Muslims across China ended their fast yesterday and gathered in mosques to celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The Niujie Mosque in Beijing, the largest and oldest of the 68 mosques in the capital, welcomed some 4,500 Muslims from every corner of the city.

Under renovations since March, it was the first time that the 1,000-year-old mosque was opened to the public.

"From 8 o'clock in the morning, devotees started streaming to the mosque," said Sun Ying from the subdistrict office of Niujie Street, the largest Muslim area in Beijing.

"Forty-six Muslims from eight countries such as Iran also joined in the celebrations," Sun added.

Children walked through the streets with sweets in hand, folk artists performed, and people tucked into a variety of traditional snacks. At present, Beijing has 250,000 Muslim residents, more than 10,000 of whom live in the Niujie area.

There were celebrations, too, in northwest China where most of the country's Muslims live.

"I went to a nearby mosque in the morning and stayed there for an hour praying to almighty God for happiness and safety for my family," said Xie Xiaodong, a professor at Lanzhou University in Gansu, adding that all his family members are Muslim.

"It's a sacred and happy day for us," he said. "We've cleaned our home thoroughly and put on new clothes for the festival."

According to State regulations, Muslims in China get one day off work for the fast-breaking festival, and in some areas such as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, they enjoy a three-day holiday.

"Eid al-Fitr" in Arabic, the "festival of breaking fast" is a time for family gatherings and meals.

Muslims who observe the fast refrain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset for one month on the Muslim lunar calendar when it is believed that the first verses of the Koran Islam's holy book were revealed to the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.

(China Daily November 4, 2005)