A group of 740 Muslims from the Ningxia
Hui Autonomous Region set out for Mecca on Friday, for the
annual pilgrimage known as the 'hajj'.
Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is an Islam's holiest site.
The trip, organized by the Chinese government, costs at least
30,000 yuan (about US$3,600) per person, a huge sum for people in
this poverty-stricken area of northwest China.
The participants are mostly the local farmers and their
imams.
Turnout has dramatically risen in recent years thanks to a sharp
increase in the incomes of local farmers.
The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is home to two million
Muslims.
(CRI December 26, 2004)