Niujie Mosque at its own pace
Beijing's oldest and largest mosque, founded in 996. We arrive outside prayer times so you can see the courtyard and the Ming-era architecture, then return for Maghrib with the local congregation.
Our most booked trip, and the one we recommend to almost every first-time visitor. Two imperial capitals, one continuous halal thread: Niujie Mosque and the Great Wall in Beijing, then the Great Mosque of Xi'an, the Muslim Quarter and the Terracotta Warriors. Halal dining is confirmed for all 24 meals before you board the plane, and every day is paced so that Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha all land somewhere sensible rather than somewhere difficult.
Our most booked trip, and the one we recommend to almost every first-time visitor. Two imperial capitals, one continuous halal thread: Niujie Mosque and the Great Wall in Beijing, then the Great Mosque of Xi'an, the Muslim Quarter and the Terracotta Warriors. Halal dining is confirmed for all 24 meals before you board the plane, and every day is paced so that Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha all land somewhere sensible rather than somewhere difficult.
The halal guarantee on this route: every restaurant is a certified halal restaurant with no pork and no alcohol on the premises. We send the full list with addresses before you fly, and your guide re-checks each booking the day before you eat there.
Beijing's oldest and largest mosque, founded in 996. We arrive outside prayer times so you can see the courtyard and the Ming-era architecture, then return for Maghrib with the local congregation.
The restored, cable-car section — far gentler than Badaling and genuinely walkable with children and older parents. Two hours on the wall, not five.
A Chinese temple in form and a mosque in function, built in 742. Courtyards, wooden screens and a prayer hall that has served the city's Hui community for more than a thousand years.
Beef paomo, roujiamo, persimmon cakes and skewers — the whole street is halal, and your guide knows which shops the locals queue at.
Your guide is a Muslim historian who explains Qin Shi Huang, the pits and the archaeology without the nationalist gloss you get on the audio guide.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner for every day of the trip, each one booked and re-confirmed the day before.
A working skeleton, not a fixed package — we rebuild it around your dates, your prayer needs and whoever is travelling with you.
Met at the gate by your halal-trained driver, SIM card and bottled water in hand. Straight to the hotel near Niujie so you can pray and eat within the hour. Evening: a quiet welcome dinner of halal Beijing-style hotpot.
Morning on the axis of the old city, then the Forbidden City with a guide who keeps you off the worst of the crowds. Dhuhr at Niujie Mosque. Afternoon free; evening at a Hui restaurant in the Niujie quarter.
Cable car up, two hours walking the wall, cable car down. Lunch at a halal restaurant at the foot of the mountain — not a tourist buffet. Asr and Maghrib arranged at the hotel mosque room or on the road.
Morning at the Summer Palace and a rickshaw ride through the hutongs. Afternoon high-speed train to Xi'an (4.5 hours). Prayer times built into the train schedule; dinner in the Muslim Quarter on arrival.
Fajr at the Great Mosque if you want it. Then the Muslim Quarter in daylight, the Drum Tower and a walk or cycle on the Ming city wall at golden hour. Isha at the mosque.
A full morning at the pits with a historian guide, then the Tang-era hot spring gardens nearby. Lunch is halal, booked in advance, ten minutes from the site.
The underground Han tomb museum — quiet, cool and far less crowded than the warriors. Afternoon for shopping in the Quarter. Farewell dinner with the guide and driver.
Breakfast, prayer, and a transfer timed to your flight. If you are flying out of Beijing we run the train back the night before and add a hotel night.
Beijing and Xi'an are the two easiest cities in China for a Muslim traveller. Niujie Mosque and the Great Mosque of Xi'an both hold all five prayers, and there are neighbourhood mosques within a short drive of every hotel we use. Your guide carries a printed prayer-time sheet calculated for your dates and city, and will quietly rearrange a museum or a meal if a prayer time falls at an awkward moment.
April, May, September and October. Summer in both cities is hot and humid, and January can be bitter — but the mosques are warm and the crowds are gone, so winter is genuinely underrated if you dress for it.
Send us your dates and who is travelling. A Muslim advisor replies within one hour during China working hours with a day-by-day halal plan for this route — restaurants, mosques, prayer times, hotels and an itemised price.