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Tag: china

Halal restaurant in Shenzen, CHINA

June 2010:

Mencari masjid dan makanan halal di negara asing seperti China bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah. Satu cabaran berat bagi pengembara poket nipis (budget traveler) yang tidak datang dengan pakej. Yang penting ialah persiapan awal atau groundwork. Sebaiknya, tanya kawan-kawan yang pernah sampai ke sana. Atau buat carian di internet — cari laman web yang mempromosi hal ehwal Islam di negara tersebut. Antaranya zabihah.com yang mempromosi restoran halal di seluruh dunia. Masukkan nama bandar yang anda akan lawati dan insyallah laman web ini akan menyenaraikan semua restoran halal di bandar itu. Anda perlu sokong laman web seperti ini dengan memberi feedback jika anda ke sana. Mereka memudahkan umat Islam membuat kebaikan semasa musafir.

Perlu diingat di China walaupun restoran terdapat tanda halal, kadang-kadang minuman keras juga di jual sama. Makanan dan minumam ringan sahaja halal, tetapi yang berat-berat tidak halal. Jadi kena hati-hati.

Berikut beberapa restoran makanan halal yg sempat saya jumpa sepanjang lawatan saya ke Shenzen pd June 2010, mudah-mudahan memberi manafaat kepada semua pelancong muslim.

Restoran KFY dekat Louhu, Shenzen, CHINA

Restoran muslim KFY ini pakar dalam masakan dari Xinjiang (muslim di northwest China). Daging lembu dan kambing menjadi menu utama. Kebab dan dimsum pun ada. Nasi goreng dan mee goreng pun ada. Anda kena cuba. Restoran sangat bersih dan dekor luaran seperti KFC outlet sebab merah menjadi warna pilihan. Harga berpatutan. Ada tandas sekali. Servis baik sekali. Buku menu diberi bila anda sampai, siap dengan gambar dan harga. Waiter lengkap beruniform akan mengambil pesanan dengan menggunakan alat canggih sebesar telefon bimbit. Pilih sahaja menu yang berkenan. Teh Cina diberi percuma.

Restoran ini berdekatan dengan Days Hotel, Louhu metro station dan juga Louhu Commercial Center.

Selain Louhu, ada beberapa restoran halal di sekitar Masjid Meilin di Shenzen. Pada hari Jumaat, banyak gerai-gerai makanan beroperasi di hadapan Masjid dan suasana sangat sibuk sebaik sahaja selesai solat Jumaah.

Klik di sini:  Masjid Meilin Shenzen.

Juga terdapat sebuah hotel Muslim di Shenzen dan di tingkat atas hotel tersebut terdapat sebuah masjid. Cuba google “muslim hotel in Shenzen” untuk dapatkan maklumat hotel ini. Saya tak sempat ke sini sepanjang lawatan ini.

Mosque in Guangzhou, CHINA (Abi Waqas Mosque)

June 2010:

Sejarah kedatangan Islam di China bermula pada zaman Khalifah Uthman Al Affan (RA) di mana bapa saudara Nabi (SAW), Saad abi Waqas telah diutuskan ke China melalui jalan sutera laut kepada Maharaja Dinasti Tang. Utusan ini pertama mendarat di Canton, ketika itu pelabuhan perdagangan utama di China, selepas itu menuju ke ibukota dinasti Tang di Xian dan diterima baik dan Maharaja memerintahkan sebuah masjid dibina di Canton (sekarang Guangzhou) buat mengingati peristiwa bersejarah ini. Inilah Masjid Huai-sheng, masjid yang pertama dan tertua di China. Saad abi Waqas kemudian kembali ke Guangzhou dan meninggal di sana. Sebuah monumen dibina dan dikenali sebagai maqam Saad Abi Waqas di kota Guangzhou. Saya berkesempatan melawat masjid ini baru-baru ini.

Alamat / Address:

Assahabi Abi Waqas Mosque (Muslim Sage’s Tomb)
No.901, North Jiefang Road
Tel: 020-86692743

Bagaimana untuk sampai ke sini? / How to get here?

Access to this mosque is quite tricky as the entrance is located at the edge of crowded intersections.  The mosque is located inside the small park (there was a construction work at the entrance to the park during my visit). For adventurous, you can take Guangzhou metro and stop at Yuexiu station.  In the metro underpass, exit toward Li Hua Hu park (opposite side of Yuexiu Park).  NOTE: There are many parks around this area. When you come to street level, turn right and walk ahead along North Jiefing Road (not toward China Hotel). You will see a small park at your left, and of course the famous Yuexiu Park to your right across the street. Keep on walking and the road will curve to the left.  The entrance to this mosque is to your left at the curve.  If you walk more than 15 minutes from the Yuexiu metro station and still cannot find the mosque, you are lost already.   For conventional people, you can take taxi to this place, but make sure the address of the mosque is written in Chinese. Ask your hotel’s concierge to do this. Some taxi drivers will just dump you in front of the entrance to Yuexiu Park and tell you that the mosque is just across the road, pointing to the direction of the small park. (Thats what happened to me. In this case you must cross the road via metro underpass.)

Facade of Saad Abi Waqas mosque from North Jiefang Rd in Guangzhou CHINA

A well which never dries at the Abi Waqas Mosque in Guangzhou, CHINA

Entrance from the small park in the front of Abi Waqas mosque in Guangzhou, CHINA

Ancient tombs of sahabat (sages) in the Abi Waqas mosgue in Guangzhou, CHINA

Maqam Saad Abi Waqas di Guangzhou, CHINA

A small building housing the tomb of Abu Waqas in Guangzhou, CHINA

Tomb of Saad Abi Waqas (may Allah be pleased with him) in Guangzhou, CHINA

Meilin mosque in Shenzen, CHINA (Masjid Meilin di Shenzen, CHINA)

June 2010:

This is probably the biggest mosque in Shenzen, located at Meilin Lu. I happened to be in this city was here on one Friday in June 2010, and my other half had to find a mosque to perform his weekly obligation, i.e. Friday prayers. A frantic google search on the internet nights before yielded 2 or 3 mosques in the city and I reckon this one is the nearest to Louhu area, where I stay and shop and watch. The mosque is about 20 minutes drive by taxi from Shangrila Shenzen Hotel near Louhu railway station. Fare is about 30-40 Yuan on metered taxi. The building is  a simple and straight-cut design, a square shaped and two small minarets facing the other side of the main road, for some reason I am not sure. A Meilin Lu entrance leads to the big compound, toilets and wuduk area. A huge green banner with Chinese words greet the new-comers. A woman section  at the back of prayers hall provides refuge to a tired traveller, drained and  exhausted after half day long bargaining at LCC. There are many women on this Friday. Some are tourists from middle east and far east and overseas. Most are local residents. The way they dress during solat puzzle me as some are not properly covered. After the prayers, a fiesta atmosphere develops as they gathered at the spacious courtyard talking and chatting and catching up with friends and neighbors and relatives.  The locals and foreigners mix as well but language is the barrier in this country. Locals do not speak English and foreigners do not speak Mandarin or Cantonese. But what matters they are brothers and sisters and one ummah. On the street you cannot differentiate Moslem Chinese and kufar Chinese by look only, unless you meet them in the mosque, praying like you do.

Meilin Mosque is located at Meilin Lu, Shenzen, CHINA

The best way to this mosque is by taxi. Only 15-20 minutes drive from Louhu.

Fresh halal meat on sale outside the mosque area.

A young imam delivering tazkirah before actual Friday prayers starts at Meilin Mosque, Shenzen

A jemaah recording the khutbah Jumaat (Friday sermon) on his China-made Nokia phone.

The outside view of Meilin Mosque in Shenzen, CHINA

Noodle and grilled meat similar to kebab are all halal here. Yummy yummy!

Halal food stalls are plenty outside the mosque.

Halal restaurant near Meilin mosque in Shenzen, China

The masjid is fully air-conditioned and very clean. The sound system is so perfect — thanks to China electronic technology — that you can hear the tazkirah and khutbah by Imaam very distinctly — syllable by syllable — and crisply.  The Imaam is fairly young with a  scholar and matured look, in traditional moslem robes. He delivered tazkirah first in Mandarin, followed by khutbah (sermon).

At the entrance there are many foodstalls selling halal foods. After the congregation, these stalls are full with jemaah and you have to wait some time for tables to be empty. I tried noodle with plain soup and soy sauce, but the grilled beef fits my taste bud well, simply out-of-this-world taste.  A halal meat shop sell freshly slaughtered cows for Moslems living in the neighborhood. Moslems in Shenzen are mainly from Xinjiang province, some from Sichuan and other provinces.

In June 2010, actual Friday prayers started at 1:30pm. Tazkirah started one hour early. About 600 jemaah attended the prayers.

(The story is contributed by Wannor.)

Mosques in Guangzhou, CHINA (Huai-sheng Mosque)

June 2010:

Sejarah kedatangan Islam di China bermula pada zaman Khalifah Uthman Al Affan (RA) di mana bapa saudara Nabi (SAW), Saad abi Waqas telah diutuskan ke China melalui jalan sutera laut kepada Maharaja Dinasti Tang. Utusan ini diterima baik dan Maharaja memerintahkan sebuah masjid dibina di Canton (sekarang Guangzhou) buat mengingati peristiwa bersejarah ini. Inilah antara masjid yang pertama dan tertua di China, berusia lebih dari 1300 tahun, yang boleh dilihat sendiri pada hari ini di Guangzhou, China. Masjid in juga dikenali dengan nama Guangta Lu Temple, Lighthouse Mosque dan juga Grand Mosque of Canton. Saya berkesempatan melawat masjid ini yang dikenali sebagai Masjid Huai-sheng dan juga maqam Saad Abi Waqas di kota Guangzhou, baru-baru ini.

Masjid Huai-sheng terletak di No 56 Guangta Lu (Lu = jalan = road) di tengah-tengah bandar Guangzhou, tidak jauh dari hotel-hotel utama di kota ini. Dari Beijing Lu, dengan teksi mengambil masa 15 minit atau kurang dari itu. Bagi yang sentiasa mencari pengalaman baru, anda boleh mengambil keretapi bawah tanah (subway atau metro) dan turun di hentian Ximenkou (saya rasa Line 2 — kuning).  Dari stesen ini anda kena berjalan kaki 10 minit ke masjid. Terdapat sebuah restoran makanan halal dan juga sebuah kedai runcit halal di depan masjid.

Rekabentuk masjid ini seumpama pagoda. Tiada minaret kecuali sebuah menara rumah api (lighthouse) yang bersejarah. Dewan solat masjid ini terletak di tengah-tengah komplek masjid dikelilingi bangunan berbentuk 4 segi yang menempatkan pejabat pentadbiran, tempat wuduk, kelas Quran dan lain-lain lagi.

Alamat masjid/Address:

No 56 Guangta-Lu (Guangta Road), Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. Tel: -020-83333593.

Bagaimana untuk sampai ke sini? /How to get here?

Taxi is the best way to reach this place. Guangta Lu is a narrow alley away from main road. The main road is Zhongshan Road No.6 and Jiefang Road.  For the adventurous you can take super-efficient Guangzhou Metro at stop at Ximenkou station. From there you walk  along  Hufu street with cool  leafy trees and everyday shops and everyday people. Turn right into Guangta Lu and this mosque is at No 56 Guangta Lu. There is a halal restaurant and halal grocery store in front of the mosque. Locals / taxi drivers may not know the word mosque, but they know Muslim temple.

Facade from the main road. This masjid is located at 56, Guangta-Lu (Guangta Rd), Guangzhou, CHINA

How to reach the mosque: One way is take a metro and get off at Ximenkou station

An old lighthouse is a historical feature of this mosque

An old lighthouse is a historical feature of this mosque
Main prayers hall

Inside view of the Huai-sheng mosque in Guangzhou, CHINA

Main building inside the complex of the mosque

Main building (prayers hall) in the compound of Huai-sheng mosque in Guangzhou, CHINA

Entrance to Huai-sheng mosque in Guangzhou CHINA

Halal moslem restaurant right in front of Masjid Huai-sheng in Guangzhou, CHINA

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