Across the red carpet into the Shadian mosque
N 23°22'31.2'' E 103°22'36.9''
Date:
23.05.2016
Day: 331
Country:
China
Province:
Yunnan
Location:
Honghe
Latitude N:
23°22’31.2”
Longitude E:
103°22’36.9”
Daily kilometers:
57 km
Total kilometers:
17,173 km
As the crow flies:
39.29 km
Average speed:
19.6 km/h
Maximum speed:
39.2 km/h
Travel time:
02:45 hrs.
Soil condition:
Asphalt
Maximum height:
1.450 m
Total altitude meters:
40.631 m
Altitude meters for the day:
508 m
Sunrise:
06:22 am
Sunset:
7:44 pm
Temperature day max:
22°C
Temperature day min:
21°C
Departure:
09:30 a.m.
Arrival time:
1:00 p.m.
(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).
The four slender minarets of a mosque stretch their spires into the cloudy sky of the small town of Shadian. “Looks impressive!” I shout to Tanja and leave the main streets to pay a visit to the mosque. “Strange that they built such a huge place of worship in a place like this,” Tanja wonders. As we park our bikes, a Muslim woman arrives in an electric rickshaw. She laughs and greets us in a friendly manner. “Can I take a picture of you?” she asks in good English. “No problem,” I say, whereupon the woman and her two small children happily jump out of the rickshaw to take pictures of us and Ajaci from all sides. It doesn’t take long before more Chinese people join us. “We’re all Muslims,” explains the woman with pride in her voice. “It’s a huge mosque you have here in this small town,” I remark. “Yes, it’s the largest in southern China and was only built in 2010, modeled on the famous Prophet’s Mosque in Saudi Arabia. Many donations came from the Hui community, but the government also supported the construction.” “Must have cost a lot of money?” I ask, running my eyes over the sublime building. “A total of 130 million yuan. (17.5 million euros).” “Unbelievable. Do believers also come here to pray?” I wonder, because we are the only people in the huge area far and wide. “But yes, every Friday up to 10,000 believers from all over the region gather here for Friday prayers,” she explains. While Tanja stays with the bikes and Ajaci, I set off to see the inside of the huge prayer house.
“Please walk here,” says a guard, pointing to the red carpet that has been laid over the main entrance staircase and leads inside the building. “You are welcome to take photos. Please come with me. This is a particularly good place to take pictures of the prayer hall,” recommends the extremely friendly man. “It’s impressive,” I praise. “We are proud of our mosque. It’s also a kind of memorial and doesn’t let us forget the terrible slaughter of 1975.” “A terrible massacre?” I ask. “Yes, during the Cultural Revolution, the communist government at the time sent 10,000 soldiers. They wanted to carry out an ethnic cleansing, said we were rebels and attacked us with fighter planes and cannons. In the process, 4,400 houses were razed to the ground and at least 1,000 people from my Hui people were killed. The many injured were not counted. Four years after the massacre, the government apologized to our people, paid compensation to the affected families and helped the region to get back on its feet. We were also finally allowed to build our mosque. And now you can see how beautiful our mosque has become. Walk around as long as you like,” he says in English with a good-natured expression on his face, bows to me and walks back to the main entrance. With this knowledge, I see the mosque with completely different eyes. As the only visitor, I wander through the mighty colonnades, enjoying the peace and quiet and the subtle play of colors and light reflections in the prayer hall…
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