Abakh Hoja Mosque (Xiangfei Mu)
The tomb of one of Kashgar's most renowned kings and spiritual leader of theBai Shan sectis several miles northeast of town. Five generations of his family are housed in a domed mausoleum decorated with green, blue, red, and white tiles. The cool interior houses 58 tombs draped with silks. The admission ticket means that the tomb is not a center of worship, but the adjacent mosque is active; devotees seem oblivious to police, who photograph anyone with a beard. TheGaodi Mosqueto the left of the entrance has swastika motifs decorating its columns, trays for washing corpses, and wooden stretchers for transporting them to the graveyard. The cemetery is now cut off from the mausoleum by a high wall, hopefully not impeding the smooth passage of believers to the afterlife.
The tomb is known to the Chinese asXiangfei Mu,orTomb of the Fragrant Concubine,a member of the Hoja clan known for her "exceptional body aroma," probably due to the sprig of oleaster she was fond of wearing. A favorite of the Qianlong emperor (1711-99), she constantly refused his advances, but all tales have him devastated by her death. She was either murdered by Qianlong's mother, committed suicide rather than sleep with the emperor, or died naturally, depending on which account you believe. The sedan just inside the tomb is labeled as the one that brought her back to her beloved Kashgar, although her remains are almost certainly buried in the Eastern Qing Tombs in Hebei. If the ticket office tries to sell you tickets to other "attractions" involving singing and dancing minorities, hold your ground or simply walk off.
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| Hours | Open daylight hours | |
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| Transportation | Bus: no. 20 from Peoples' Sq. to the terminus. Taxi ¥10 ($1.25) | |
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| Prices | Admission to the tomb ¥15 ($1.90), admission to the Gaodi Mosque ¥5 (65¢) | |