Tag archive for ‘Ramadan in Beijing’

Ramadan in China – 24 Photos

Happy Muslim women preparing Iftar.

Happy Muslim women preparing Iftar.

Did you know that Islam has been in China for 1,400 years? Muslims are found in every province of China and make up 2% of China’s population, or more than 20 million people.

Half of China’s Muslims are Hui people, who are ethnically and linguistically similar to Han Chinese.

The remainder of China’s Muslims belong to minority ethnic groups in the western part of the country, called the Quran Belt. These minorities have been persecuted by the Communist government over the decades, and have fought for independence at times.

In fact, the BBC recently reported that the Chinese government has banned Muslim officials, teachers and youth in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) from fasting in Ramadan, and has limited visits to mosques.

Tagged as: , , , , , ,