The famous Dungan Mosque in the city of Karakol, built in the style of a Buddhist temple of the Chinese, is one of the monuments of architecture of the Dungan culture of the late 19th century.

The most surprising thing in this mosque is that it is built without a single nail or any metal bundles. The builders used only wooden girders made of Tien Shan fir, elm-tree and local poplar. Also in the decoration of the building a walnut-tree was used.

But before the construction it was necessary to prepare all this, therefore, the master of Dungan wooden architecture Chou-si, who was at that time about 40 years old, was invited from Beijing (China). He worked with 20 masters who came from China. Foundations and stone works were made by local craftsmen, and all wooden ones were made by the Chinese. Zhou-Ssu painted ornaments on tree, which were immediately cut out by his assistants.

In accordance with the project, every detail was thought through, every detail was envisaged. Parts of the future building were prepared for about 3 years. Within 3 months all the details were collected and the building was built. The construction of the mosque was completed on May 10, 1910.

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