The Imperial City mosque in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, with a history going back 332 years, was destroyed on 22 November 1998 by the authorities despite strenuous efforts by the local Muslim community to preserve it as (a) national cultural heritage. According to a 'report in the International Herald Tribune of 18 December, 'scores of workers and police officers converged on the site in a swift, nighttime raid on November 22 and destroyed the classical wooden' mosque. 

The surreptitious manner of this act of sacrilege and vandalism was because Muslims had been trying to rally support to preserve the mosque which was built in 1666, but which had now become valuable real estate ...

The authorities are pretending that the place of worship had been relocated. Most Muslims have rejected this inane attempt to placate them ... (Source: The Impact International, January, 1999)