Kashgar

Id Kah Mosque

The big yellow-tiled Id Kah mosque is one of the largest in China, with a courtyard and gardens that can hold 20,000 people during the annual Qurban Baiyram celebrations.  Located in the center of the city, this grand Islamic structure is a stark contrast to the many Chinese-style mosques in Xi'an. This yellow-and-white structure has a central dome and flanking minarets, which usually associated with mosques in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Shakesimirzha, a ruler of Kashgar, had the mosque built here first in 1442 and it was extended to its present shape through several renovation works. The largest in China, it attracts as many as 10,000 worshippers at prayers on Friday afternoon. The different buildings consist of Hall of Prayer, Doctrine-Teaching Hall, a gate tower, a pond and some auxiliary rooms.

The gate is the most eye-catching one. On top of the gate stand a tower where the imam would call out loudly at dawn to wake up the Muslims and summon them to attend service. In the tree-graced courtyard, there is a pond, and on its bank many pottery pots are placed, which are to be used by the Islam believers to clean their bodies. The main hall was built of timber framework with a decorative wooden ceiling.

Exquisite wooden carvings and colored paintings reveal the essence of craftsmanship. The hall is supported by 140 carved wooden pillars. A stepped throne is enshrined into the central wall. During service, the First Maola leads the prayer in the shrine. And on Fridays or Corban, the First Maola conducts "Wa'z", standing on the steps of the throne. After entering the main hall, the followers would seat themselves facing west both inside and out, in proper lines.

The mosque, 140 meters long from south to north and 120 meters from east to west, covers an area of 16,800 square meters and consists of the Hall of Prayer, the Doctrine-Teaching Hall, the gate tower, a pond and some other auxiliary structures. The gate of the mosque, built of yellow bricks with the joints of the brickwork pointed with gypsum, has distinct lines. On both sides of the gate are eighteen-meter high round brick columns half embedded in the wall. On top of the columns stands a tower where the imam would call out loudly at dawn every day to wake up the Muslims and summon them to attend service in the mosque. The mosque is one of the liveliest places to be during the Korban festivities.

Yusup Has Hajip Tomb

The Yusuf Has Hajip Tomb is located on the campus of the Kashi Number 12 primary school，it is beside to Kashgar palaestra. Yusuf Has Hajip, a Uighur poet, scholar and thinker, was born in Husiwurdui (Balashagun) in Karakhanid Dynasty, and later immigrated to Kashgar. He wrote the long narrative philosophic poem Kuladku Bilig (The Knowledge of Happiness). After he died, he was buried in Badige, outside the city of Kashgar. His tomb was moved to its present site when it was threatened by the flooding of the Toman River; also it is easy for the local people reminiscence for him.

Old Town

Sprawing all around the Id Kah Mosque are roads full of Uyghur style buildings and narrow passages lined with adobe houses that seem trapped in a time warp. All kinds of handicrafts made you can find around , the professions are coppersmiths, blacksmiths, carpenters, jewelers and cobblers, also you can find a street of hand made embroidered cap and wool made carpets, all kinds of local foods, fruits etc.

At the east end of Seman Lu stands a 10m-high section of the old town walls, at least 500 years old. Another rank of them are visible from Yunmulakexia Lu opposite the vegetable market.

When you Walking through the narrow lanes of this old town ,many kids will say; hello，hello to you, it will be evokes a scene from the Arabian Nights. Kashgar has remained sheltered from outside influences with locals who are very friendly and welcome.

Abakh Hoja Tomb

The Abakh Hoja Tomb located 5 km north--east of Kashgar，it is an important cultural unit protected by the Kashgar government. As a tomb of the descendants of an Islamic missionary, it was built around 1640 .The legend has it that 72 persons in all of 5 generations of the same family were buried in the tomb. The first generation buried here was Yusuf Hoja, After he died, his eldest son Abakh Hoja carried on the missionary work and became the leader of the famous Islamic sect of white mountaineer during the seventeenth century which seized the power of the Yarkant for a time. Apak Hoja died in 1693 and was buried in the tomb. His reputation was greater than his father's, so the tomb was renamed "The Abakh Hoja Tomb." The legend goes that among the Hoja descendans buried here, one of lady who was one of the concubines of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong. She was called Xiangfei in Chinese name (fragrant Imperial Concubine) because of the rich delicate fragrance of flower sent forth by her body. After she died, her remains was escorted back to Kashgar and was buried in the Abakh Hoja Tomb. So, the Chinese people call the tomb--- Xiangfei Tomb. But according to textual research, Xiangfei was not other than Rongfei, a concubine of Emperor Qianlong, and she was actually buried in the East Tombs of the Qing Dynasty in Hubei Province after she died. So now from the legend, there are two Xiangfei Tombs in China.