Construction workers arrive at the site at 6am and leave about 11.30pm. Their mission is for both the Islamic community in Guangzhou and the organisers of the Asian Games - a mosque.
They're working feverishly because the Islamic Association of Guangzhou has set a deadline to have the Abu Waqqas Mosque finished by the holy month of Ramadan, which starts on August 11. The Games will run from November 12 to 27, and 25 of the 45 participating nations have Muslim majorities.
And while the Games are of great importance to Guangzhou's world reputation, local Muslims say cultivating relations with international guests, an increasingly important fixture in the city's economy, is vital.
That's why other religious sites are being renovated and dining and hotel accommodation is getting top priority. Two decades after China last hosted the Asian Games in Beijing, the nation is welcoming Muslims to a city with a Muslim presence as old as the faith itself.
The new mosque is located near the tomb of Saad Ibn Abu Waqqas, who some claim was an uncle of the Prophet Mohammed and the first Muslim to travel to China around AD650. When finished, it will measure 1,858 square metres on 15,000 square metres of land at an estimated cost of 16.8 million yuan (HK$19.1 million), including the land purchase.
Computer-generated images of the project reveal a house of Islam 'with Chinese characteristics'. With a green tiled roof atop a red pagoda, it has only a few small flourishes of traditional Islamic architecture that shine through the largely Chinese-style design.