China has 39,000 mosques

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

There are more than 39,000 mosques in China, with as many as 25,000 of them in the Muslims dominated Xinjiang autonomous region where they are free to perform their religious customs.

China, with a population of around 1.4 billion heads, is home to over 200 million Muslims abode in five out of 32 provinces, a recent documentary made on life of the Chinese Muslims highlighted. 

Some historians were of the view that the advent of Islam and preaching in China began about 20 years after the passing away of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). 

The Hui tribe was the first to have embraced Islam, followed by different parts of China including Xinjiang autonomous region neighbouring Pakistan. 

As per historians, the first grand mosque was built in Xian. There are also separate ladies mosques for worship. There are huge mosques spread in various major cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Xian and Guangzhou. 

The local governments in coordination with Islamic Association were carrying out massive renovation on ancient structures as hundreds of religious tourists particularly from Muslim countries visit. Erdaoqiao mosque is one of the best landscapes in Urumqi. 

A nearby Culture Street attracted a large number of tourists in 2018-19 alone the number of tourists in Xinjiang exceeded 150 million, an increase of 40 percent.