The Dungan Mosque is the most distinctive building in Karakol and one of the most unusual mosques in all of Central Asia. Built in 1910 by Dungan craftsmen — the Dungans being Chinese Muslims who fled China after failed uprisings in the nineteenth century — it combines Islamic purpose with Chinese architectural form so completely that a visitor approaching from the street might take it for a Buddhist temple. The three-tiered pagoda roof, its eaves curling upward, sits atop wooden columns painted red and green, without a single nail or bolt in the entire structure. Wood-joinery techniques passed down from Chinese master carpenters hold it together.
The interior is cool and spare. Intricate wooden lattices screen the upper windows and cast geometric shadows across the floor. The mosque is still in active use, and visitors are welcome outside of prayer times. It sits on a quiet residential street a few minutes' walk from the main bazaar, surrounded by a low wall and shaded by mature trees that give it a contemplative atmosphere.