Letchumi. She was left with heavy souvenir and annay merely ding dong-ed around the area.

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    2. Anay needs to save his energy for extra strenous work when balik to hotel room mah!

      Hahaha

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    3. Thank you Yannie. I like to dress up my Letchumi like my doll. I chose her dressing from head to toe that day.

      I think when a person is too tall, he tend to senget and golek like me. Must be the gravity pull. LOL

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  14. Annay's bicycle pose reminds me of Leon Lai - which his wax figurine is featured in Hong Kong Madama Tussauds.

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    Replies
    1. Ah Hua so clever dei. Now I remembered I took a photo sitting on Leon Lai's bicycle too!

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  15. What does "golek kaki" mean? Cool and sexy? ;)

    Fascinating to see this subdued temple. Very different from the very red, very gold, very ornate temples that I tend to associate with China.

    Those yellow trees in that one photo ... ginkgos?

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    Replies
    1. Goyang kaki, I know.

      Golek kaki - sounds new to me. ;p

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    2. I often hear those Peranakan BM used in Penang and Melaka which meant like moving in motions. Heard of Wayang Golek? No?

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  16. I was on a halal trip to Beijing in 2006 with my malay colleagues and friends and we visited the mosque too..

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  17. How interesting to travel on a Halal Trip! I think there are several old mosques in China that are very interesting and worth visiting.

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  18. It doesn't looks like a mosque at all!

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  19. this is my first time of seeing such a mosque without domes and minarets. i think many people like me might have mistaken it as a temple due to the influenced by Chinese architecture.

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  20. Anay!

    Sudah 6 days already!

    Update your blog and put more trip reports! ;)

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  21. wei...why anay no carry those heavy plastic leh...kesian Letchumi la

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  22. am surprised the mosque is being kept so well. Thought many of it have been destroy during or or another of those cultural revolutions

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  23. bukan kena potong sebelum masuk mosque? :P

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