📜 About & history
The Chengnei (Inner City) Mosque is Ankang's oldest and largest congregation, tracing to the early Ming when Saiyide settled from Nanjing in 1379 as the first imam; historically it was known as the Yan Quarter mosque. In 1923, after the imam Ma Yudao returned from Hajj, the community built a 36 m, five-storey, six-sided domed minaret (bangke lou) modelled on Mecca. The tower was destroyed in the catastrophic July 1983 flood and later rebuilt on the original site.
🕌 Prayer & visiting
Five daily prayers and Friday Jumu'ah, with the largest congregation in Ankang. Chinese-language khutbah; imam speaks Mandarin and Arabic religious terms. Ablution facilities on site.
📍 Address
🇨🇳 Inside China use Baidu or Amap; Google Maps needs a VPN.
🚇 How to reach the mosque
In the old city of Hanbin District (east gate / Dongguan Hui quarter); central city buses stop nearby.
No Arab trader quarter in Ankang. Visitors usually arrive from Xi'an by rail (about 2.5-3 hours).
Ankang has no metro. From Ankang Railway Station it is a short taxi ride across the Han River into the old city Hui quarter, about 10-15 minutes. Show the Chinese address to the driver.
The east-gate (Dongguan) Hui quarter has halal beef, lamb and tea houses. Ankang's Hui trace to leather, tea and livestock trading. Languages: Mandarin, local dialect.