Huaxi Mosque

Huaxi Mosque

Huaxi Mosque is a cultural tourism attraction.

Originally named Yaoshuilon Mosque and also known as Xiaoshadu Mosque, it is commonly referred to as the Old Mosque. Its original location was at Lane 80, Lane 1501, Xikang Road (Yaoshuilon), and it was relocated to No. 3, Lane 1328, Changde Road in April 1992.

Around the third year of the Republic of China (1914), impoverished Muslim laborers from Hubei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, and other regions who had come to Shanghai for work congregated in the Xiaoshadu area (now Xikang Road). Due to the need for religious activities, Muslims from Hubei rented a small room in Yaoshuilon as a temporary place for prayer. Around the tenth year of the Republic of China (1921), Jin Zhian, Ma Yitang, Jiang Xingjie, along with the Shanghai Mosque board of directors, planned to raise 2,000 yuan to support the mosque. They leased 0.8 acres of land in Yaoshuilon for ten years and built the mosque. Construction was completed in July of the eleventh year of the Republic of China (1922), resulting in three main prayer halls, three reception rooms, and one wing room. In the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (1935), the mosque underwent renovations, with the main prayer hall accommodating 200 worshippers at once and the courtyard planted with flowers and plants. In the thirty-sixth year of the Republic of China (1947), Imam Ma Renbin initiated fundraising for further construction and purchased the ownership of the originally leased land.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the mosque underwent multiple renovations. Following the end of the Cultural Revolution, religious activities resumed in 1979. In 1990, the Putuo District government decided to rebuild the mosque on a 2.5-acre plot in Changde Road as part of the redevelopment of the old Yaoshuilon area. Construction began on July 4, 1990, and was completed in April 1992. The newly built Huaxi Mosque covers a construction area of N% square meters. It features a main structure with a double-heart archway and a two-story prayer hall topped with a fan-shaped dome, connected by two auxiliary corridor buildings, and a 25-meter-high minaret. The prayer hall has two levels, along with separate men’s and women’s washrooms, a lecture hall, an imam’s office, and a guest reception room. Each side of the front courtyard has a colorful fountain, while the courtyard roof is adorned with six arched domes, three of which are fitted with crescent moon symbols.

This is the first mosque rebuilt in Shanghai after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. During the reconstruction process, the Putuo District government, the Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission, the Shanghai Islamic Association, various relevant departments, as well as Muslims from both home and abroad, showed great concern and provided substantial financial support, raising a total of approximately 2.4 million yuan. Among this, the Putuo District People's Government contributed 1.6 million yuan, and the Shanghai Islamic Association provided over 700,000 yuan.