With 20 million Muslims around China, it is only in recent years that they have been able to go on the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest city, in substantial numbers. Thanks to rising affluence, growing numbers of Chinese Muslims are now able to fulfill their spiritual obligations of performing the Haj at least once in their lifetime, and this year, a record 10,700 of them are expected to do so. Five departure ports......

Asia's papers keep newspaper flags flying [Asia Times] With a little help from the Internet, the future of newspapers looks bright in Asia where seven of 10 of the world's best selling dailies are published, with China, India and Japan accounting for more than half. Advertisers, the lifeblood for newspapers, are also smiling.Asian mega-cities to be swallowed up by sea [Asian Offbeat] They include Dhaka, Bangladesh; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Shanghai (gosh!)......

Muslims all around China are currently observing Ramadan, which ends on 12th of October. Here in this picture, believers are awaiting the start of prayers at Jinan's Northern Mosque which is built in traditional Chinese architectural style. The exact number of Muslims in China is unknown, though it is estimated to range between 20 and 100million. Chinese Muslims are generally from the Hui, Uyghur, Kazakh, Dongxiang, Kirghiz, Salar, Tajik, Bonan and Tatar ethnic groups (in......