Huxi Mosque

Huxi Mosque is one of Shanghai’s important twentieth-century mosques, with a history rooted in migrant Muslim communities who settled around Xikang Road. In 1914, Muslims from provinces such as Hubei, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui used a rented room as a temporary prayer space. Community fundraising later led to the construction of Yaoshuinong Mosque, which became the foundation of today’s Huxi Mosque. After religious activities resumed in 1979, the mosque was rebuilt at Changde Road in the early 1990s, making it an important marker of Shanghai’s post-1949 mosque redevelopment.

The current mosque in Putuo District combines practical community facilities with a recognisable architectural form. Its two-storey prayer hall uses double-heart-shaped arches and fan-shaped vaulting, while the minaret rises above the surrounding urban streetscape. The mosque also includes ablution areas, reception rooms, teaching space, and courtyards with fountains. Its location west of central Shanghai gives it a neighbourhood role different from the older mosques of the Old City, serving residents, workers, and worshippers across Putuo and nearby districts.