Assalamu Alaikum, Ni how Ma?
 
It has been a while now since i first decided on travelling to China. To the Ancient Chinese it was known as "The Middle Kingdom" One of the richest, most powerful and inventive civilizations the world has ever known. To some one like myself who was born and brought up in the west, the very name China conjures up in the mind something exotic and far away.
 
As a Muslim, I knew that there was a Hadith of the Prophet (SAW) which recommended that anyone wishing to seek knowledge should travel to China. China of course being the farthest point on the globe known to Muslims at the time of the Prophet (SAW). I set off on April 8th 2010 and arrived at last in Beijing on the 12th hoping to see what kind of Knowledge i would find.
 
I met up with sister Mariah a week later on the 18th of April 2010. Sister Mariah Mah made for a very interesting travelling companion; she is an energetic woman who looks many decades younger than her age. She travels back and forth through out this vast country and her Singapore base. Together with her Brother, Jaafar,they have established two state registered Muslim NGO's  Zhangjiachuan Charity Center in Gansu province and Xiji Charity Service Center in Ningxia Province. Their charity projects include supplying water to remote mountain villages, building and repairing of wudu places, toilets and masjids, especially in earthquake regions, giving subsidies to poor farmers' children from preschool to tertiary level as many can ill afford to go to school, setting up Muslim orphanages and carrying out the yearly Qurban and aqiqah in poor Muslim villages on behalf of  Muslim overseas .
 
Accompanying Sister Mariah was another Singaporean Muslim of Indian origin called Ibrahim. A very softly spoken man with kind eyes and a deep knowledge of the Qur'an.
 
We first visited a Muslim restaurant which was run by locals. The food was as Chinese as it could be but according to Islamic dietary laws and regulations. However tasty the food was, what I really wanted to see were the Mosques. My wish was at last granted when I visited the Niu Jie Libai Si (Ox Street Mosque). According to locals this Mosque dated back to the 10th century and was Beijing's largest. It was so beautiful I did not wish to leave. From the outside the Mosque looks very much like a traditional Chinese temple. However, it is from the inside that you can see that you have entered an Islamic space.

It is decorated with a mixture of Arabic and Chinese calligraphic flourishes and plant forms. This was an Islam that was adapted to local taste as indeed Islam has done so in different parts of the world.
 
The Muslim people I met in Beijing were a mixture of different ethnic minorities who came from all four corners of the Peoples Republic. However, it was the Hui who most fascinated me. They are the descendents of Muslims who had travelled to China long ago and intermarried with the local people. They are almost indistinguishable from the local Han except for the fact the mostly Hui men wear white scull caps and many woman don the Hijab (Veil)
 
Many of those I talked to not only could speak and write Chinese but were also literate in Arabic. I spoke to one young man whose Arabic was so good that I would have mistaken him for being Arab if it were not for his facial features. What was more remarkable was that he had never been to any Arab or Arabic speaking country. It was so beautiful to see this in a country whose people eat a lot of pork, where gambling and belief in luck is high and many are obsessed with worldly things. That Muslims have survived at all is remarkable indeed.  Over the next two days we got to see the famous 'Forbidden City' home of the Qing dynasty emperors and climbed the Great Wall one of the 'Seven Wonders of the World' For most people seeing these two monuments alone merit a trip to China. Before we left Beijing we also saw an acrobatic show and visited a traditional Chinese medicinal centre.
 
On the 21st, we arrived in Xi'an. Xi'an of course is famous for it been the home of the terracotta warriors as well as the final resting place of 'The First Emperor'. Seeing this was amazing not only for its scale but also for its rich details. Less well known until you get there is Xi'an's Muslim quarter. This area was like a giant rabbit warren and filled with many different kinds of shops and small hidden Mosques. The real gem of Xi'an for me however was the Great Mosque. First built during the 7th century and renovated many times during its history it is one of the oldest Mosques in China. Also built in the classical Chinese style, inside this Mosque were the most beautiful Islamic wooden panels I had ever seen. They were made up of complete surahs in both Arabic and Chinese. A trip to a ceramics factory and a tea house completed a great tour of Xi'an.
 
We arrived in Linxia and Lanzhou next. Although these two cities are not that far apart, it took many hours for us to travel between them because of the long mountainous and scenic roads. These areas have always acted as gateways for Islam to enter China.
 This was also in evidence just by looking at all the different facial features with many people here looking just like people from central Asia. The people here are also very beautiful with bright red rosy cheeks.
We visited many orphanages and madrasahs which sister Mariah helps to subsidize its maintenance. I was very moved when some orphans approached me for their Islamic caps which Sister Mariah was distributing along with blankets.
 
The highlight of my whole trip however was the school i visited in Linxia run by a Chinese Muslim called Abu Bakr Lan. Abu Bakr is a true visionary in every sense of the word. After travelling extensively to many different Muslim countries, he came back to open up a Muslim school that is probably the best that i have ever seen. The children there are taught three languages, Arabic, English and Chinese. They are also taught everything from maths and science, music, martial arts to Quranic recitation in fact anything and everything a child needs to live in the modern world without sacrificing his Islamic identity.
 
Although not part of the tour, in Lanzhou i did something which i just had to do. Together with a young and adventurous teacher from one of the Islamic schools, we crossed the mighty Yellow river on a raft! The Yellow river along with the Yangtze is considered as  one of the cornerstones of Chinese history and mythology. Lanzhou being the only major city where this long river runs straight through it. Along the way I took many pictures of the multitudes of Mosques and temples which are dotted along the river. There was even a very curious Mosque here in Lanzhou run by a group of 'Muslim Monks'.  Here was an Islam that resembled Buddhism with its emphasis on monasticism. Most of the monks never marry and instead dedicate their lives to prayer and disciplining themselves.
 
I was very sad to leave Lanzhou especially because my travelling companion Ibrahim had to go back to Singapore but next I headed south to Kunming which cheered me up. We arrived in Kunming on the 30th May and spent the next 8 days in the southern Yunnan region. The people here were different still with a definite trace of Thailand, Burma and Bangladesh in their faces. The food here was delicious but also hotter just like the weather. We toured many Mosques and schools but as have always loved martial arts I also got the chance to train a little with a young Muslim instructor who helps Sister Mariah. He showed me something called 'Wudhu Kungfu' with hand and feet strikes imitating the Islamic ablution rituals.

However my tour was coming to an end and I sad again when Sister Mariah had to depart for Singapore after what had been one of the most exciting 20 days I have ever had.
 
I found this whole tour to be an illuminating experience. Muslims here just like anywhere else strive to better themselves and their families lives. I saw a rich culture and tradition which very much part of the Islamic world is but not generally well known to the outside world.
 
I want to thank Sister Mariah for her kindness and letting me be part of such a wonderful journey which I shall never forget. Her tours are truly unique in that you can travel deep inland to Muslim villages and meet locals up close to see how they really live. I urge anyone and everyone to listen to the Prophet Muhammad's (SAW) advice and come to this fascinating land and glimpse even a trace of the wonder that can be found here. Insha Allah, you will come away a changed person just like I have.
 

Wassalam,
 
Muhammad Ali
London, United Kingdom
loneadventurer@hotmail.com