📜 About & history
Id Kah is the largest mosque in China and the spiritual heart of Kashgar. It was first built in 1442 by Saqsiz Mirza, a ruler of the old Kashgar kingdom, on a site used as a cemetery as early as the 10th century. It was progressively enlarged, notably in 1538 and again in 1798 when a female pilgrim named Gulirena funded an expansion and the name 'Id Kah' (place of festival and prayer) took hold, reaching its present layout after an 1872 rebuild. Covering about 16,800 square metres (140 m north–south by 120 m east–west), its yellow gatehouse, twin minarets and poplar-shaded prayer hall are the defining landmark of the old city.
🕌 Prayer & visiting
Five daily prayers; the great Friday Juma congregation and the Id al-Fitr / Id al-Adha gatherings are the busiest. In recent years regular worship has been restricted mainly to local elderly worshippers and visitors are generally received as a monument during daytime opening hours.
📍 Address
🇨🇳 Inside China use Baidu or Amap; Google Maps needs a VPN.
🚇 How to reach the mosque
Several city bus routes stop at or near Id Kah Square in the old-town core; confirm the current route number locally before boarding.
From the old-town centre, walk to Id Kah Square; the mosque's yellow gate stands on the west side of the square and is visible from the square itself.
In the very centre of Kashgar — a short walk from most old-town hotels; roughly a 10–15 minute taxi ride from Kashgar (Kashi) Railway Station.
China's largest mosque and Kashgar's foremost landmark; dress modestly, remove shoes before entering carpeted areas, and ask before photographing worshippers. To ask a driver to take you there, say: 请带我去艾提尕尔清真寺