【新华社记者刘海、唐亚蒙宁夏银川报道。】
PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA
The annual pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca will start soon this month.
As usual, pilgrims across the world will head there to carry out the religious duty.
Among them, there are a large number of Chinese Muslims as usual.
China Report has the details.
More than 2,600 Chinese Muslims from northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous region will leave for the annual pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia this month.
Training classes are being provided for the Muslims in the region, including disciplines, manners, safety tips as well as religious knowledge.
Ma Shaozhong, the imam in Liming Mosque of Ningxia, is giving class to some 100 Muslims, who will head to Mecca.
SOUNDBITE(CHINESE): MA SHAOZHONG, IMAM "As many of them are senior citizens, they know little about Arabic, and almost have no traveling experiences. I tell them something about the basic Arabic, manners, and pilgrimage knowledge as well. For example, I tell them that don't rush to the plane and be careful when crossing the roads or taking bus. And I also teach them some religious knowledge."
China has about 20 million Muslims in more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
And Ningxia Hui Autonomous region is considered to be the largest community for the Hui people in the country.
It has around 2.25 million Muslims, taking up 36 percent of the total population of the region.
In 1997, the first chartered plane for Chinese pilgrims flew from Beijing to Jeddah, an important gateway to Mecca.
A pilgrimage to Mecca is considered a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in the life of every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so.
This year, Muslims from Ningxia will fly to Mecca in eight charted flights from October 17th to 22nd, and they will come back to Ningxia from November 27th to December 2nd.
