Unobtrusively tucked into the Chinese capital's second-largest Muslim neighborhood, the Niujie ("Oxen Street") Mosque is an architectural gem dating from 997, and the oldest of the city's 68 mosques. It survived the Cultural Revolution relatively unscathed, and its recent refurbishing, with government assistance, is the latest chapter in a remarkable history.

The raw material comes only from the neck and belly of a single species of goat raised on Himalayan plateaus higher than the tallest peaks of North America. It can take weeks to weave and years to embroider a single pashmina shawl. The results, products of one of the world's most sophisticated textile arts, are arguably its most wonderfully wearable ones.

As the population pressures of a sprawling modern city threaten to efface entirely the once-renowned royal gardens and the timeless legacy of arbor-shaded streets, a new effort is under way to reclaim a green heritage for the heart of one of Morocco's most historic cities.