Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou city started to be built back in 627. It is one of the oldest mosques in China. According to legend, it was founded by Saad ibn Abu Waqqas, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad and one of his most famous companions. He was the first Islamic missionary to China. However, according to the version of most scholars, the mosque was completed during the Chinese Tang Dynasty, and was rebuilt several times thereafter.
Huainsheng means "remember the Prophet" in Chinese. But the mosque also has a second name - "Lighthouse Tower". This unofficial name it acquired due to the shape of its minaret. It really looks like a lighthouse, and its height of thirty-seven metres made it visible to passing ships, which used it as a landmark. The minaret itself bears the name Guanta, i.e. "tower of light", which also confirms the version that the mosque served as a lighthouse. Not far from the site of the structure is the mouth of the Pearl River.
Huainsheng's architecture intricately intertwines styles traditional to both ancient China and Arabic architecture. The mosque consists of a minaret, a two-storey prayer hall and an open pavilion. There is also an ancient Muslim cemetery nearby. According to legend, forty Islamic missionaries were buried here.
Legend has it that the first Muslim companions led by Saad ibn Abu Waqqas arrived in Guangzhou in 627. They were the first missionaries of the young religion to arrive in the Celestial Empire. In the same year they began to build a minaret of the mosque for the Arab traders living there. Because of its convenient location, Guangzhou quickly became a rich centre of international trade, in the turnover of which mainly Arab and Persian merchants participated. Subsequently, a large Muslim community was formed there.
Huainsheng is one of the first Chinese-style mosques and one of Guangzhou's many landmarks.
