I’m always intrigued at how extensive the spread of Turkish culture is, especially throughout Asia. Today I stumbled upon these photos of a Turkish mosque in Harbin, in the Heilongjiang province of China.
The thing that surprised me a little is that this mosque doesn’t look anything like what I would expect a “Turkish” mosque to look like. The design is very different. It’s beautiful, though.
The sign in front of the mosque reveals a couple of interesting tidbits:
Ah. “The designer was Y.P. Ridanov.” So I wonder in what sense it’s Turkish— just that local Turks worshipped there? I’d be curious to hear more about this mosque, or any similar Turkish mosques in China, if anyone knows anything about them.
Many thanks to felibrilu for the great photos.
I never heard Turks lived in Harbin. The Mosque must be under the maintenance of local Huis there…
I never heard Turks lived in Harbin. The Mosque must be under the maintenance of local Huis there…
I visited another mosque in Harbin, maintained by Hui and local Turkic Uigur Muslims. That one had a more Russian-looking motif, blue and white, with lacework and wall medallions that were reminiscent of the architecture of St. Peterburg to my mind. It was constructed in the late 1800s. Oh and there are loads of Uighur restaurants in Harbin, so Turkic influence is deeply embedded there, as in many other far-flung Chinese cities.
Wow! That really makes me want to visit and see it for myself. Thank you for your comment!
I visited another mosque in Harbin, maintained by Hui and local Turkic Uigur Muslims. That one had a more Russian-looking motif, blue and white, with lacework and wall medallions that were reminiscent of the architecture of St. Peterburg to my mind. It was constructed in the late 1800s. Oh and there are loads of Uighur restaurants in Harbin, so Turkic influence is deeply embedded there, as in many other far-flung Chinese cities.
Wow! That really makes me want to visit and see it for myself. Thank you for your comment!
This mosque was built by local Tartars and other turkic peoples and maintained by them. You can find story about the history of this mosque in special web site but in Russian.