The Eight Courtyards and Thirteen Alleys

　　In ancient times, Linxia was known as Hezhou, and Hezhou was particularly famous for the "Eight Courtyards." As a result, both "Eight Courtyards" and "Hezhou" became alternative names for Linxia. As early as the Tang Dynasty, merchants and religious figures from the Abbasid Caliphate (present-day Saudi Arabia), Persia, and other countries traveled to the area around the Eight Courtyards for trade, missionary work, and settlement. They gradually built eight Islamic mosques and their associated religious quarters, forming a Muslim enclave characterized by living around the mosques and conducting business within the courtyards. Hence, it came to be known as the "Eight Courtyards," which carries the meanings of both "religious quarter" and "foreign enclave."