The Niujie Mosque in Southwest

Beijing

Nassim Tabatabai, MD, serves as the founder and medical director

for Beauty MD International, where she offers consultancy
services to domestic and international health and beauty
enterprises. Outside of her professional endeavors, Dr. Nassim
Tabatabai pursues interests in traveling and architecture, and has
visited many regions of Europe and Asia to study the architecture
of renowned mosques.
One of the many famous mosques in Asia, the Niujie Mosque in
southwest Beijing is especially well known for its historic and
ornate architecture. The Niujie Mosque was originally constructed
during the Liao Dynasty in 996, and then rebuilt in 1443 after it
was destroyed by invading armies in 1215. Under the Qing
Dynasty in 1696, the Niujie Mosque was significantly enlarged,
and now covers more than 6,000 square meters.
The structures in the Niujie Mosque are positioned symmetrically
with buildings that point west towards Mecca. At the entrance
gate, a large wall features a 40-meter-long white marble pedestal
and a succession of relief sculptures illustrating images of fortune
and happiness. Past the entrance gate lies the Watching Moon
Tower, a two-story building with a hexagonal design and a goldenglazed roof. In addition to this tower, there are a number of other
celebrated structures at the Niujie Mosque, including the
Wangyue Pavilion and the Stele Pavilion.