In a standoff between a group of Hui Muslims and Chinese police over the demolition of a mosque in Ningxia province, dozens were left injured and more detained: more ›

Li Yang, the celebrity English teacher who is now better known around China as a shameless wife-beater, announced his decision to convert to Islam past midnight on November 6, which happens to be Eid al-Adha, or the Festival of Sacrifice, celebrated by Muslims worldwide. more ›

China has got the entire world's market of religious paraphernalia cornered. Not only have Chinese manufacturers been making everything from statues of Guru Nanak (revered by the Sikhs), to Hindu gods such as Shiva, Vishnu and Ganesh, to the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, they've also been edging out producers of Ramadan lanterns and keffiyeh's in the Middle East. more ›

Muslims in the capital celebrate Ramadan, the fasting month in the Islamic calendar. more ›

With rising religiosity in China's Hui Muslim community, marrying within the faith has become a lot more important today than it was before, as is adhering to Islamic requirements on modesty in dressing. On Sunday, January 23, dozens of young Hui men and women -- and their parents -- participated in a matchmaking event conducted for them at the Beiyao Mosque in Luoyang, Henan province. more ›

You've heard of China's ping-pong diplomacy and panda diplomacy, but how much do you know about its hajj diplomacy? Below is an excerpt of an interesting article we found on Middle East Online, written by Alain Gresh of Le Monde: more ›

We highlighted NPR's excellent series on religion in China yesterday, and today another eye-opening piece has come out: this one on female imams. While Islam elsewhere is usually associated with less women friendly policies, China's Muslim community has developed their own set of practices: "Men and women are equal here, maybe because we are a socialist country," one female imam in Henan said. Unfortunately, the longest history of female imams in the world is being threatened, not by religious prosecution, but because they just don't earn enough money. more ›

New Xinjiang blog Autonomous Region tells us of fast food chain KFC's latest localisation tactics in China's westernmost province: more ›

Zorlandband says of this not-so-crowded halal canteen found in Zone B of the Expo grounds:

Muslim canteens in the food court serve okay halal food, but at three-four times the price: a skewer goes for 9 yuan against the restaurant value of 3 yuan, meat pocket (roujiamo) is sold for 25 against the normal 5 yuan. A plate of Xinjiang noodles is 35 yuan, as well as all other mains. more ›

Christian Post via Compass Direct News, reports that Alimjan Yimit, an ethnic Uyghur pastor of a house church who was sentenced last year to 15 years prison for "leaking state secrets", has been allowed to see his family for the first time in over two years:

Authorities in Xinjiang Province recently moved Uyghur Christian Alimjan Yimit from a prison in Kashgar to a prison in the provincial capital Urumqi and allowed the first visit from family members since his arrest in January 2008, sources told Compass. more ›

If you´ve missed the first four films of The German Consulate´s month-long Fatih Akin Retrospective there are still two more flicks to go, this coming Friday, and the next. One musical documentary and one thought-provoking culture crossing drama. Fatih Akin is a Turkish-German director with a series of successful and award winning movies behind him, such as Im Juli (In July, 2000) the Golden Bear-awarded Gegen die Wand (Head-On, 2004) as well as last year´s New York, I Love You. more ›

Last week, craving something a little different from our usual delivery, we hitched up our britches and made our way to the Huxi Mosque in northern Jing'an. One of the biggest mosques in Shanghai, it was first established by Moslem paupers in 1914. It was shut down during the war and the tumultuous years afterwards, but became the first mosque to reopen in Shanghai in 1979. In 1992, it moved from its original place on Xikang Lu to where it now resides, on Changde Lu near Aomen Lu. more ›

• China will start providing two imported HIV drugs, Viread and Kaletra, to patients who have started developing resistance to cheaper, domestic alternatives. This means that nine of 20 drugs to combat AIDS are now available to patients in China.
• The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has condemned China's deportation of a musician from Cape Town, South Africa, who was ordered to leave China within 48 hours when health authorities found she was HIV-positive. Apparently, the woman was not even informed or counselled about her HIV test.
• Health authorities in Henan province claim that significant improvements have been made in controlling HIV/AIDS and that death rates there are "closer to the normal mortality rate and lower than the national average". According to them, Zhumadian, one of the cities hit by illegal blood sales in the 1990s, has seen death rates more than halved to 5 percent in the past six years.

Short 50 second report on CCTV with footage from Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Beijing showing how Muslims across China are celebrating Eid Al Adha, the holiest feast in the Islamic calendar conducted to mark the end of the Haj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca. more ›

"Pakistan's foreign minister said yesterday China has signed an agreement with Pakistan to help it build two more nuclear power plants." more ›

Photo from Marc van der Chijs more ›

Western news outlets are rife with reports that Chinese officials in the Xinjiang province have imposed a set of heavy-handed restrictions on the observation of the month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. The restrictions are said to include, among others, a ban on fasting by government officials, Communist Party members, teachers and students, and measure to have men shave off their beards and women to remove their veils. AFP quotes from the websites of several county governments in the Xinjiang province:

"Faced with recent violent and disruptive activities by religious extremists, separatists and terrorists, we must... step up ideological education of religious leaders and followers," [from the Zhaosu county website] more ›

Ramadan, Islam's holiest season has just begun, and as Muslims around the world begin a month-long period of prayer and fasting, manufacturers across the Middle East have little reason to smile as they find themselves edged out with increasing numbers of Chinese producers flooding their markets with products that are cheaper and better than their own. Adding salt to injury is the fact that many of these products are symbols of their own cultural and history. Gulf News reports that made-in-China Ramadan lanterns are all the rage now, much to the chagrin of traditional Egyptian craftsmen:

Since walking into the vocation of lantern-making more than 30 years ago, Ahmad Abdul Gafour has been attached to Ramadan. more ›

We've previously noted how Al-Jazeera's treatment of the Tibet issue tends to be somewhat lopsided, but this latest report on Islam in China which features interviewees from both ends of the political spectrum does exhibit cognisance of the various sensitivities and the interplay of a variety of complex factors. The heterogeneity of Muslims in China makes them a highly fascinating group to study, if we can even consider them as a "group" to begin with. The longstanding suspicions among Uyghurs of the Hui's are underscored by activist Rebiya Kadeer's assertion that many of the spies employed by Chinese intelligence in Xinjiang are Hui Muslims — an ethnic group that accounts for about half of China's 22 million Muslims. The main distinction that sets the Hui's apart from the Han's is derived from their practice of Islam and in many cases, there is no genetic distinction between the Hui's and the Han's due to a decision by the Communist Party in the 1930s to define Hui's as an umbrella group for all Sinophone Muslims. more ›

This time security guards were stabbed to death outside of Kashgar in Xinjiang. [Source] more ›

The Turkestan Islamic Party which a fortnight ago claimed to have been responsible for a series of China bombings has just released a new six-minute video entitled “Call to the Global Muslim Ummah” (or brotherhood). With his face covered and a black turban, and armed with a Kalashnikov, the speaker urged Muslims in the Uyghur language to "choose your side". And for those attending the Games, he had this word of advice:

“Do not stay on the same bus, on the same train, on the same plane, in the same buildings, or any place the Chinese are.” [Translation by SITE Intel Group]

Six years ago, when we first arrived in China, we thought this would be the last place on earth to be hit by Islamic terrorism, but this latest video issued by a certain Turkestan Islamic Party not just changed our minds, it sent a tingle down our spine. In it, a Commander Seyfullah claims credit for the following, according to an AFP report:
• the May 5 Shanghai bus explosion which killed three;
• another Shanghai attack (not sure which one exactly);
• an attack on police in Wenzhou on July 17 using an explosive-laden tractora bombing of a Guangzhou plastic factory on July 17

Urumqi police have raided an apartment which housed 15 ethnic Uyghurs and alleged Islamic terrorists shouting "sacrifice for Allah". A spokesman said they tried to break out when police used tear gas to flush them out, wielding knives and injuring one policeman. Subsequently, police shot dead five, injured another two (which were sent to the hospital) and captured the remaining nine. A Xinhua report says the suspects have confessed that they've been planning for a 'holy war' to kill 'infidel' Han people. [Reuters] [The Telegraph] more ›

This report from France 24, an international 24-hour news channel, profiles the Hui community in Ningxia province in Northern China. Of the 20 million Muslims currently living in China, half belong to the Hui community, and one fifth of this community lives in Ningxia. The episode shows the special schools where Hui children learn Arabic and the Koran along with the regular Chinese curriculum. It also describes the Hui healthcare system, which blends treatments based on the series of ablutions performed before entering a mosque with traditional Chinese medicinal techniques. An interesting look at the way Hui culture has absorbed Chinese influences into an Islamic base. more ›

Jesus seems to be making a comeback in the PRC. Since the introduction of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox missionaries to China, many of them to Shanghai, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Christianity has been a popular minority religion. While practice abated during Mao’s hay day, China has experienced a resurgence in past years. Just two weeks ago, we reported that Orthodox priests were allowed to lead a service in Shanghai for the first time in over four decades. An article by the Chicago Tribune shows this incident may be indicative of a larger trend of successful Christian advocacy, some of which may challenge the Chinese government’s role as supreme authority over its citizens:

As China's Christian population has climbed to an estimated 70 million, a growing number of lawyers and scholars have converted to Christianity and turned their skills to the issue of religious freedom. They are teaming up with churches to challenge the government in court, suing for the rights they believe are guaranteed under China's constitution. more ›

Right: France24 says Ningxia is China's halal food capital, exporting some US$100 million worth of halal products last year. The impoverished province is home to some 10% of Chinese Muslims and is getting its act together to tap into the world's steadily growing halal market. more ›

Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos at shanghaiist.com. more ›

We passed by the Huxi Mosque on Changde Lu the other day, walked around and loved it. Here's some history of the mosque that we found on ChinaCulture.org:

The Huxi Mosque is one of the famous mosques in Shanghai City. It was originally called Yaoshuinong Mosque and located at Xikang Road, and moved to Changde Road in April 1992. In 1914, Moslem paupers from Hubei, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui provinces lived together in the area near Xikang Road. For their religious needs, they rented a small room as the temporary worship place. In 1921, with the efforts of some religious people, they raised money and began the construction of the mosque. The construction was completed in 1922. There were three worship halls, three wing halls and one wing room. After the repair in 1935, the worship halls could accommodate 200 people. The mosque resumed religious activities in 1979. more ›

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... more ›