Chinese Pilgrims Start Holy Journey
Flocking to Mekkah to join hundreds of thousands of forgiveness seekers, more than 11,000 Chinese pilgrims have arrived the holy land to perform hajj and fulfill one of Islam's main pillars.
"Chinese pilgrims have now arrived in Makkah and Madinah. They are all in good health," Mustapha Young Jee Poo, chief of the Chinese Hajj mission siad.
The Chinese hajj mission announced that 11,800 Chinese pilgrims will perform hajj this year 9,300 pilgrims are in Mekkah and 2,500 in Madinah, he added.
Distributed among 37 flights, Chinese pilgrims benefited the direct flights of Chinese airlines from Beijing to Madinah, Poo explained.
Muslims from around the world pour into Makkah every year to perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, which is expected to draw more than 3 million Muslim this year.
Citing official data, China has 20 million Muslims, most of them are concentrated in Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai regions and provinces.
More than 2.25 million Hui live in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, accounting for more than one-third of the total population of the region.
Smaller Muslim communities can also be found throughout interior China.
Unofficially, Muslim groups say the number is even higher, stating that there are from 65-100 million Muslims in China — up to 7.5 percent of the population.
Source: On Islam
l
The Chinese hajj mission announced that 11,800 Chinese pilgrims will perform hajj this year 9,300 pilgrims are in Mekkah and 2,500 in Madinah, he added.
Distributed among 37 flights, Chinese pilgrims benefited the direct flights of Chinese airlines from Beijing to Madinah, Poo explained.
Muslims from around the world pour into Makkah every year to perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, which is expected to draw more than 3 million Muslim this year.
Citing official data, China has 20 million Muslims, most of them are concentrated in Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai regions and provinces.
More than 2.25 million Hui live in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, accounting for more than one-third of the total population of the region.
Smaller Muslim communities can also be found throughout interior China.
Unofficially, Muslim groups say the number is even higher, stating that there are from 65-100 million Muslims in China — up to 7.5 percent of the population.
Source: On Islam
l
