Muslims in China Celebrate Festival of Fast-breaking

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 18, 2001

Muslims in China Celebrate Festival of Fast-breaking

Across China on Monday Muslims celebrated the end of Ramadan, their most important religious event.

More than 10,000 Muslims in the capital Beijing hosted major celebrations in the city's 68 mosques, which were brimming with anair of holiday happiness, to mark the end of the month-long fasting period.

The Muslims enjoyed the one-day holiday by meeting with each other and staging art performances.

Local officials including the city's Vice Mayor Zhang Mao attended the celebrations and meetings, and extended their thanks to local Muslims for their contributions to the city's economic development and social stability.

Beijing has 590,000 minority people, 4.3 percent of the city'stotal population. The population of the 10 minorities who follow Islam, including the Hui and Uygur, is 300,000 in Beijing.

Muslims in Northwest China

About 1.89 million Muslims in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Monday celebrated the festival of Fast Breaking.

They gathered in about 3,000 mosques throughout the region, one of the leading areas populated by Muslims in China.

Muslim public servants in the region were given a day off Monday for the occasion.

Leading government officials in the region, including Ma Qizhi, chairman of the region, paid visits to Muslim believers, including imams in several cities and counties.

Many local public servants of the Han ethnic group were seen celebrating the festival with their Muslim friends.

At least 20 million Chinese Moslems observed the month of Ramadan in peace, strictly following Islamic doctrines.

Chinese Muslims have convenient access to prayer services as there are more than 34,000 mosques across the country, according to Imam Chen Guangyuan, president of the Islamic Association of China.

Ramadan in Peace for Chinese Moslems