📜 About & history
Botou Mosque was founded in 1404 (the 2nd year of the Yongle reign of the Ming dynasty), then repaired during the Jiajing and Wanli reigns and enlarged in the Chongzhen era. Covering roughly 11,000–15,000 square metres with almost 200 rooms and a main prayer hall complex of three courtyards, it is regarded as the largest timber-frame mosque in North China and, for its scale, age and craftsmanship, is often called the foremost mosque of the region. It houses a rich collection including imperial and celebrity plaques, hand-copied Arabic Qur'ans dating from the Ming, a 600-metre Chinese-language scroll of the Qur'an and stone-carved Qur'anic texts. It was made a Hebei provincial protected cultural relic in 1982 and a national-level Major Historical and Cultural Site under State protection in 2001.
🕌 Prayer & visiting
The mosque holds the five daily prayers and the Friday congregational (Jumu'ah) prayer, with larger gatherings on the two Eids. It remains an active place of worship for Botou's Hui Muslim community.
📍 Address
🇨🇳 Inside China use Baidu or Amap; Google Maps needs a VPN.
🚇 How to reach the mosque
Reachable by local Botou city buses toward the old town / Qingzhen Street area; alight near Qingzhen Street and walk to the south end.
From Cangzhou, take the intercity bus or drive about 40 km southwest to Botou City, then head to the old town's Qingzhen Street. This is one of North China's most important historic mosques and welcomes Muslim visitors; halal food is easy to find in the surrounding Hui neighbourhood.
From central Botou head to the Shengli West Road and Xinhua Street junction, then go about 200 m south to the south end of Qingzhen Street; a taxi from the town centre takes only a few minutes.
A national-level protected timber-frame mosque; dress modestly and ask before photographing inside the prayer hall. If lost, show a local: 请带我去泊头清真寺